You’re waiting for your phone to arrive that you bought overseas, then days and weeks pass by, and you worried you’re being scammed, but there’s a more complicated reason than that
Sadly, it’s true. The Philippine customs are banning the purchase of smartphones, tablets, and any gadgets from overseas. In a screenshot from an unknown source, Lenovo’s official store through Alibaba explained why the orders to PH were delayed and possibly canceled because of “Philippine customs restricting all cross-border stores from selling phones and tablets to Filipino residences.
Lazada on the other hand, also released a statement regarding this ongoing issue:
You may think that it is caused by Lazada or Shopee’s past tax issues, but there’s a possibility of that, but we aren’t sure for now, and this is a developing story. The Philippines is one of the leading consumers of gadgets bought overseas; half are second-hand smartphones, Japanese imports, iPhones, and more. Even major retailers like Amazon, Wish, AliExpress, Expansys, and more– cannot sell to us from overseas. Yes, even Apple products from across the shores.
Many Filipinos are resorting to buying from abroad because it is cheaper than it is here. What’s next for the Filipino people about this? We might see some domino effect due to the ban, like increased price hikes even for second-hand devices and international imports, as well as scarcity issues. This is a developing story, so stay tuned for more info about this news.
