Updated:
I have been making several purchases from AliExpress since the last post about shipping from China to Cambodia (Logistic recovering from Covid 19). Here is the summary: it takes a bit longer than before, but reasonably fast.
Most of my orders are electronics parts, meaning, they are small. Even when I order several parts, my favourite seller ships them in a package, similar in size to smartphone products in a box. I always choose AliExpress Standard Shipping where possible because it is the cheapest option with tracking information. Tracking information is essential in this country as most of couriers — including DHL — do not deliver items to your home. They call you when items arrive, but, sometimes mistakes happen. When you choose AliExpress Standard Shipping, dispute process is much easier if the issue is caused by logistics. In that case, AliExpress directly processes the dispute request, and when they confirm it, they will refund immediately. AliExpress does not deliver items, but uses third-party couriers, often Singapore Post in South East Asian countries, instead.
So far, the average lead time is between four to five weeks. Most of electronics retailers ship items within one week. Six weeks in total is acceptable for the shipping fee (usually two or three US dollars). Before Covid 19, and when postal rate for international small packages from China was cheap, my orders from China to Bangkok via China Post took two weeks or three, sometimes just one week. To me, one-month-or-so lead time is acceptable, and fast enough for the moment. So far, no packages have been returned to sellers (in June, a laser diode cutting machine was returned to the seller without explanation). No custom taxes were paid probably because they were small and light. I also noticed that more sellers have options to ship items from European countries, and US than before.
The situation will be better in the future, not worse, I guess. Unlike European countries, Asian countries did manage the situation. Japan has started talks with Asian countries, namely Thailand, Singapore, Taiwan, Korea, Vietnam, and China. Travel restrictions will be eased for travellers from these countries soon.
It’s about time to work on stacked projects and to make storage for the parts!