WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT THE CORONAVIRUS AND ONLINE ORDERING FROM CHINA

Every day, millions of people all over the world shop on many famous e-commerce platforms, and a lot of them are Chinese giants like Shein, Gearbest, Aliexpress, Banggood and more. Many of us - if not all - have heard about the deadly coronavirus ravaging a great part of China and many of you would wonder how this will affect your online buying. No worries, we’ve got you. Here’s all you need to know about how to deal with delayed packages from China during this outbreak, other places to shop online, and if packages from China are dangerous or not.

The 2019 Novel Coronavirus (nCoV) has shut down Mainland China and has caused worldwide panic due to contagion concerns. Chinese goods are given a wide berth now and online shoppers aren’t left out in the chaos. Questions on whether it is safe to buy from China or if the products would even arrive are frequently asked by customers. So, we’ll do our best to answer them.

First things first, you are not in any risk of infection from a delivered package. Experts think so too. The reason is that viruses do not survive well outside the body, and there is no evidence from similar viruses like SARS that it could be transported through packages. Also, the temperature around the boxes during shipping will not be optimal for the virus to stay alive, because these packages would spend days in a room temperature compartment with no moisture either. You can only get infected if you are exposed to infected respiratory droplets by an infected person within close range.

Second question, ’Will I ever get my parcel?’. Of course, you will! Although a majority of products are assembled in China and most Chinese stores are closed right now, you’ll get your package. The only issue is that it’ll probably be delayed.

Chantal from Bananastyle confirms that there is no risk when buying from Chinese stores, but we should expect delays because of the outbreak. So if you have an urgent need for a product, you could try alternatives like Amazon, Asos, eBay, amongst others.

So, What if you’ve already ordered from a Chinese vendor like Aliexpress, Wish and more? Well, here are some additional tips:

• If you’ve already ordered from a Chinese vendor and it hasn’t been shipped yet, you could cancel your order.
• You also have the option of contacting your seller if your package is taking too long to arrive, he/she would inform you of the tracking status of the parcel, that way you’ll know what’s up with your package.
• If you need to place an order but want to be sure that they’ll stick to their displayed delivery date, you should contact the seller to confirm.
• You can open a dispute or start a chat in the chatbox for assistance if the guaranteed shipping time has elapsed and you haven’t received your package.

And that's it! We hope we’ve helped you know what to do if you need to order online from China during this coronavirus times. And what other options are available to you instead. Hopefully, this too shall pass and then we can all go back to buying online without fear. In the meantime, stay safe and keep ordering. If you have any comments or questions, we’re always here for you.