Best Trusted Chinese Sites for Phones, Electronics and Technology

In Chinese shops that sell directly online we really find everything: cell phones, smartphones, tablets and all kinds of gadgets of all kinds, which can also be used easily in Italy.

In this guide we show you the best reliable Chinese online stores, avoiding customs fees and, in most cases, shipping costs. The accepted payment methods, any return policies and the type of shipping offered will also be highlighted (which one to choose to be on the safe side).

READ ALSO -> Safer online payment systems for making purchases

1) Types of Chinese online stores

There are three types of Chinese online stores you can visit, all profoundly different from each other.

• Shops with warehouse in Italy: these shops sell Chinese products (primarily smartphones) and their accessories after having provided for customs clearance and sorting on Italian territory. In fact, they work like Amazon, shipping any type of device or gadget quickly (from 1 to 3 days).
• Stores with warehouse in Europe: These shops already operate within the European Economic Area, so there is no customs to pay for the products, plus the guarantee complies with Italian laws (2 years). With these shops, shipping is fast (within 7 days), as long as the product is present in their warehouse.
• Stores with Chinese warehouse: these shops operate from China (often the city chosen is Hong Kong) and store the goods in warehouses in China. To get them to Italy you will therefore need to rely on an international shipment, with times and costs that vary based on the product chosen. The site’s guarantee applies (not always coinciding with the 2 years expected in Italy) and deliveries can take very long times (from 10 to 60 days), but the prices are by far the lowest on the Web. The customs risk it is quite high, also given the tight postage imposed by the EU on important products from China.

When in doubt, let’s try choose a shop with a European or Italian warehouse or that has the product in the European Union, leaving Chinese shops with Chinese warehouses only for truly unobtainable products.

2) Online stores for Chinese phones

1) Mi Store it is the official Xiaomi store in Italy and Europe, where it only sells devices compatible with the European market; in Italy the warehouse is present in Rome, therefore we will only receive products cleared through customs and ready for use. By purchasing from this store we will have fast insured shipping (within 3 days) with DHL courier, after-sales assistance, support for all Italian credit cards (including PostePay) and support for the PayPal payment system.

2) OnePlus Italia is the official site where you can buy OnePlus phones and accessories. The site provides different types of shipping from European territory (Standard, Priority and One-day arrival), we can purchase with PayPal, it also supports PayPal installment payment and provides an excellent after-sales service.

3) OPPO Store it is the official store where you can safely purchase OPPO products, from phones to wearables through to original chargers and cables. The site supports PayPal and Afterpay as a payment method and provides express delivery within 24 hours (free if the order is over €99, otherwise it costs €5.99).

4) realme is the official store for realme phones and accessories. The site provides a rapid shipping service (within 5 days of shipping the order), with products cleared through customs directly from the store at no additional cost. At the time of writing it does not support PayPal, so we will necessarily have to use a credit or debit card enabled for online payments.

5) HONOR is the official site where you can buy HONOR phones and accessories, the brand born from a branch of HUAWEI and which broke away to become an independent brand. The store provides free and fast shipping for all orders over €99, free returns within 14 days, a 2-year official guarantee and fast payments with PayPal.

3) Chinese online technology stores

1) The first site to visit to purchase products already present in Italy is Honobuy. This site operates on Italian territory, so all the products it displays can be shipped to your home in a very short time without further customs costs. Prices may be higher than other solutions, but the convenience of not paying customs makes it superior to many other similar sites. If you are looking to buy a Xiaomi product, a Xiaomi accessory or any other device of Chinese origin this is the right site for you! It accepts PayPal as a payment system and allows you to track the shipment in real time.

2) A good alternative to Honorbuy to buy Chinese products already cleared through customs is Banggood. This shop boasts a huge choice of smartphones from all the main Chinese brands (there are also lesser-known brands), in addition to tablets, notebooks and various compatible accessories. There are many payment methods accepted: PayPal, credit or prepaid card, bank transfer and Postepay top-up. The site relies on BRT (Bartolini) for deliveries, so shipping times are very quick.

3) AliExpress it is the largest Chinese store of all, with products of all kinds, from clothing to electronics. In another article we have already written if buying on AliExpress (Alibaba) in Italy is convenient and safe.

4) TomTop is another Chinese shopping site (but with shipping to Italy and written in Italian) dedicated to technology, which rose to prominence in 2020 for its offers on some products. You can find all kinds of devices on sale, especially from brands like Xiaomi. Shipping does not always take place from China because the site also has warehouses in Germany.

5) We cannot forget among the best reliable Chinese sites for technology Geekbuyinga point of reference for low-cost technology, even if the site is not translated into Italian (so it is better to equip ourselves with a good site translator).

Conclusions

We keep this web page in our browser bookmarks, so we can quickly retrieve the links to the Chinese online stores where to find the new phone we are looking for at the lowest pricecon the certainty of receiving the product within a few daysespecially if we choose to purchase from one of the Italian and European stores managed by the most famous Chinese producers.

For further information we can read our guides best Chinese smartphone brands and on features and advantages of Chinese smartphones.