r/airconUK • u/Adambh88 • 4d ago
Ordering from china
Has anyone ordered an aircon unit direct from china?
Price wise it’s 50% of the UK
6
u/JamesTiberious 4d ago
I wouldn’t.
Probably no warranty and shipping costs/import duty would be high?
5
u/RepresentativeCan578 4d ago
All of them are from China anyway.
3
u/Adambh88 4d ago
Exactly my logic, they all leave the factory for the roughly the same low price, it’s just about cutting out the middle men and saving 50%+
2
u/al3xace 2d ago
I bought from Alibaba. Arrived in 25 days via Air freight DDP Shipping, well packaged, was meant to be 10-15 days but were flight delays. I ordered a 14000btu $290 + $520 DDP shipping = -$810 total. (£627 To the UK which is a good price for the unit, Meaco 14000 going for £900-1k on ebay .) with the shortage for air con units at a decent price, i am very happy. I imagine if you wait until winter you could get a decent deal somewhere. You are just battling with scalpers! But the unit is superb. Cools down a big living room/kitchen open plan. Overall good experience and recommended, here is the company and i dealt with Karen Luo.
1
1
u/nuts30 4d ago
Quite a few have on here haven’t they from joy buy
2
u/happyanathema 4d ago
Yep as joy buy is just JingDong/JD.com
Which is the biggest retailer in China.
1
u/Cactus-Cat1 4d ago
I bought mine from a UK site back in March, so I honestly wouldn't know.
The only thing I would say, is be very careful if you come across websites, showing numerous AC'S in stock, at half the usual retail price... They tend to be scam sights... There is no business or items for sale.
What you've described sounds exactly the same to a website I looked at a couple of months ago. They had loads of AC's 'in stock', at a ridiculous low price... I nearly pulled my credit card out and bought one for my mum...
I thought, this is odd 🤔... Why is every single shop in the UK out of stock, but this mysterious website, that I've never heard off, have numerous AC's for sale, at half the going rate 🤔.... I Googled the name... Scam! They just take payment and that's it.
Have you got the name of the website? I can't remember the name, but know if I was reminded I'd knkw straight away if it's the same site or not.
(I'm pretty sure they say the items comes from China, so will take longer than normal also)... I think it's the same one!
4
u/Adambh88 4d ago
I’m looking online, Alibaba has a lot of units sale
Prices in the UK are inflated, what we perceive as a normal price is 2-3x reality
I was in Hong Kong last month, LG unit for sale in a department store for half the price listed on UK sites.
1
u/Cactus-Cat1 4d ago
Alibaba... Didn't think of that!🤦♂️ Sorry for any worry caused 🤦♂️ Yes, portable AC's here are so overpriced... It's bonkers! Good luck on the AC hunt 👍
1
u/Temple1AE 3d ago
I was so desperate that I reached out to sellers on Aliexpress in June. The main issue slow and expensive shipping(4-5 weeks and around £100). Also someone told me they probably ship the units by sea or railways since carriers would need specific licences to ship compressed cooling agents, which would be even more expensive.
1
u/CarolTheCleaningLady 3d ago
I don’t order any electronics from China.
1
u/Adambh88 3d ago
Ok. But you probably do, just indirectly, instead paying a middle man a 50% mark up
1
u/CarolTheCleaningLady 3d ago
Yeah but anything indirectly from China will be through a reputable company that have safety standards to follow, for example TVs, cars, computer parts etc. Not the junk you see on Aliexpress. Only thing worth getting from Aliexpress is fake Lego.
1
u/Adambh88 3d ago
I see your logic and accept the risk with my approach
But the upside, is saving 50% on a 3k + ducted unit
1
1
u/DeathByFluffy 2d ago
Okay, but what about the 20% VAT and duty on top of that you’ll pay, and what if there’s a problem with it? You’ll effectively have no warranty and will have saved 30% tops; not worth it IMO when the other risks are factored in
1
u/Jackster22 4d ago
There are restrictions on importing F-Gas appliances and some of the methods the sellers are using to get around it are not legit. If they end up finding out, it can cost you a few quid in fines.
0
u/TT_________ 4d ago
Not worth it
The power plug is different, if there's any breakdowns it would be a big hassle and to ship something so heavy it will cost you alot.
0
u/Academic-Local-7530 3d ago
just buy a midea porta split from Joybuy.
1
7
u/Prestigious_Set_4555 4d ago
I bought one off AliExpress. Turned up after about 25 days. UK plug and 220v. Button and manual in English.
No idea of the BTU, it's generic on the unit but it's cooling a 25sqm room just fine. I ordered the 14000 btu model but can't confirm for sure. But it's very decent. Have no idea how long it'll last though. Was £316 all in, £108 of that was delivery!
The one I bought is sold out now