Customs problems resolved?

[tsl16]

I see some older posts but nothing very recent…. Anyone made a purchase from DJI store since beginning of June? Any issues with either customs holds or unexpected tariff bills? Saw DJI US say they were working with CBP on the holds and FedEx/UPS on the unexpected bills a month or so ago, just looking for firsthand confirmation from someone that’s made a very recent order that we’re good to go.

 

[tsl16]

For anyone curious, I ordered an Air 3S from DJI store last Friday, it shipped Saturday out of Malaysia, with stops in China, Japan and South Korea along the way before landing in Anchorage where it cleared customs less than an hour after the plane landed. Delivered yesterday, no mess, no fuss, no bill for tariffs.

The batteries and other components of the fly more combo shipped domestically from California and were delivered today, though I missed it (signature required) so I’ll have to go pick it up from the local FedEx center tomorrow.

So no customs issues, thankfully.

 

[GadgetGuy]

For anyone curious, I ordered an Air 3S from DJI store last Friday, it shipped Saturday out of Malaysia, with stops in China, Japan and South Korea along the way before landing in Anchorage where it cleared customs less than an hour after the plane landed. Delivered yesterday, no mess, no fuss, no bill for tariffs.

The batteries and other components of the fly more combo shipped domestically from California and were delivered today, though I missed it (signature required) so I’ll have to go pick it up from the local FedEx center tomorrow.

So no customs issues, thankfully.

The underground railroad is still alive and well!

I similarly had no problems in December getting a Refurbished Mini 4 Pro Combo directly from DJI. It all came at once from China, several days after ordering.

However separating batteries from the drones seems to be some kind of workaround, as is taking the scenic route from Asia!

 

[Mooseknuckles]

I purchased the Air 3s fly more lite combo on Friday 13th. It shipped in two packages, drone came from Malaysia and batteries and other stuff from California. Drone arrived yesterday via Fedex (no issues with Anchorage customs) and batteries come today via UPS. Looks like they've resolved the customs issues for the Air 3s for now..

 

[tsl16]

I purchased the Air 3s fly more lite combo on Friday 13th. It shipped in two packages, drone came from Malaysia and batteries and other stuff from California. Drone arrived yesterday via Fedex (no issues with Anchorage customs) and batteries come today via UPS. Looks like they've resolved the customs issues for the Air 3s for now..

I got a call from DJI customer support a couple hours ago letting me know the domestic shipment with the accessories is out for deliver again today (I missed it yesterday). Had a nice conversation with the guy who had a Chinese accent but communicated well in English. I specifically asked if tariffs and fees are included in price on the DJI store and he says yes. He also said some people are receiving tariff bills from FedEx or UPS but do not pay them, contact DJI support and they will handle. He says they are prioritizing accessories and parts for domestic inventory so they can be shipped quickly, while shipping new drone orders from overseas. I was impressed with the customer service and them taking the initiative to call me after a failed delivery attempt.

 

[Mooseknuckles]

I got a call from DJI customer support a couple hours ago letting me know the domestic shipment with the accessories is out for deliver again today (I missed it yesterday). Had a nice conversation with the guy who had a Chinese accent but communicated well in English. I specifically asked if tariffs and fees are included in price on the DJI store and he says yes. He also said some people are receiving tariff bills from FedEx or UPS but do not pay them, contact DJI support and they will handle. He says they are prioritizing accessories and parts for domestic inventory so they can be shipped quickly, while shipping new drone orders from overseas. I was impressed with the customer service and them taking the initiative to call me after a failed delivery attempt.

That's really good customer service. Thanks for the info!

 

[dajomu]

I just accessed the store at dji.com from my home in the US, and all drones are listed as Out of Stock. I then used my VPN to access the dji.com store through other countries like the UK and Canada, and everything is In Stock and estimated to ship in a day. That 's one way to resolve the US Customs problems. :-(

 

[msinger]

I just accessed the store at dji.com from my home in the US, and all drones are listed as Out of Stock. I then used my VPN to access the dji.com store through other countries like the UK and Canada, and everything is In Stock and estimated to ship in a day.

That makes sense since DJI maintains separate stores for each country where they do business, and each store has its own inventory.

 

[mavic3usa]

I just accessed the store at dji.com from my home in the US, and all drones are listed as Out of Stock. I then used my VPN to access the dji.com store through other countries like the UK and Canada, and everything is In Stock and estimated to ship in a day. That 's one way to resolve the US Customs problems. :-(

That makes sense since DJI maintains separate stores for each country where they do business, and each store has its own inventory.

Dajomu, just so you know since DJI maintains separate stores for each country, you don't necessarily need a VPN to change stores and visit DJI in your favorite region. You're free to shop there as well but when you checkout, your Country will be locked to that store so your shipping address must be in the region. VPN won't help.

 

[dajomu]

That makes sense since DJI maintains separate stores for each country where they do business, and each store has its own inventory.

msinger: I have been buying DJI drones from the store at dji.com for over a decade, accessing it using a US IP address and shipping address; everything from Inspires (1 and 2) to Airs, to Mavics. I used to be able to do this even when the products were not yet in the US. Those products have often been fulfilled using inventory housed in China and shipped directly to me in the US (as evidenced by detailed shipment tracking info). This was the case even thought the site showed those products as available to ship in a day or two, without mentioning where the product would be coming from. Put another way: In the past, my ability to order and receive products through dji.com from the US was not limited by the inventory held by DJI n the US. The fact that dji.com now shows the same drone's as Out Of Stock when it thinks I am shopping from the US, but as "available to ship" when it thinks I'm in Canada and UK is new behavior, and not simply a matter of lack of stock held in the US, since that used to not be an issue.

 

[dajomu]

Dajomu, just so you know since DJI maintains separate stores for each country, you don't necessarily need a VPN to change stores and visit DJI in your favorite region. You're free to shop there as well but when you checkout, your Country will be locked to that store so your shipping address must be in the region. VPN won't help.

Thanks. I was not trying to trick dji.com into shipping me a product in the US. I was comparing how product availability on dji.com differs if I access it from a US IP Address vs one from Canada or the UK, to gain some insight into DJI's current policies.

 

[mavic3usa]

Thanks. I was not trying to trick dji.com into shipping me a product in the US. I was comparing how product availability on dji.com differs if I access it from a US IP Address vs one from Canada or the UK, to gain some insight into DJI's current policies.

As you can tell by now, the IP doesn't have an impact as much as the store you select. And while none of us know exactly how DJI operates, I believe (like most companies only have one), DJI would be lucky to have more than 3 warehouses where they draw from physical inventory meaning Asia, USA, EU. In any case, it's all virtual and since it 2025 instead of 1995, shipping can happen from everywhere to anywhere so we're beyond any physical inventory being reflected by an internet website. Imagine how difficult that would be to try to manage those ongoing supplies. The "Out of Stock" placed on the US site is to prevent ordering and isn't necessarily an indicator of what product is present in a certain physical location. When I order from DJI, I get product from both the US and from China. At least that's how I would do it particularly before this year when there were no restrictions and no sku differences. DJI has a ton of DJI stores on DJI.com and I'd hope they're not trying to maintain inventory for each one.