How to order things to Russia from abroad today? We will not be left without sneakers and gadgets

In March 2022, major European and American brands suspended their work in Russia: we lost Nike and adidas, Vans and The North Face, Uniqlo and H&M.

The situation on the market is unstable, but not hopeless. For all those who are not ready to give up branded things and simply imported goods, there are ways to get the desired thing even in the spring of 2022.

We tell you how you can get a brand new pair of Jordans if you really want them.

How are things on the market?

Most brands have refused to deliver to Russia, closing not only retail stores, but also suspending the work of online stores in the country. In such conditions, you can get to know Russian manufacturers better, use the services of multi-brand stores (such as Street Beat and Sneakerhead) or order goods from abroad.

On March 21, the Eurasian Economic Union announced the decision to raise the duty-free threshold for buying goods in foreign online stores from € 200 to € 1000. This threshold has only been lowered in recent years in order to increase the saleability of domestic goods, but in the current circumstances it was decided in favor of a temporary increase in the threshold.

The decision will come into effect on March 31 and will apply to goods weighing no more than 31 kilograms. If a parcel ordered from a foreign online store costs more than this amount, the buyer must pay 15% of the excess.

At this point it is worth adding – there are some restrictions when importing goods into Russia. Ordering from Europe, it is worth paying attention to the price of 1 unit of goods: it should not exceed the above-mentioned € 1000. The full list of goods allowed to be imported from Europe can be found here.

Things are a bit more complicated with American goods. At the moment the following goods are prohibited for import:

• leather goods, natural and artificial fur;
• clothing and shoes more expensive than $ 1000;
• bags, purses, cases, suitcases;
• jewelry and costume jewelry;
• watches and accessories with precious metals, ivory, wood;
• cosmetics, skin care products, sponges, brushes;
• plastic figurines and any figurines;
• sports gloves;
• ceramics and crystal.

The full list can be found here.

But the main snag is not in the logistics chain at all, but in the fact that European and American services have stopped accepting Russian bank cards for payment.

For those who do not have a foreign card, too, all is not lost: today there are countries that will open an online bank account even for non-residents. Note that in most banks you will be asked for a digital signature. You should look for them in Kazakhstan, Turkey, Singapore, Armenia, Bulgaria and Cyprus. In Georgia, for example, it is possible to open a card if you have a trusted person in the country.

Chinese websites and Union Pay

According to statistics, the Chinese e-commerce market is the largest in the world. In recent years, there are almost no prejudices left regarding the reliability of online shopping in this country.

First of all, AliExpress and Nice are marketplaces like Asos or Farfetch. On the sites you can find original brands confirmed by certificates of authenticity. It’s important to remember that dollars can now be paid there only from a QIWI wallet, and if you don’t have one, you’ll need to get one.

Secondly, UnionPay is an international payment system operating in 180 countries. The countries where it operates include Switzerland, Greece, Italy, Spain, Germany, Mexico, Cyprus, Thailand, India, Israel, Portugal, Croatia, Poland, Serbia, Hungary, Austria.

It is now possible to issue a Mir-UnionPay co-branded card that will work in both systems at once. However, there are a few facts that do not sound so rosy:

1. You need to clarify the action of the system in each individual store or resource. You can find a country in the list of accepting such a card, but you will not be able to pay for purchases in a particular selected store, because it does not work with the system yet.

2. issuing a card with UnionPay today is not an inexpensive venture at all. Issuing such a card will cost about 5-7 thousand rubles per unit of plastic.

Logistics companies and aggregators

The most affordable way to get the desired thing from a foreign online store is to use the services of special companies. As we have already said, for such a scheme you need to be able to pay for the purchase itself in currency. But for those who have only Russian cards and rubles on hand, there is an option.

Special services buy goods in American and European stores and make the customs declaration for you. You pay for your purchases in rubles, and the company takes care of the conversion and all organizational aspects. The services will charge a small commission of 5-10% for their services.

How does it work?

1. You choose the necessary goods in a foreign online store (most likely, you will have to use a VPN).
2. You register on the service you like (some of the services available today are SDEK and Banderolka).
3. Refill your balance in a currency convenient for you – in some services even rubles will do.
4. Make a delivery to the address of the postal address or warehouse offered by the service.
5. Wait for the courier with the ability to track your parcel from the moment it is credited to the company’s balance.

CDEK Forward Project Manager, Director of SDEK USA

SDEK has been able to reorganize its supply chain to continue to operate in all 25 countries of operation. Instead of direct air service to the USA, we use multimodal delivery: part of the way parcels fly by air to Finland, the rest of the way we take them by ground transportation from Helsinki to Moscow and St. Petersburg, from where we send them to other Russian cities. From the European Union we deliver only by ground transportation. Due to this, the delivery time has indeed increased, but it has not stopped.

So you can shop on Amazon, eBay, iHerb and sites of all brands, but it is worth considering that you will have to wait a little longer for the parcel, and the price for it will seem a little higher – it’s all about the difference in exchange rates. The story with the return of goods will also make you think about the purchase – to return the goods to the seller will be in a penny.

And the most unusual way for those who keep up with the times and prepared a little in advance – to pay for purchases with cryptocurrency. In 2022, this is quite a functioning model – someone has already bought an airplane with crypto, for example.

Read it yourself, tell your friends and don’t panic. We will have Nike and New Balance!