Shop details for CooliCool
Coolicool.com (founded in 2003 in Hamburg, Germany) is an international e-commerce company running an electronics online shop. The products range from tablets and smartphones to other consumer electronics and these are shipped to locations all around the globe. Furthermore, they also list a smaller range of clothing and bridal wear. Besides its headquarters in Shenzhen (China), Coolicool is also running several business platforms in Germany. They also have a substantial presence in Italy, Spain, Russia and Greece.
Experience with Coolicool
Of course we checked out Coolicool in detail and know all about their strengths and weaknesses!
Pros
Cons
Payment
On the German website (de.coolicool.com) you can pay for your order with PayPal or Cashrun. On the international website, www.coolicool.com, you have the choice of PayPal, PayPal credit card, Western Union and QiWi WebMoney. We always recommend choosing PayPal, as it offers a great buyer protection that works well. On the international website as well as on the German site you can decide to checkout via paypal, meaning the ordering process will speed up.
- PayPal (recommended!)
- Cashrun
- Credit card
- T/T
- Western Union
- Money Order
Shipping and delivery time
The shipping costs depend on your location as well as the location of the items you're ordering. On the international website you usually have the shipping options standard shipping (registered air mail; 10 - 30 business work days), which may be shipped via Sweden Post, Malaysia Post or Netherlands Post, and expedited shipping (DHL, 3 - 7 business days). Coolicool's shipping costs and options also depend on the warehouse you're ordering from. If your item is located in the European warehouse in Germany, you'll receive your order even faster, and if you're located in Germany, you get the option of shipping the order via DHL without additional costs.
Special feature: Customs Insurance
A really great feature is the customs insurance. For an extra fee you can add Customs Insurance to your order. Coolicool guarantees that all additional costs that incurred by customs will be refunded if you add Customs Insurance. A really great option, but keep in mind that VAT fees are not covered by this insurance!
Coolicool and customs
Our experience is that Coolicool labels parcels with care, so we didn't have to pick anything up from the customs office and could always pay VAT to our mail man. Please consider the possibly occurring extra costs before ordering: In Germany VAT and customs fees can be charged. Orders with a value of more than ~26€, will be charged with 19% VAT and orders with a value of more than 150€ will also be charged with customs fees - depending on the product categories. You can read more about this in our frequently asked questions.
For shipments entering the US, extra taxes and fees on your product are a possible, if not entirely common, side-effect of international ordering. Not every item is taxed when entering the country, but the majority are only subject to a nominal processing fee of between $2 and $9. The amount to be paid, however, can vary widely depending on the product and how it’s sent. If you are concerned about your item, or are planning to order goods in excess of $100, it is worth it to check with the Customs Office at the port of entry to confirm any extra fees.
Any extra taxes or duties on your shipment will either be paid at your door when the mailman drops it off, or the package may be held at your local post office. In which case, you will need to go pick it up and pay any applicable fees in person.
Return policy
If you're considering returning an item or requesting a refund, then you must contact the customer service within 10 days of delivery. As soon as they approve the return, you will receive a RMA which you will have to add to your order before you send it back to Coolicool. Coolicool will also refund you for the return shipping fees in most cases. Beware: if you're not returning an item because of a fault but simply because you don't like it, you will not be refunded for the return shipping and will only receive a refund of 80% of the item's value.
You can return an item within 180 days because of quality problems and Coolicool will repair the goods free of charge. In this case you will have to pay for shipping. (More detailed information can be found here)
Specific features
The European warehouse makes Coolicool especially interesting for European customers. By choosing this shipping method, you can buy Chinese products without the extra customs or VAT fees and you will receive your order within a couple of days, instead of weeks. If you're shopping on the international Coolicool website, you will see the products in the European warehouse if you click on "EU Warehouse Stocking". Furthermore, if a products is stocked in China as well as Europe, you will have two options: beside the "add to cart" button you will see the button "Click to buy from Europe Warehouse". For North American customers, the European Warehouse may sometimes offer faster shipping times than the Chinese warehouse, especially for the East Coast.
Conclusion
As long as you're not all about the label and if you're open to new Chinese brands, then you will find inexpensive and interesting alternatives at Coolicool. It offers a large product range of smartphones and tablets as well as inexpensive watches, clothing and car accessories.
Alternatives
| Alternative 1: |  Geekbuying | a well known shop for tech such as smartphones and tablets |
|---|---|---|
| Alternative 2: |  Gearbest | free shipping, great smartphone and consumer electronics product range |