Updated 28. 8. 2026: we went through the guide and added details according to the new rules. From July 1, 2026, a flat customs fee of €3 applies to shipments from China for each type of goods, and starting June 19, 2026, online shops must offer withdrawal from the contract directly online. The Choice return process itself remains the same — 15 days, free of charge, and with a shipping label.
- Choice protection gives you free returns within 15 days of delivery, but only for faulty, damaged, or otherwise described items.
- If you want to return a working item just because you don’t like it, use the legal right of withdrawal within 14 days — but you pay for return shipping yourself.
- You submit the request in the app via Returns/refunds, attach a photo or video of the defect, and you’ll get a return label.
- Send the package as soon as possible — you usually have 15 days to ship it, otherwise the return may not be accepted.
- The money usually arrives within about 30 days from submitting the request, as long as you sent the package right after the label was issued.
For years now, the Aliexpress online marketplace has undoubtedly been the most popular "market" for Chinese products—even for Slovaks, who place thousands of orders through it every year. Not long ago, the seller also pleased Europeans with a new selection of products called Aliexpress Choice.
It offers a range of benefits, including guaranteed delivery in 13–15 days from Chinese warehouses, plus free returns.
Aliexpress Choice is the new hit: How to return products?
We covered the Aliexpress Choice product selection separately in the previous article. In short, it’s a selection of products from that segment that are available at a great price and with free shipping exclusively on AliExpress.com. These Aliexpress Choice products are chosen each time from thousands of items. The main benefits of buying a product marked with the Choice badge are as follows:
- Shipping: Completely free, including VAT, and very fast—within 13 or 15 days from the Chinese warehouse. We owe this to the company’s own logistics from Aliexpress itself and distribution centers in Europe. Note: from July 1, 2026, a new customs charge will be added to the price—more on it below.
- Returning items: Free of charge within 15 days from delivery. Thanks to the local network of supplier partners, you don’t have to ship it all the way to China—you just hand it in at a pickup location here.
Legal right to return vs. Choice protection
This is what trips people up the most often. After all, there are two different return regimes, and each has different rules and a different payer for shipping.
- Choice protection for buyers (15 days) — the return is free, but only when the item arrives faulty, damaged, or in a different condition or version than it was described. The return shipping is paid by Aliexpress and you’ll receive a ready-to-use shipping label.
- Legal right of withdrawal (14 days) — you can do it without stating a reason, so it applies even when the item is perfectly fine and you just don’t like it. The withdrawal period starts from the day you receive the parcel (or a person you designate), not from the day it’s shipped. But you pay for return shipping yourself and for cheap items from China it often isn’t worth it.
The new thing is that from 19 June 2026, traders must make the right of withdrawal available online directly — i.e., via a clearly visible button, throughout the entire 14-day period, without you having to print a form or register somewhere. In practice, that means searching for a contact form and sending emails should be a thing of the past.
No free returns without stating a reason
Today we’ll take a closer look at how to proceed if you want to return a product you bought as part of the AliExpress Choice selection. First, you need to set the conditions under which buyer protection applies — i.e., free returns of the product are allowed. First of all, it only applies to products that arrive defective, damaged, or in a condition or version different from what the seller described.
If this condition isn’t met, a Choice product can still be returned, but the buyer pays for transport — which often ends up exceeding the cost of buying the product itself, since in the AliExpress Choice selection they mostly pick cheaper items worth a few dozen €. At the same time, buyer protection does not apply to the following product categories:
- products damaged by the buyer themselves
- personalized and made-to-order products
- items subject to rapid spoilage
- items that are not suitable for return for hygiene or health reasons
At Chinaplanet.sk, we always try to choose only products from verified sellers, or those with lots of positive reviews — you can also find them in our Discount Planet category. Even in such cases, however, it can happen that a product arrives faulty due to a manufacturing defect, or gets damaged during shipping. In this situation, within Choice, you can use buyer protection, which gives you fast and easy returns of the purchased product.
First, among the delivered orders, choose the one you want to return:
Select the “Returns/refunds” option to create a new return request. Then choose whether the product was delivered to you, and what defect it has:
Set the amount of money you want to be refunded (the product value). Then enter your email to receive the return label, and attach a photo/video of the product and the defect along with a description. After that, submit the request:
Once your request is approved, you’ll receive an email with confirmation from AliExpress, and at the same time an email with the return label for sending back the product. Print the label and stick it on the parcel with the properly packed product and everything that came with it. Then hand the parcel over to the carrier AliExpress specifies directly on the label — in our case it’s usually a network of pickup points, so you’ll drop off the package at the nearest shop or branch:
⚠ Notice: Try to hand in the parcel as soon as possible after receiving the return label. If you don’t meet the parcel drop-off deadline (typically 15 days), the seller doesn’t have to accept the return.
In the app/on the website, under the request itself, you can then track your parcel. After it’s delivered back to the seller, the refund will be processed within 10 business days using the payment method you used to place the order:
What happens to the 3 € customs charge when you return the item?
From 1 July 2026, the customs exemption for shipments up to 150 € has ended, and instead you pay a flat customs duty of 3 € for each type of goods in the shipment. AliExpress collects it already in your cart as Estimate duties and in practice you’ll pay around 3.70 €, because VAT is calculated from the customs duty as well. For cheap Choice items, this can be a significant part of the price.
When you return, check what amount Aliexpress actually credits you. Customs and handling fees usually aren’t among the items that are automatically refunded for product returns, and Aliexpress hasn’t clearly stated anywhere how it handles the new flat fee for returns. If you don’t get customs back, it’s worth disputing it through customer support.
The simplest defense is buying products that are already stored in Europe — the new customs duty doesn’t apply to EU-warehouse goods, and you’ll also shorten the shipping time in case you need to file a return. We show how to filter search results to only European warehouses in the separate guide.
Final recommendations
If the product price is lower than the shipping cost set by the seller, Aliexpress often won’t even require you to return the item and will refund your money right away for the faulty product. In case of more expensive items worth dozens of €, returning the product becomes a condition for the refund. When packing the returned item, also pay attention to the package label with the return code. Also, keep proof that you sent the package, such as the shipping confirmation, so you can show that the product was actually returned if needed.
It’s also good to know that a dispute can be opened up to 15 days after the end of the protection period. So if the parcel arrives at the last moment and you notice the defect only after a couple of days, you don’t have to panic right away.
In the editorial office, during our selection of Aliexpress Choice, we’ve already returned several faulty products, and we can say the return process is set up quite efficiently on the marketplace. Of course, return shipping isn’t as fast as shipping to the buyer, but normally the money hit our account in about 30 days from the initial request to return, as long as we shipped the item right in the first days after the label was issued.
Returning products via the Aliexpress Choice selection can be a great option for buyers, but it’s important to keep in mind the steps and recommendations mentioned above so the whole return process runs as smoothly and efficiently as possible.
Have you ever returned an item on AliExpress?
Did you like this guide? We have another one where we’ll show you how to always find the lowest product prices using your smartphone’s camera!
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Discussion (1)
I’d like to ask whether it’s possible to return the item via a GLS parcel locker. The GLS parcelshop is quite far from my place of residence.