No matter how many obstacles officials create. Most recently, a resident of Surgut was charged with an administrative violation for importing a Sony Playstation-4 game console. And all due to the fact that the set-top box can access the Internet using encryption (cryptographic) means. It would seem that this is absurd, but it turned out that there are things even more absurd.
At the end of April 2017, customs began to unpack packages with Xiaomi (Xiaomi) products, justifying this with counterfeit products. In fact, of course, there is no counterfeit. Parallel imports are summed up under this article, when products are supplied not only by official importers. The justification is the illegal use of the Xiaomi trademark. If earlier the ban on parallel imports applied only to goods and services for sale, now it suddenly began to apply when importing goods for own use individuals.
The legality of customs actions raises questions. Moreover, goods supplied for commercial purposes are recognized as counterfeit by a court decision, while parcels with Xiaomi goods for individuals coming from abroad are simply turned back by customs.
The Federal Customs Service of Russia maintains a register of intellectual property objects. Customs authorities may suspend the release of goods that violate the rights to objects intellectual property, including the right to use trademarks. In the case of parcels for individuals, the FCS independently determines the signs of counterfeit products, based on the data of the copyright holder.
The letter of the Federal Customs Service of Russia dated March 15, 2017 N 14-40 / 12293 "On the XIAOMI trademark" indicates measures to protect the Xiaomi trademark. Beijing Xiaomi Technology Co., Ltd is listed as the owner of the Xiaomi trademark, and the following are listed as official importers:
- LLC "SMART ORANGE"
- OOO "MIKSTEH"
- LLC "Retentiva Distribution Company"
- LLC "Consul"
To such actions of official Xiaomi importers, I have one answer - a complete boycott of the products of this company. Paying Russian sellers 2 times more for Xiaomi smartphones does not make any sense. And ignoring the problem will soon lead to a complete ban on the parallel import of electronics in international postal items(IGO). The same iPhone, Sony and Nokia trademarks are in the same intellectual property registry.
there are many interesting stories. For example, one customer ordered a smartphone twice Xiaomi and both orders were unsuccessful.
The order was made from one seller for smartphones Xiaomi Mi5. In the first case came Oukitel U20 with weight 440 grams(the whole package), and the second one came with a weight 453 grams. When opening a dispute, it was not possible to prove anything, since the seller blamed the buyer for everything and did not want to return the money until the end of the dispute. Thus, people often lose disputes, and therefore you need to be able to place orders correctly so as not to end up in a similar situation.
Is it possible to buy Xiaomi on Aliexpress?
How to buy Xiaomi on Aliexpress?
More recently, on the import of products Xiaomi there was a ban in the country and all goods were considered counterfeit. Although, to the delight of users, this ban has been lifted.
How to receive a parcel from Aliexpress with goods from Xiaomi?
- Take a screenshot of the order with you to the mail and print the entire package tracking process from the site Russian Post. Upon receipt of the goods, record the process of weighing the parcel on video, show how much it weighs and try to keep it in the frame. If the weight differs by more than 30 grams, then it is better to ask for a weight difference report and refuse to pick up the parcel.
- Always keep the purchase in the frame, film how you remove the sticker from the top and show the seller's sticker that was made when sending.
- If you see glued adhesive tape on a parcel from customs, mail or another, and also if there are damages and signs of opening, then call an employee and unpack the goods together. If the goods are really not all right, then draw up acts of opening and investing. In addition, you will have to refuse to receive the parcel.
- Even in the absence of external damage and changes, still open the package together with the postal employee. If he refuses, then you have the right to request an autopsy due to the difference in weight.
- If you take the goods home and, then if problems are found, it is likely that nothing will be returned to you. On the this moment the dispute resolution policy on the site has changed and you still need to try hard to prove your innocence. As for marriage, substitution, theft, and so on, if the unpacking was not filmed on the video, then you or the post office are to blame, so that's where you are going.
- Most the best option in such cases, it is the removal of the autopsy on video at the post office and the refusal to receive the parcel in case of problems. The parcel will go back, and you just have to start a dispute on Aliexpress and attach tracking screenshots. If you are asked to provide acts, then send. Until the parcel arrives in China and the seller will figure out what's what, the delivery time will end and the money will be returned to you.
- In addition, if the seller wrote on the parcel the cost is much lower, then the post office can compensate for the damage, but only in court and only the amount indicated in the parcel. For a full refund, ask the seller for a copy of the postal receipt. And yet, the post office may claim that the cost is written in currency and will not reimburse anything. The maximum that you will receive is up to 30 SZR (1 SZR = $1.5). So no matter how hard you try, you will always lose.
Try to adhere to these rules and you will definitely not have problems with the return of funds. Do not be upset if you brought the package home, filmed the unpacking and it turned out that not everything was in order inside. If you have a customs act, you still have the opportunity to prove your case.
Video: Lifehack HOW TO BUY XIAOMI ON ALIEXPRESS? IMPORT PROHIBITION
When Xiaomi just entered the smartphone market, it offered MIUI firmware for popular devices from other brands, and a little later it began to produce phones itself. They were focused primarily on China, but at the same time they were easily adapted for other countries by the forces of enthusiasts. So it was until about 2014-2015, but then the situation began to change.
Now, after entering the international market, Xiaomi devices are clearly divided into Chinese and global ones. Sometimes they differ in names, but the main differences lie in the software. Models for China do not have most European languages (only English), Google services, but there are pre-installed local services. Also, a slightly different set of modem frequencies is active in them, for example, there is no LTE Band 20, which is not used by anyone in China.
Xiaomi Redmi Note 5
In Chinese versions, the "About phone" settings menu is different. Photo: Geek NG
The differences between smartphones may seem insignificant, but for a simple user they are very, very significant. Having bought a device for the local market, you may encounter a number of problems that will not be easy to solve. Therefore, it is recommended to consider why you should not buy Xiaomi smartphones intended for sale in China.
The information provided in the article is relevant for Xiaomi smartphones released in the 2nd half of 2017 and newer. Their list includes Mi 5X, Redmi 5 , Redmi 5 Plus,Redmi Note 5, Note 5A and newer models. The exception was the rather old Mi Max of the first generation, which has also been difficult to unlock recently.
Earlier Xiaomi devices like Mi6, Redmi Note 4X, Mi Note 2 etc. easily transferred from Chinese to international firmware or vice versa. Some of the problems described in the material do not concern these smartphones.
Why Xiaomi separates smartphones by market
There are a number of reasons why Xiaomi smartphones for the local and global markets differ from each other. The most important of them is the blocking of Google services in China. Since PlayMarket, Gmail and other services built into Android do not work in China, smartphone firmware for the local market contains pre-installed Chinese counterparts.
Different in China and sets of frequencies cellular networks: LTE works in other bands, and the TD-SCDMA standard is also popular, which has not been widely used in other countries. because of high density population and limited frequency resource, networks with time division (TD) of the receiving and transmitting channels are widespread, while frequency division (FD) is more often used in Europe.
Due to the fact that smartphones for China and foreign market you have to make them a little different, Xiaomi is not interested in implementing modifications on "foreign" territory. After all, if immediately after the start of sales of a new model, the first batch is bought up in seconds by resellers (and this has happened many times), there will be a shortage of new items on the Chinese market. This is fraught with the loss of part of the market, because without waiting for Xiaomi, potential buyers will go to another brand.
Wanting to maintain a decent level of sales both in China and beyond, the company resorts to various measures to protect devices. However, not only the desire to maintain stable sales forces developers to resort to restrictions, there are other factors. It is the combination of these factors that makes buying a Xiaomi smartphone destined for China not the best decision.
Locked bootloader
Around the end of 2015, Xiaomi smartphones have a locked OS bootloader. This circumstance does not allow users to modify the operating system (for example, add European languages and Google services to the Chinese version of MIUI) or install alternative OS builds (like Lineage OS). The initiator of the bootloader lock is both Xiaomi itself and Google.
Xiaomi's interest lies, firstly, in the reluctance to provide an easy opportunity to reflash Chinese versions of smartphones to global ones. Indeed, with this opportunity, sellers will be able to install international firmware on Chinese smartphones and freely sell them on AliExpress. The second reason is shared by Xiaomi and Google: concerns about user safety.
With an unlocked bootloader, attackers can modify the OS in such a way that they can intercept confidential data (logins, passwords, messages, banking data). In addition, with an unlocked bootloader, it becomes possible to completely reinstall the system and change the IMEI of a stolen or found smartphone. The device search function becomes useless in this case. Even if by some miracle you manage to find a smartphone, it will be impossible to prove that it belonged to you after changing IMEI.
Headphones Xiaomi AirDots
Locking the bootloader allows you to significantly increase the level of data protection on your smartphone, but complicates the process of flashing it. It is very difficult for an untrained user to install a global version of the OS on a smartphone for China, and this is one of the reasons why you should not buy Xiaomi for the Chinese market.
Firmware issues
For advanced users who know how to secure a smartphone and are ready to modify the OS on their own responsibility, a procedure for unlocking the bootloader is provided. To do this, you need to apply on the Xiaomi website and wait. However, there are limits on the number of devices that can be unlocked with one account, so this option is not suitable for resellers.
To get around the restrictions, sellers resort to various tricks, looking for loopholes to bypass protection. Sometimes they succeed, as a result, firmware is installed on Chinese versions of smartphones, which are hastily localized and completed Google apps. On thematic forums, such firmware was called "Vietnamese" or "basement". Naturally, such OS modifications are not tested, and no one can vouch for their stability.
The lion's share of all software problems in Xiaomi smartphones are caused not by poor OS optimization, but by bugs in unofficial localizations. Naturally, negative reviews hit the manufacturer's reputation, so he tries to constantly improve the tools to protect the OS of smartphones from outside interference. “Vietnamese” firmware can, at best, lead to the fact that the smartphone will not receive updates, and at worst, turn it into a “brick” when trying to update.
Since unscrupulous sellers often hide the fact of installing unofficial software modifications of dubious origin, it is undesirable to buy Xiaomi smartphones for the Chinese market. You can usually identify such firmware by an uncharacteristic number. The official versions of MIUI are numbered like 9.2.1 or 9.2.1.0, and the "Vietnamese" ones are often denoted in the format 9.9.9.99 or 9.2.1.99, where the fourth number is the key. Indeed, genuine Xiaomi firmware usually does not have it at all, and if it does, it is not two or three digits.
And so - "Vietnamese".
What is fraught with the purchase of the Chinese version of Xiaomi
Given all the nuances of the Chinese versions of Xiaomi smartphones, you can make a list of problems that you may encounter when buying them.
- Chinese power supply. A power supply unit for a Chinese socket is the most insignificant drawback, since sellers put an adapter in the kit. But it is he who is one of the key features of the smartphone version intended for sale in China.
- Lack of LTE Band 20. Chinese smartphones do not support LTE at 800 MHz, which may limit their range. If the operator also has 3G on one of the frequencies supported by the smartphone, you most likely will not notice the lack of Band 20. But if the provider in the city works only in LTE, in the 800 MHz coverage area you will be left with no connection at all.
Xiaomi Mi Power Bank battery
- Problems with software . If the seller installed “Vietnamese” firmware on a smartphone intended for sale in China, problems may arise. Such MIUI builds are characterized by sudden program crashes, increased battery consumption, errors, non-working or “lag” components (sensors, sensors, etc.). Also, you will not be able to receive firmware updates.
- Flashing difficulties. If you get a Chinese Xiaomi with unofficial firmware and problems arise, there is a non-zero chance that you (if you are not a “guru”) will not be able to install a normal firmware at all. You will have to choose: either endure glitches in Vietnamese, or put the official Chinese (without the Russian language). To install a global OS, you will have to unlock the bootloader, wait from 72 to 360 hours, “dance with a tambourine” and rely on the favor of the Chinese gods. In some cases, it is impossible to return from the “basement” firmware to the official (Chinese or international) firmware without closing the Test Point contacts, which requires disassembling the smartphone.
- Reduced security and limited functionality. If you manage to unlock Chinese smartphone bootloader, install a verified OS build (like a translation from MIUI.SU or Lineage) - be prepared that you will not be able to search for a lost smartphone through MiCloud services, use NFC for payments and a fingerprint scanner to protect banking applications. The last two restrictions can be bypassed using the Magisk software, but this is an additional hassle. Also remember: if thieves try to bring a stolen smartphone with a locked bootloader and a link to a MiCloud account into working condition, they will not succeed, and the chances of finding the device are very high. If the bootloader is unlocked, you can say goodbye to the device.
How to distinguish Chinese Xiaomi from international
To make sure before buying that the Xiaomi smartphone is intended specifically for the global market, carefully study the description on the store's website. Usually sellers additionally emphasize that this is a global version, designed for international sale.
You can recognize the device by appearance. First, the packaging of smartphones for international sale contains inscriptions on English language, while Chinese modifications have hieroglyphs on the box. The second point is the power supply. The global versions of Xiaomi are equipped with a charger with a Euro plug, with round pins, while the local ones are flat, for Chinese standard sockets.
Buying a Xiaomi smartphone destined for China is a bit like buying a JDM car at a Japanese auction. Of course, a Toyota Crown Majesta in perfect condition can be cheaper than a less rich Camry in a local showroom. But at the same time, you need to be prepared that the steering wheel of such a car will be “in the glove compartment”, the headlights shine in the wrong direction, the systems and inscriptions are in Japanese, and the front passenger will have to go out onto the roadway. And if the headlights can be replaced with the “correct” ones (if there is a left-hand drive version of the car), the language can be switched to English, then you will have to get used to other moments.
Similarly, with Xiaomi smartphones intended for the Chinese market. If the savings are large, such a device can be bought, since many of the shortcomings are completely eliminated. But it is worth considering whether you need all this trouble. If you have no desire to comprehend the intricacies of unlocking and flashing Xiaomi, and you want to buy a device that will work well out of the box, you should overpay a few thousand rubles and immediately take the global version, originally designed for international sales.
Xiaomi Official Store- This is the official Xiaomi store on Aliexpress, where you can purchase original brand products with a quality guarantee.
Xiaomi has been able to become one of the leaders in the list in a few years the best manufacturers modern mobile devices and other technology. The steady growth in the number of sales, as evidenced by the financial reports, indicates a high level of trust among users of Xiaomi products.
In this store you will find a wide range of Xiaomi products: Cell phones, tablets, laptops, headphones, routers and other products. All of them are conveniently sorted into categories, so you can easily get to the right section of the Xiaomi Official Store, where you can choose a product and place an order.
Xiaomi official store on AliExpress is called Xiaomi Official Store and you can visit it by clicking on the link.
Another nice bonus When buying mobile phones in the official Xiaomi store on AliExpress, some products can be ordered from a warehouse located in Russia. For residents of the Russian Federation, goods are sent within 24 hours and delivery will take a few days. Now you won't have to wait until the ordered phone from China arrives at the post office after 30 or more days.
On AliExpress, you can find a large number of all kinds of sellers who offer to buy products from the Xiaomi manufacturer, but all of them are not official. In addition, these stores most often cannot offer free warranty repairs to buyers if the device fails.
AT Xiaomi official store on AliExpress you can buy mobile phones, laptops, Mi Band fitness trackers, TVs and many other products from a Chinese manufacturer.
Xiaomi Online Store Reviews
The official Xiaomi store was opened on AliExpress in 2010 and has already managed to win a high rating and trust among customers. To date, the Xiaomi Official Store has received over 29,000 reviews. and 98.6% of them are positive.
After a wave of complaints to the ICR, the FAS, the prosecutor's office and the media, customs officers stopped "wrapping" parcels from China
Parcels with phones ordered by Russians in foreign online stores, customs began to skip. Recall that in April, thousands of orders, mainly with mobile phones of the Xiaomi brand, Federal customs Service froze, seeing in them signs of counterfeit. The buyers, who did not wait for the orders, considered these actions to be arbitrariness and suspected the customs officers of conspiring with dealers who sell the same devices in Russia for one and a half to two times more expensive, and began to complain to the regulatory authorities. After the hype raised, smartphones began to be produced, but it is not known whether the conflict has been resolved: the FCS considers its actions legal, as does the Association of Internet Trade Companies. Details are in the material of Realnoe Vremya.
Telephone amnesty, or Customs gave the go-ahead
The Federal Customs Service began to allow smartphones from China to pass through. On the page in the social network, which was created by the Russians who did not wait for their parcels, there is a joyful revival. If a few days ago they posted samples of complaints about the actions of customs officers to the prosecutor's office, the Investigative Committee and the antimonopoly service, now they are screenshots with tracking packages with the long-awaited "released by customs". Almost all parcels hung at customs for 16-20 days.
“Oh, they released it on May 3rd. It looks like an amnesty. Or “Smart Orange” gave the go-ahead,” Irina Koroleva writes in the comments.
Recall that problems with the delay of smartphones ordered in Chinese online stores began in April. The Federal Customs Service included the Xiaomi trademark in the register of intellectual property objects based on the request of the copyright holder, which in Russia was Smart Orange LLC. According to the law, customs must notify the representative of the right holder about the importation of a suspicious phone into the territory of the Eurasian Economic Union. Smart Orange, in turn, replied that this product has signs of counterfeit, and objected to its importation. Thus, customs officers began to return thousands of phones back to China.
The Federal Customs Service included the Xiaomi trademark in the register of intellectual property objects based on the request of the copyright holder. Photo anrt.info
As representatives of the Federal Customs Service commented to Realnoe Vremya, “in accordance with Article 111 of the Customs Code of the Customs Union, customs officials, when performing customs operations, check documents and information, during which they send appropriate notifications to copyright holders about the identification of goods in the MPO that have signs of violation of rights intellectual property (counterfeit). When sending this notification to the right holder, the customs authority decides to extend the period for the release of goods. If, according to the information provided by the copyright holder, the goods being sent are counterfeit, the customs authorities, in cooperation with the Russian Post Federal State Unitary Enterprise, take measures to prevent the import of prohibited goods arriving at the MPO into the Russian Federation and ensure their immediate export from Russian Federation».
Have phones suddenly ceased to find signs of counterfeit?
According to media reports, Smart Orange LLC asked the customs to take a closer look at phones from China in order to stop the "gray" shipments of smartphones and accessories under the Xiaomi brand. Perhaps the company saw the main threat in private entrepreneurs supplying gadgets bypassing official channels, but as a result, retail customers who order smartphones for personal use began to suffer. The actions of the customs officers, "deploying" such parcels, the president of the National Association of Distance Selling, Alexander Ivanov, called lawlessness.
I have serious doubts about the legality of this. With us, this story - with the rights of individual distributors - does not apply to goods for personal use. Goods for personal use are not subject to certification or law in any way. What has happened now is an outrage. The question is whether the victims will sue and prove their case. A private person has a weak position in this regard - it is practically powerless against the state. And the Chinese seller will not go to Russia to sue - for him this is a microscopic part of the business, - Alexander Ivanov told Realnoe Vremya.
What happened, since the phones started to come to customers, did the customs officers change their position or did Smart Orange LLC suddenly stop finding signs of counterfeit goods in Xiaomi ordered directly from China? Smart Orange was unable to promptly comment on its position to Realnoe Vremya, we sent a request and are waiting for a response.
Buyers believe that the original purchased in China from an authorized dealer Xiaomi phone cannot be considered counterfeit - it is without a doubt original and made in the sender's country. Photo miui.su
Discounts for victims of "greed"
From dissatisfied buyers, a shaft of criticism fell upon the official distributor. They believe that the original Xiaomi phone bought in China from an authorized dealer cannot be considered counterfeit - it is, without a doubt, original and made in the sender's country.
According to buyers, the distributor's attempts to stop the supply of smartphones directly from China are connected "only with greed." The petition addressed to the management of Beijing Xiaomi Technology Co., Ltd, states that the official Xiaomi distributor in Russia sells phones at excessively inflated prices.
“On average, it is 2 times higher than the price set on the official website of the manufacturer,” writes Aleksey Sadchikov, the author of the petition.
In the official group on the social network, representatives of Xiaomi in Russia are already tired of answering what the price of the product in Russia is made up of.
“The pricing policy has already been discussed earlier, however, we are ready to repeat it. The price of our products in Russia depends on many factors. Taxes and customs tariffs of the Russian Federation are one of the most important. In addition, we offer a number of services included in the price of the goods: warranty service, localization, adaptation to the local market and much more,” the official distributor replies.
It is noteworthy that, as soon as problems with the delay of phones at customs began, the distributor offered buyers whose phones were sent back to China "the maximum possible discounts on official Xiaomi products." To do this, it was necessary to send confirmation that the goods were returned to the seller. From the messages under the post, one could understand that the discounts were meager and they were in no hurry to use them.
According to Fedorov, cross-border e-commerce has long become a channel for obtaining small consignments of goods for commercial use. Photo allinvest.ru
AKIT protected the customs
Against the actions of Smart Orange LLC, which declared war Chinese online stores, spoke out in public organization RosKomSvoboda and the National Association of Distance Selling. However, there are experts who agree with the position of the Federal Customs Service and the official distributor.
ACIT believes that the activities of the FCS are fully justified and correct from the point of view of the law. In our understanding, it is the right holder in the country where products under his brand are sold that must determine whether a particular product is counterfeit or not. With the rapid development of the Internet, cross-border online trading has become the main channel for counterfeit products to enter our country. At the same time, for example, in classical imports, customs has long learned to stop the supply of counterfeit products. Cell phones received from abroad in parcels do not undergo certification and security checks (at the same time, all phones officially imported into the territory of the Russian Federation must be certified by the security agencies of the FSB and FSTEC), cannot be used when working with our telephone communication standards . And this means that such goods cannot be legally sold in Russia, - says Alexei Fedorov, President of the Association of Internet Trade Companies.
According to Fedorov, cross-border e-commerce has long become a channel for obtaining small consignments of goods for commercial use. Increasingly, for example, in the regions, a resourceful entrepreneur orders a batch of phones in several parcels “for personal use”, keeping within the duty-free threshold of 1,000 euros in the Russian Federation. The sale of goods in this case takes place on the territory of the buyer, at the place of receipt of the goods, that is, such products are considered purchased on the territory of the Russian Federation, and not abroad.
The Association advised not to purchase goods from unofficial sellers and always remember that "the miser pays twice." Photo miui.su
“Marginality of sales of Apple phones is less than 3%”
Often, goods in foreign online stores are cheaper than analogues in Russia. ACIT believes that this is due to the fact that some models are not designed to work in our telecommunications networks. In addition, they lack warranty and post-warranty service and maintenance.
In our work, we have repeatedly come across a big misconception that Russian sellers receive 300-400% of the profit from the sale of one phone, which, of course, is not true. So, for example, the marginality of the sale of Apple phones is less than 3%, while sellers receive income from the sale of accessories and maintenance of equipment, but the difference in customs payments that they pay Russian companies and their foreign competitors do not pay, reaches 28%. We are well aware that today the Chinese counterfeit everything. At the moment, even in the vastness of Runet you can find great amount sites that sell copies and replicas (which is basically just beautiful name counterfeit products). China has a strong manufacturing modern technology, however, in parallel with this, a huge number of underground factories for the production of branded goods are developing famous brands which can be bought for very low prices, - says the president of the Association of Internet Commerce Companies.
The Association advised not to purchase goods from unofficial sellers and always remember that "the miser pays twice."
After receiving the goods, in most cases you simply cannot return the money from a foreign seller, - Aleksey Fedorov is sure.
It should be noted that the Federal Customs Service in the case of Xiaomi smartphones did not confiscate the goods, but sent them back to the seller, who returned the money to the buyer.
Daria Turtseva
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