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Xiaomi phone import ban. The ban on the import of Xiaomi phones to Russia

We recently talked about how Smart Orange LLC, which is engaged in official supplies of Xiaomi smartphones to Russia, influenced the actions of the Russian customs, as a result of which the latter began not to let the gadgets of this manufacturer purchased in Chinese online stores (for example, AliExpress) for personal use at the border:

Of course, we began to find the necessary loopholes in the laws for this pressure on human rights, but this does not change the essence.

At the moment, the Federal Customs Service of the Russian Federation has already “wrapped up” about 1000 smartphones at the border, calling them counterfeit at the behest of Smart Orange (although they were not bought from “gray” sellers in Russia and not for resale), or encryption means not allowed by us. (Interestingly, if I bought a smartphone abroad on vacation, would they not let me on a plane with it?)

In response to lawlessness - a petition

Not wanting to endure such arbitrariness of our customs, the Russians created a petition against the ban on entering Russia Xiaomi devices. Of course, for personal purposes, and not "gray" resale. Here she is, sign:

The petition has been sent to the Federal Customs Service of the Russian Federation and the leadership of Xiaomi in China (Beijing Xiaomi Technology Co., Ltd). We are also invited to boycott Xiaomi gadgets officially sold in Russia at shamelessly inflated prices. However, due to problems with customs, prices for “gray” deliveries of devices from this brand began to rise.

To date, the petition has already been signed by 12,387 people.

Result?

Only the blind still do not see that in Russia now only money and power rule. If the powers that be are not in the hands of some laws, they are increasingly ignored or changed with impunity. Therefore, whether there will be any sense from the petition - think for yourself. The FCS is not obliged to consider such applications from third party resources, in legal terms, the law does not require this from government agencies.

Push

I see two conflicting points here:

1. The prices for Xiaomi devices, which are 2 times inflated by Smart Orange LLC, are really a reason for a boycott (and for the attention of the Federal Antimonopoly Service, perhaps). Everything has a limit.

2. Another thing, all sorts of Chinese stores - AliExpress and the like. It turns out an interesting picture. In our country, state regulators are so revealingly fighting "gray" imports, supposedly so that part of the funds from officially imported and certified devices go to the Russian treasury in the form of taxes and other fees. However, at the same time, our authorities are not at all against the fact that billions and billions of rubles constantly flow away from us straight to China, enriching their economy at our expense. Stunning situation! We have only bans, fines, inspections and pressure on business, while the Chinese have a really wide tunnel to Russia. Withdraw money there through "Ali" without any "impossible" there! At the same time, our friends, relatives or acquaintances, who open offline or online stores here, then “sit” penniless and watch how their customers pay the Chinese. And try to touch this "Ali"! Will be under threat international relationships with China. But we can’t even buy goods for sale in China without having a contract with a factory, a foreign currency account, customs clearance at a wild cost and obtaining all sorts of “certificates”, which a small business simply cannot afford to do. And with these requirements, how can you still make affordable prices in Russia? Prices will be wild, but no margin. Why, one wonders, do they crush their own compatriots in our country and let citizens of another country live at their expense? Sad and hopeless.

All Xiaomi smartphones imported into Russia, so many buyers of mobile devices from this manufacturer have not been able to receive their packages. Chinese online stores and sellers understood this and returned money to buyers for undelivered goods. Even despite the fact that thousands of Russians have already filed complaints with several Russian authorities and the Xiaomi CEO in China, the likelihood of resolving this situation with customs peacefully is extremely small.

The editors of the site carefully analyzed the situation and found two really working solutions that will help buyers from Russia continue to get their hands on Xiaomi smartphones at a very low prices. At the same time, the likelihood of any problems with the customs service of the Russian Federation is negligible. If everything is done correctly, then the parcel is guaranteed to be in the hands of the buyer, bypassing the traps set by Smart Orange, which asked not to let allegedly counterfeit Xiaomi smartphones into Russia, since it owns the rights to this trademark.

Negotiate with the seller or online store

Russian customs operates very simply. If the postal packaging contains words like “Xiaomi smartphone”, then such a postal item will not reach Russia. All Chinese online stores and individual sellers usually mention the company name, so Russian customs actually provide all the data to complete their task

Before buying a Xiaomi smartphone in China, you should contact the representatives of the online store or the seller in advance, asking them not to indicate the brand name of the smartphone, limiting themselves to the words “smartphone” or “Android mobile device”. In this case, the customs service will never be able to know for sure which smartphone from which manufacturer is inside. Of course, the package can be opened, but this almost never happens.

Compliance with this simple rule will allow you to continue ordering Xiaomi smartphones from China without overpaying a double price to the Russian representative of the company. At the same time, everything will be on completely legal grounds, since the essence of the parcel does not change from this. Customs officers will still understand that there is a mobile device inside, but which one, they will only have to guess.

Order Xiaomi smartphones from the Mall

As part of integration into the Russian market, the largest Chinese online store AliExpress more A few months ago, he opened the so-called "Mall", in which Russian residents can order goods not from China, but directly from their own country. Thus, postal items bypass customs checks, which means buying in a simple way you can Xiaomi smartphones.

Of course, goods from the Mall cost approximately 10-15% more than those delivered from China, but the confidence in receiving the package and the absence of headaches with customs are definitely worth it. We also note that all postal items moving only in Russia reach the recipients within two weeks, and this is another reason to buy a Xiaomi smartphone through the Aliexpress Mall.

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Russian customs unpacks parcels with Xiaomi smartphones. So the country is trying to deal with gray supplies of Chinese devices. Customs does not approve?

Xiaomi: customs does not give the go-ahead?

The Chinese company Xiaomi is so popular and attractive that people are ready to order them from Chinese online stores on their own. But in addition to the risk of running into an unscrupulous seller, there was an additional risk associated with the refusal of customs to let these devices into Russia. In April of this year, there were several cases when customs refused to let Chinese company smartphones bought in China through. The official wording of the refusal may be different. Firstly, there is a requirement of the official distributor of Xiaomi LLC "Smart Orange" for a trademark, and secondly, devices can be equated to encryption tools and also not let them into the country. About a thousand people have already faced this problem. Basically, smartphones are not allowed into the territory Russian Federation through the customs of Yekaterinburg and Orenburg.

No cheap Xiaomi?

The opinions of news resources and analysts regarding this situation are divided. Someone claims that customs requirements are legal and import gray devices when there is an official representative in the country, it is illegal. And someone considers this whole situation a banal collusion and a lobby of distributors. Thus, not only gray suppliers suffer, but also ordinary people who independently bought smartphones in Chinese online stores. In March of this year, all divisions of the Customs Service of the Russian Federation received a notification that the Xiaomi trademark was included in the customs register of intellectual property. The method of checking devices at customs looks interesting. All parcels marked as "cell phone" or "phone" are checked. Boxes with similar marks are opened and checked. If a device with the Xiaomi logo is detected, then the customs officers contact the representative of Smart Orange, who may recognize the device as fake and import into the territory of the Russian Federation will be prohibited.

No exit?

How exactly the situation will be resolved is not yet clear. After all, not only gray retail suffers, but first of all ordinary people who want to buy good smartphone for little money. Signatures are being collected on the Change.org website for a petition addressed to the Federal Customs Service of Russia and Xiaomi Technology Co Ltd. In the petition, users call for the import of devices from a Chinese company individuals. However, customs is not obliged to respond to such activities. Another thing is that it is not realistic to process all parcels with smartphones at customs, so someone may not be lucky, but someone will calmly receive their smartphone. But it’s not worth risking buying Xiaomi smartphones in Chinese online stores yet, because it’s not clear whether you will be lucky.

When a manufacturer is just going to success and world fame, he does everything possible to please the buyers of his branded products. This has been the case with Apple, Samsung, HTC and many other brands, but at some point they all lost touch with their audience and began to do what they want. Xiaomi decided to do the same, which simply banned the use of smartphones in Russia and other countries outside of China.

Unfortunately, the Chinese corporation Xiaomi can surprise not only with something good, but also with really bad things, one of which has been reported on official resources. According to brand representatives, from now on it is no longer possible to install the global MIUI firmware on any smartphone models that are intended for sale in the Chinese market. They can no longer be updated and reflashed.

When you try to install a global MIUI firmware on a Xiaomi smartphone for China with the Russian language built into it and Google services the mobile device will simply turn into a “brick”, that is, it will become impossible to use it. This also applies to global modifications of branded phones, on which it is no longer possible to install firmware for the Chinese region. The innovation affects all models released in 2018.

Among those Xiaomi Redmi 5, Redmi 5 Plus, Redmi Note 5, Redmi 6, Redmi 6A, Mi 6X, Redmi S2, Mi 8 Pro, Mi 8 EE, Mi 8 SE, Mi Max 3, Mi MIX 2S, and a number of others. All their owners should unlock the bootloader as soon as possible, because this is the only way to correct the situation and ensure that the smartphone does not turn into a “brick” with the next update. You need to understand that many residents of Russia, Europe, India and other regions of the world buy Chinese phone models for a reason.

Smartphones for China usually cost 10-30% less than versions for the international market. That is why experienced users buy Chinese configurations and then reflash them to global ones. MIUI firmware. After that, such mobile devices can be fully enjoyed without any restrictions, which millions of people have done for many years. However, the other day, Xiaomi's decision greatly spoiled the lives of all such users.

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More recently, Xiaomi was unknown to anyone in the global market for portable electronic equipment. Today, it is becoming the leader in sales worldwide, not without the help of the CIS countries, which, in fact, are the most frequent buyers their goods. That is why authorized suppliers began to appear Xiaomi phones in countries such as the Russian Federation, Belarus, Ukraine and others.

So, in the spring of 2017, Smart Orange (a division of the RDC Group), which officially sells and services Xiaomi smartphones, launched its activities in Russia. It would seem that everything is fine and finally it will be possible to buy a good one. budget smartphone, bypassing all the difficulties of foreign purchases. But alas, not everything is as good as it seems.

Starting from April 2017, outrage began to appear on various Internet resources about the difficulties of crossing customs control with smartphones purchased by users in Chinese online stores. At the same time, employees of several customs control points (Ekaterinburg and Orenburg) simply withdraw and return, discovering that the package contains a Xiaomi branded phone.

The Federal Customs Service explains all these actions by the fact that it was at the end of March that they received a letter regarding the procedure for importing Xiaomi products, which states that Smart Orange is the only representative of the copyright holder in the Russian Federation from Xiaomi. Actually, she and a number of partners have the right to import Xiaomi products through the line of "portable phones".

Otherwise, the customs of Xiaomi goods is obliged to slow down and return to the seller. Even if we consider that the meaning of the idea is very noble and is to reduce the goods of "basement" production from the so-called gray markets, it is worth noting that the ban also affected officially ordered products from Xiaomi for personal use, and this, of course, caused an uproar.

Give gifts

Opinion of Smart Orange

This company confirmed the information about the application filed with the customs for Xiaomi smartphones, which they sell in the Russian portable electronics market. They are also ready to cooperate with affected users from such "sanctions" by offering discounts on the purchase of any Xiaomi smartphone in their network. After all, it is Smart Orange that can provide high quality products and their further professional service.

Positions of affected consumers

In addition to the fact that most users do not consider ordered smartphones for personal use through online stores as counterfeit goods, they also believe that Smart Orange's statement regarding the inadmissibility of entering these goods into civil circulation is illegal. In Yekaterinburg, a whole community “The Problem with the Orenburg Customs” was even deployed, in which “colleagues in misfortune” could exchange advice on resolving this issue and problematic points regarding the Xiaomi market in Russia.

So, the main reason for what is happening is the cost of imported mobile phones from China. The difference between the price of the same smartphone in an authorized point of the Russian Federation and Chinese internet store will differ on average by 30-40%. Wrapping up and maximum price gouging is the answer to the question about the rapidly growing popularity of Chinese products, which are issued through online stores.

Official suppliers of Chinese electronics and their next steps

Of course, most foreign companies have an intermediary company in the territory of the Russian Federation, but the problem of the "gray" sales market is relevant to any brand. Therefore, there are only two solutions to this question:

Establishing a ban on imported goods through unofficial sources (Xiaomi, Sony) and, accordingly, their stop, detention and return to the seller.
Providing the most affordable and high-quality service by trusted companies (Meizu).

Thus, choosing one of the options, companies create for themselves a certain status of a tough or loyal and high-quality intermediary with good products in the CIS countries.

Options for safely buying Xiaomi through Chinese online stores

And yet, Chinese online stores, which have established themselves in the world market as reliable sources of high-quality equipment with reasonable prices, do not allow the domestic user to calm down. Why should I pay prices that are wrapped up in Russian market if I can buy goods online?

Many people ask this question, and the solution is simple - make purchases through online stores. But given the difficult situation with customs and the possibility of stopping to check the goods (detained only in 2 regions) with a further return to the seller, it becomes much more difficult to use the so-called "gray" market. However, there are several options for more or less secure cooperation:

Ask the seller of such a product to send a smartphone through the Singapore Post, which operates through Vnukovo Airport, where the retention rate is very low. But do not forget about the growing urgency of this issue, which may entail detailed control throughout the country;
Invite the seller to designate a parcel with a smartphone as a gift, a photo frame, or something like that. The event, although risky, since there is a scanner everywhere, is really working. Just do not indicate abstractly "phone". In this case, it will definitely be opened;
Try to specify the phone of some other Chinese manufacturer. This is the most realistic option to avoid detention at customs. However, it is worth considering that more than 5% of all parcels are checked in detail by customs control officers, so there is still a risk;
The easiest option is to buy new smartphone at a good discount from Smart Orange and join their fan club.

As a result, we can say that the procedure for buying smartphones in the Chinese Internet market will be relevant in any case. The only thing that intermediary companies like Smart Orange can do is to provide good quality with an appropriate price (without markups of 200-300%) on a popular product.