My Aliexpress order has been shipped

I had earlier ordered for a Toshiba laptop battery from Aliexpress, a China based website that connects China to the rest of the world. I decided to buy from them because of the fact that it would be cheaper than buying from sites like Amazon, Jumia or Konga. The cost of buying laptop batteries from Amazon and then shipping to Nigeria would be high and buying those batteries in Nigeria costs about N7000 and above and so I thought I should just buy straight from Aliexpress since they accept Nigerian Visa and Mastercards.

On January 23rd 2014, I ordered for the replacement battery from Aliexpress and paid with my Zenith bank Visa Prepaid(USD) card and it took some time for them to process and accept the payment as well as for the seller to ship the items to me.

Buying directly from Aliexpress would cost me about N5100($29.96) and I just want to see how their process works since this is the first time I'm buying from them. I normally buy computer parts from sites like Amazon, eBay, Jumia and Konga but trying out Aliexpress could be fun.

So I ordered for the item in January 23 2013 and by February 9(2 weeks), I got an email from Alibaba the order has been shipped. They also informed me that they are offering a buyer protection up to 60 days which will be enough for me to receive the goods and ensure that it is in good condition else I could raise a dispute against the seller from my account. I also get to confirm to them when I actually receive the goods so that the seller would be credited with the funds I've already paid. So, they sort of hold your money on behalf of the seller and release it when you finally receive the item in Nigeria.

My order was shipped by the Seller using Swedish post and I was given the tracking number through which I'd be able to track it online. It would take about 15 to 60 days for it to be delivered to me in Nigeria. I'm waiting to receive it.

One thing I noticed about shopping on Aliexpress from Nigeria is that by default, your item doesn't get delivered very fast but you can choose to make use of a fast courier service like DHL and pay a bit more for shipping. So, compared to the US shipping service that I make use of when shopping at AMazon, Aliexpress is a bit slow and so it's good for shopping items that you don't want immediately. One might have to be patient to receive the items ordered from them for at last 1 month. For my shopping with Amazon, it takes just 10 working days to get to Nigeria via DHL.

When a buyer logs into his Aliexpress account after the order has shipped, he would notice that there is a button that says confirm Order received. There is also another link that says raise dispute. The first one is what you should click when you receive your goods within the stipulated time i.e. 60 days. The second link that says raise dispute is to be used when you have a problem with your order such as non-delivery, wrong item or the item is not as described in the order. Well, you should use "raise dispute" within the time period when your buyer protection covers you else you may not be properly protected.

Now that my order has shipped, I'm waiting to receive it in Nigeria. I guess that's one of the hazards of shopping online at foreign websites. It takes some time to get it in Nigeria unlike if I had ordered it from Jumia or Konga.