Background:
I have been engaging in amateur orders from China since late 2014. Hitherto, I've been using freight forwarders/delivery agents operating here on Nairaland to facilitate the shipment of my consignments after payment for orders from alibaba.
Typical iteration of my mini imports were as follows:
1. Source for and pay for orders.
2. Pay for courier delivery to my freight forwarders' location within China.
3. Forwarder ships my orders to Nigeria (Usually takes 2-3 weeks). I normally use normal shipping which is cheaper/slower than express shipping.
4. Upon arrival of my package to Lagos, I also pay a logistics company between N700 - N1,500 to pick the parcel from freight forwarders' Lagos office and deliver to transport company or Post Office - for onward delivery to Akwa Ibom State.
5. Transport company or Post Office then delivers to Akwa Ibom State.

This lethargic scenario persuaded me to subscribe to the idea of buying from Chinese online stores with inbuilt delivery to buyers address. My first such online store shopping experience was with www.gearbest.com

My gearbest.com Experience

1. Payment & Shipping:
*It is very easy to pay instantly with PayPal.
*Processing takes between 1 day to 1 week in all my experience. I only once complained about processing delay via tweeter but the response was swift.
*Registered parcel takes about 18 days to arrive my destination in Akwa Ibom, Nigeria and about 3 days on the average for ordinary postage. All my orders always arrive 100% safe.
*The packaging is neat and conceals the content satisfactorily. Gearbest is security conscious. The package does not give clue that it is a merchandise. They resembles ordinary letter as much as possible.
* At checkout, there are options for paying for tracking no ( which comes as Registered Parcel in Nigeria) and for shipping insurance. I am to suggest that if the amount of the order will be painful to loose, it makes a lot of sense to pay about $1.99 or thereabouts for each of the aforementioned options to guarantee replacement in event of loss/damage of items in transit, or any thing that may motivate claim for restitution from the supplier. It must be acknowledged that international trade has it peculiar risks!

List of my orders from gearbest:
MEMORY CARDS:
MIXZA
http://m.gearbest.com/memory-cards/pp_337824.html
SAMSUNG (ORIGINAL)
http://m.gearbest.com/memory-cards/pp_28060.html

9 WATTS LED BULB (LED Technology saves energy more than the commonplace CFL bulbs that we call energy saving bulbs in Nigeria)
http://m.gearbest.com/led-light-bulbs/pp_124750.html

24 WATTS LED LAMP (This model is very bright but requires steady voltage or it will blink)
http://m.gearbest.com/indoor-lights/pp_266931.html

XIAOMI 20000mAh POWER BANK:
http://m.gearbest.com/iphone-power-bank/pp_263761.html

CAR PAINT SCRATCH REPAIR PEN:
http://m.gearbest.com/car-decorations/pp_226569.html

Of all my orders, I observed that my colleagues at work tends to like the LED bulbs, especially ladies. I have accordingly been requested to make repeat orders both single and bulk for their personal use and resell.


2.Customer Relationship:
* I opened a ticked about delayed delivery and gearbest's customer care responded professionally.
* My other communication means has been through their tweeter account. I have always been attended to promptly and positively. I was once assured that my goods will be replaced if it delayed beyond a certain timeframe in postage.
* I really regard their Customer Care system as top notch.

3. General Remark:
* Gearbest now is my major online shop in China. Most of my orders in 2016 has been from geatbest because it simplifies international trade to a simple art of just clicking buttons online and waiting for my orders to be delivered. Hitherto, I have been using freight forwarders and go through the complex process of customs clearing and multiple courier agents in order to get my Chinese imports to my doorstep. With gearbest, no more stress.
* So far I have placed 8 orders on a wide range of items, such as: power banks, car accessory, Led bulbs.
* All my orders came as original goods. I have not received any fake product.
* User reviews are genuine in my impression and reliable enough to guide an aspiring buyer. Most of my orders are for resell, I have repeated orders for satisfied power banks and cheap but original Led electric bulb customers.
* I earned points on buying and writing user reviews and converts the points to discount when shopping.
* I have no hesitation in recommending gearbest.com to any buyer. They have lived up to expectation and I am looking forward to a sustained long term business relationship with gearbest.com

* Find photo exhibit of my orders.
* I am available to answer questions on gearbest, shipping, payment, dispute resolution and and cognate issues that bother you.

please where in Akwa ibom are u based

Thanks for the review. Have you ever bought smartphones from them?

Please make you know this site very well before making your recommendations.

civilserva:
Please make you know this site very well before making your recommendations.

any negatives?

charles667:
please where in Akwa ibom are u based

Uyo

tobbie247:
Thanks for the review. Have you ever bought smartphones from them?

Not from them. Rather, I took a bold step last week to pick a $33.99 smartphone from geekbuying. It is still in transit at the moment. I will open another thread on that in order to update my online phone shopping experience for all to learn whenever I took possession of the order.

civilserva:
Please make you know this site very well before making your recommendations.

Well, I am inclined to belief that my experience so far is worthy enough to develop an agreeable opinion, after all, people drive just one car and based on the experience on just a car, do give definite opinion.
I have placed 8 orders, received 4, remaining 4 are still in transit. At least, you will agree that I have cognate experience to share.

dragnet:

any negatives?

I am yet to see any so far.
I study the reviews. Some reviews are in other languages such as Russian, Spanish, French, etc. I copy such to translate.google.com and have it translated to English.
As much as I am eyeing a cheaper alternative, I evaluate what I believe is best to source from China.
If I need laptop at the moment, I may resort to buying from USA/Europe. I don't yet trust Chinese' laptop battery build quality yet till I notice convincing progress.
I do read negative remarks from other websites on cases such as missing in transit or wrong specification. I always advise if the amount involved is of a higher value to you, ensure that you pay the $1.99 tracking fee and buy the cheap insurance to ensure instant replacement in event of failure in service/delivery.

optimised:

Not from them. Rather, I took a bold step last week to pick a $33.99 smartphone from geekbuying. It is still in transit at the moment. I will open another thread on that in order to update my online phone shopping experience for all to learn whenever I took possession of the order.

Thank you so much. I'd be on the look out for the thread.

optimised:

Uyo & Abak. Both town's post offices are OK for me. At times I am called to pick up, other times they drop the notification slip at my postal address directing me to come and sign and collect my parcel

please must you have a PO Box to buy from Gearbest?, can I use my home address?

Op can i have your phone number and facebook id?
I have some questions

bappahman:
please must you have a PO Box to buy from Gearbest?, can I use my home address?

Use any traceable address and phone no. when registering your address.
Ensure that you are around or can be located if Post Office decides to deliver the mail. In my case, they don't come, rather, they either call or deliver the notification to my P. O. Box. That suits me because I am not at home during daytime. Is is safer for me in that no one with receive my parcel and claim it or forget to inform me.

These days Post Office dispatchers tends to call when they are indisposed to deliver

How much u do pay Nipost to get ur order?

busuyi44:
How much u do pay Nipost to get ur order?

Nothing so far

.

I' ve been buying from GB since last year, and so far so good, the only issue I have with them is the delivery time, sometimes you wait up to 6 weeks for your goods to be delivered but of recent there delivery time seem to have improved..

There are lots of complaints about them, but I have been lucky with all my purchase so far, though I tend to buy stuff that I can afford to bear the cost if anything goes wrong.. Trust me you don't want to send stuff back with Chinese companies, the headache is just too much..

There packaging is extremely strong and durable, you cannot rip there packaging with your hands or teeth, you just have to cut it.. I live in UK, not quite sure my experience is the same as those in Naija..

optimised:

Nothing so far

u mean one can get his package from nipost for free?

Demerits of Gearbest:
No refund to customer bank account in case ur order fails to arrive. Dy do refund to Gearbest wallet.
Aliexpress offers cheaper prices than Gearbest.

busuyi44:
Demerits of Gearbest:
No refund to customer bank account in case ur order fails to arrive. Dy do refund to Gearbest wallet.
Aliexpress offers cheaper prices than Gearbest.

I once cancelled an order I placed through PayPal and my bank account was refunded after 7 days.

They told me to submit a means of identification after placing my order and I told them to cancel afterwards.

Baroba:
I' ve been buying from GB since last year, and so far so good, the only issue I have with them is the delivery time, sometimes you wait up to 6 weeks for your goods to be delivered but of recent there delivery time seem to have improved..

There are lots of complaints about them, but I have been lucky with all my purchase so far, though I tend to buy stuff that I can afford to bear the cost if anything goes wrong.. Trust me you don't want to send stuff back with Chinese companies, the headache is just too much..

There packaging is extremely strong and durable, you cannot rip there packaging with your hands or teeth, you just have to cut it.. I live in UK, not quite sure my experience is the same as those in Naija..

You are right. International trade is a risk, so one has to evaluate his/her decision well and be as sure as possible of what you are into and plan B in event it flops. So far, it has served me well.

pat077:
u mean one can get his package from nipost for free?

These ones comes in like letter or small parcel. So, you receive it like a letter. That is my experience so far.

busuyi44:
Demerits of Gearbest:
No refund to customer bank account in case ur order fails to arrive. Dy do refund to Gearbest wallet.
Aliexpress offers cheaper prices than Gearbest.

That's is fallacy of general assumption.
As a rule of thumb, before buying, try as much as possible to compare prices between shops.
Even in aliexpress, different sellers sells same item at different prices. I have seen cases where it is cheapest in a shop within aliexpress and in another occasion gearbest offers the least price in the entire internet plus free shipping. It all depends. Note that I buy from other online sellers too not only gearbest. I only dedicate this thread to my experience with gearbest shopping.

I still prefer aliexpress anyday and anytime. Reasons

1. Different sellers with prices far cheaper than that of aliexpress

2. Every item comes with free tracking number, even items that are less than $1 so why should I pay extra for it.

3. Super fast shipping. I bought 5 items from 5 different sellers on the 3rd of this month and I collected all of them last monday.

Darkseid:
I still prefer aliexpress anyday and anytime. Reasons

1. Different sellers with prices far cheaper than that of aliexpress

2. Every item comes with free tracking number, even items that are less than $1 so why should I pay extra for it.

3. Super fast shipping. I bought 5 items from 5 different sellers on the 3rd of this month and I collected all of them last monday.

1. True, aliexpress provided a single platform for different sellers of a particular item with advantage of different prices.
2. Far from reality: each shop in aliexpress has unique shipping options. Some offer free tracking, others offer tracking at a fee. Some offer shipping without tracking as the only option. Yet others give wide latitude of shipping options from Post Office to Couriers (express shipping).
3. aliexpress does not ship faster. all online stores uses extant shipping agencies - usually post offices (eg. China Post, Netherlands Post, Hong Kong Post, etc.) and courier (such as UPS, DHL, etc.). Accordingly, all parcels arrives at the same time. I have personal experience of ordering from eBay China, everbuying, gearbest, & banggood and all arrived at the same time.

Price comparison illustration:
Item: Zweihnder 9w E27 LED Bulb
* On aliexpress the cheapest price on any store is $3.96, other stores sell for over $4 and $5 respectively; while gearbest sells the item for just $2.
Reference:
http://m.gearbest.com/globe-bulbs/pp_124749.html?wid=1
This points out that no store holds the monopoly of offering the cheapest price! Always compare prices before concluding!

It seems aliexpress has improved ib their shipment, my goods was shipped on the 13th of June and got to Nigeria on 24th of june. Quite fast!

busar:
It seems aliexpress has improved ib their shipment, my goods was shipped on the 13th of June and got to Nigeria on 24th of june. Quite fast!

aliexpress is an online market comprising different stores. It is the individual store that sells and ships the goods through third party shipping agencies such as postal office or courier agencies. These third party agencies determine the efficiency of the shipping process.

Which bank offer best dollar rates for online transactions? I don't mind opening a new account for online shopping. I need a cheap decent android phone right now.

tobbie247:
Which bank offer best dollar rates for online transactions? I don't mind opening a new account for online shopping. I need a cheap decent android phone right now.

Stanbic savings account does it for me

optimised:

Stanbic savings account does it for me

I am a novice on thos and I intend buying from alibaba.. chatted with tbe seller and was told item cost 203dolar den shipping plus item cost 440$ or dia about.. I av some questions. can I please chat u up.. thanks

optimised:

Stanbic savings account does it for me

Thank you very much.

They charge how much? I hope it's not way above N300.

without paying for Postal service fee?

optimised:

Uyo & Abak. Both town's post offices are OK for me. At times I am called to pick up, other times they drop the notification slip at my postal address directing me to come and sign and collect my parcel