How big of a hassel ordering parts from China ?

J

John Scott

Active Member
Anyone have any experience ordering parts from China ? I can't find the parts in the U.S. The parts needed are small and low value ( Under $20.00 U.S. ) and would fit easily in a small padded envelope. I have in the past ordered parts from U.S. vendors and paid more because it was being sent from the U.S. to avoid any sent from China hassles. Is this a customs type of thing that will take forever or is it as simple as airmail sent to my home address ? Thanks in advance for anyone who has experience with this.
 
Depending on which part you order from & who off. Myself have never bought from bang good or gearstick. A good 90% is off ebay & most take a good 20 days or so, although I have found a supplier who can get it to the UK in 8 days. Tested multiple times. I've had a few parcels disappear from some sellers, but always had the money back or another sent.
It's a chance you have to take.
My advice to anyone with a few hours flying time, get building your own asap with easily sourcable parts.
 
I've never had an issue with Gearbest or Banggood, and have placed many orders with both. Yes the wait time is going to be longer, anywhere from 3-6 weeks. However, the expedited service is also a lot cheaper. I pay about an extra $7 and comes to me in Canada in about 1 week to 10 days.
 
I've been China buying long before quads via eBay and Fasttech. What I like about eBay is the almost instant or next day ship at times. On eBay look for seller/items that ship via ePacket (which is a USPS service) which is much faster than China Post. I've gotten items many times in ~8 days.

I'm in the US, in the past things did seem to get hung up in Customs. I think they have given up.

When you are a budget, patience is a virtue.
 
I've found the pros of ordering from banggood are free shipping and low prices.

The cons are waiting a month or more for your order and hoping your order doesn't get lost or damaged somewhere in Belgium.

Weigh the choice of paying more vs. waiting longer. I like to save a buck, so I'll wait.
 
I use banggood never had a problem as long as you don't need it fast , I normally order extra as spares and as soon i use a part i re-order ready for the next time
 
Here's a funny experience! Even when Banggood has a US warehouse, it takes way longer than it should.
I saw that the TX04 in my cart was shipping US_NJ. AWESOME!!
That's where I live, and it's a really small state.
It still took 6 days to get to me from 1 hour away.
 
Here's a funny experience! Even when Banggood has a US warehouse, it takes way longer than it should.
I saw that the TX04 in my cart was shipping US_NJ. AWESOME!!
That's where I live, and it's a really small state.
It still took 6 days to get to me from 1 hour away.


Too F------ Funny !!! Only took them 6 days to smuggle it from China which is a lot faster then going through customs !!!
 
holtneil said:
I use banggood never had a problem as long as you don't need it fast , I normally order extra as spares and as soon i use a part i re-order ready for the next time
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I think I will start taking your approach and just start ordering props and motors ahead of time because they are an expendable components. China, obliviously is leading the drone market and finding a U.S. distributor seems to becoming more difficult for parts which all come from China anyway.
 
Current conditions apparently: I ordered my armattan quad in dec and it got here in 6 days. I just ordered a replacement motor and its estimated to take a month to a month and half. It got to USA, from Taiwan, in 1 day. Its estimating delivery a month after that. We will see, but this is some BS! WTF changed in a month?
 
Unfortunately the only solid guideline for shipments from Asia is place your order, then wait and see. I haven't had any issues except one time with Banggood where they inadvertently omitted the street number and name from the shipping address. That one made it to the local post office, who then sent it back. Banggood issued a refund based on a screen capture of the USPS shipment back to China and I re-ordered.

I don't think I have ever had a Banggood shipment from China take longer than about 3 weeks. I hear Gearbest sometimes is longer then that, but I haven't needed to order anything from them. Both are reliable, just not fast. I would be leary of TomTop based on their reputation.
 
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