Shop details for Efox-Shop
efox-shop.com (owned by Aukey E-Business Co., Ltd., founded 2003 in Hamburg, since 2007 in Shenzhen) was an online shop with specialization on smartphones and tablets, even though they had vast assortment of products like garments, car accessories and everything for your home and garden. With a German website and a warehouse in Germany, they were particularly popular with German online shopppers.
Efox-Shop's index page: A first overview of all categories and the huge smartphone range
Experience with efox-shop.com
Efox impressed us immediately with its German warehouse and that’s also the reason why we placed a few orders at their shop.
Pros
Cons
Payment
You have several payment options at efox. The easiest and quickest way is to pay with PayPal - by clicking on “Express purchase with PayPal”, you can complete your order the fastest way. Otherwise click on “Checkout” and choose between the available three payment methods: PayPal, credit card payment (via PayPal) and globalcollect. It’s unfortunate that you can only see the shipping costs after entering a shipping address.
We recommend paying with PayPal because of its 45 days buyer protection.
Delivery time and shipping
The shipping costs and time depend on the location of the ordered item. Some products are on stock in Germany, so you save on customs fees and even get free shipping for that order. Your parcel should be delivered within 72 hours after it was shipped off. If an item is shipped from China, it will take a lot longer, might involve taxes and customs fees and will definitely cost shipping fees. The shipping fees depend on the item, the size as well as the weight. You can usually calculate with 10 to 20 Euro for shipping. Shipping can take up to 35 workdays. As the shipping costs don’t vary much between the two available options, so consider using the slightly more expensive DHL Express. You will receive your parcel with DHL Express within two weeks. You can also choose to add a customs insurance that cost you 8% of the product value and efox-shop.com will pay for any customs fees.
The shipping and payment options at efox-shop
efox-shop and import customs
Efox-shop is very careful with the declaration of their packages. We didn't have to make an unwarranted visit at customs office yet. Nevertheless, one should be aware that customs does random checks on well-declared packages from China.
Keep in mind that you have to pay for the usual VAT and customs, depending on your order value. If you order for more than 26€ (yes, not 22€ - we explain this in our information section in the category "tax"), you'll have to pay VAT to your mail man and if you order for more than 250€, you might have to pay customs fees.
An easy way to safe import customs fees if you're living in Europe: Ordering from the European warehouse in Germany
If you're worried about the VAT or customs fees and you're living in the EU, you might consider ordering from the European warehouse located in Germany. As in this case these fees wouldn't occur.
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 when entering the country. The amount to be paid, however, can vary widely from nothing to $495 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 (likely Los Angeles or San Francisco, unless you're using AirMail) to confirm any extra taxes.
Return policy
The exchange and return at efox is similar to the policy of other Chinese online shops. If you don’t want to keep an item, you can contact the support team and return the item within seven days. 80% of the item price will be refunded but you have to pay for return shipping yourself. If you receive a package with a wrong item, a missing item or a faulty item, you can contact the support team, send the faulty or wrong item back and get a refund or a new, working item in exchange. Efox will pay for the return shipping in this case. If a display is destroyed, then the customer has to pay for the return shipping to get it repaired. All other guarantee conditions are explained on the efox-shop.com website.
Of course you can get your money back by opening a case on PayPal and requesting a refund.
Special features
Efox is special because of its German website and its warehouse in Germany. Many products are unfortunately often not in stock, so you have to visit the shop regularly to get the best deal or order directly from the Chinese warehouse. The shop is specifically designed for German customers, that’s why it doesn’t even have an English website.
Alternatives
Efox is special because of its electronic items and its German warehouse - that's why we think these two online shops might be fitting alternatives for you:
