My Online shopping experience at Aliepxress.com using free shipping

I recently received a replacement laptop battery which I ordered from Aliexpress on the 23rd of January 2013. Yeah, it took over 2 months and that's because I chose the slow delivery speed and not DHL or other express delivery service.

The bottomline is that the item I ordered for was shipped to me and I had to collect it at the NIPOST post office in Surulere. Once you item has been received at the local post office close to you, they would send you a notice by means of a receipt which would also bear the tracking number of the order. This is mostly for slow shipping that goes through the postal system.

I ordered for the laptop battery and paid for it using my Zenith bank Visa USD card and I wrote about that experience here

There are many sellers on Aliexpress.com so it's just a marketplace for people to buy and sell.

So, after placing my order, the payment was accepted but it took about 12 days to process the order before it was finally shipped. Since Aliexpress offered a buyer protection, any payment made to a seller would be held by them in an account until the buyer finally receives the goods and confirms that it is in good condition.

Aliexpress buyer protection normally covers an extended period of time even after one has received the item so that he would be able to safely confirm that is in good working condition.

My order was forwarded from the Chinese mailing company to an international Swedish courier service and a tracking number was also issued with which I was able to track the item until it arrives Nigeria.

After the item arrives Nigeria(Final destination company) and also reads "Local mail tracking", it means that you'd be able to track the location of your item on the NIPOST website - http://www.nipost.gov.ng. You can do that using the same tracking number issued to you on the Aliexpress order.

Once the item is available at your local post office, you can then go to collect it and you should go along with your Personal ID card, the tracking number and a copy of your id card(front and back).

After you have collected your shipment from NIPOST and ensured that it's specifically what you ordered, you can then proceed to your Aliexpress account to confirm that you have received it.

Don't try to be fraudulent with the system when shopping on Aliexpress.com and always confirm that you have received it when you do so that the seller will get paid.

As far as I know, the slow mail shipping (Free shipping)option is the cheapest way to ship items from China to Nigeria when shopping on Aliexpress. The cost of using courier services like DHL, Fedex or TNT is way too expensive.