How to Cancel and Get a Refund on Any AliExpress Order?

Have you ever placed an order on AliExpress, only to change your mind shortly after? Or maybe the item has yet to ship and you decide you no longer want or need it. There can be many reasons for wanting to cancel an AliExpress order. The good news is that in most cases, you can cancel your order and get a refund.

But how exactly do you cancel an AliExpress order? The process depends on the status of your order – whether you’ve paid yet, whether it has shipped yet, and whether the seller agrees to a cancellation. Read on to learn the step-by-step process for how to cancel an order on AliExpress in various scenarios.

In this comprehensive guide, we’ll cover:

• Common reasons for canceling AliExpress orders
• When you can and can’t cancel an order
• A step-by-step tutorial for canceling orders before and after payment
• What to do if a seller refuses to cancel
• How long refunds take from canceled orders
• FAQs about canceling orders and refunds

Plus plenty of tips for getting approvals and refunds quickly and easily.

So if you need to get your money back after canceling an order on AliExpress, this guide has you covered.

Why Do People Cancel Orders on AliExpress?

There are a variety of reasons why buyers may decide to cancel an AliExpress order. Some common reasons include:

• Changed mind: Upon further thought, you decide you don’t need or want the item anymore. This can happen shortly after placing an order or while awaiting shipment.
• Found a better deal: You discover the same item available for a lower price from another seller or site.
• Long shipping times: The seller is taking way too long to ship out your order.
• Accidental order: You clicked the wrong product, color, size or incorrectly entered shipping details by mistake.
• System errors: Errors caused duplicate orders to be created.
• Expired need: By the time an order finally ships or is delivered, you no longer require that item.

Luckily AliExpress makes it possible for buyers to cancel orders in many scenarios. But when you are allowed to cancel depends on certain factors.

When Can You Cancel an AliExpress Order?

The ability to cancel an AliExpress order depends on its status in the purchasing pipeline:

Before Payment

If you haven’t yet paid for your order, cancellation is quick and simple.

Until payment verification clears, you can instantly cancel an order by selecting “Cancel Order” in My Orders. The order will automatically close without needing seller approval.

After Payment But Before Shipping

Once an order shows as “Awaiting Shipment”, you have up to 7 business days to cancel it.

AliExpress gives sellers this window to process and ship orders after payment confirmation. Cancellations during this period require the seller’s consent.

If approved, your order will terminate and refund kick off. If the sellers hasn’t shipped yet, they usually approve cancellations.

After the Order Has Shipped

Once the status changes to “Seller has shipped your order”, it’s unfortunately too late to cancel.

At this point, your only option is to return the item after delivery to get a refund. Trying to cancel will not work.

So in summary – canceling is only possible before the seller ships your purchase. After shipping, it can only be returned. Easy enough!

Now let’s get into the step-by-step instructions for how to actually cancel an AliExpress order…

How to Cancel an Order on AliExpress – Step-by-Step

You can request to cancel orders before or after payment on AliExpress. The process differs slightly in each case.

Here is a detailed tutorial on how to cancel orders whether unpaid or paid – and get confirmation from sellers:

How to Cancel an AliExpress Order Before Paying

Let’s start with the easiest scenario – canceling an unpaid order:

1. Log into your AliExpress account and go to My Orders
2. Locate the order you wish to cancel from your orders list
3. Click on the “Cancel Order” button next to that order
4. A confirmation message will indicate that your order cancellation succeeded!

And done! It’s quick and painless to cancel AliExpress orders pr-payment.

Once canceled, your refund gets automatically initiated. But more on processing times later.

Next up, what happens if you need to cancel an order on AliExpress after already paying…

How to Cancel a Paid Order on AliExpress

If an order shows as “Awaiting Shipment”, use this process to cancel it:

1. Open My Orders in your AliExpress account
2. Find the order you wish to cancel and click “View Detail”
3. Select “Request Order Cancellation”
4. Choose your reason for canceling from the dropdown menu
5. Click Submit to formally request order termination

At this point, the seller receives notification of your cancellation request.

Important: Be sure to also message the seller through the order or their store. Explain why you need to cancel and ask them to approve it ASAP. This helps expedite the process.

The seller then has 72 hours to respond confirming if they will agree to cancellation. There are a few possibilities:

1. Seller agrees to cancel: Your order gets canceled and closed automatically if they accept within 72 hours. You’ll receive confirmation via email and refund starts processing.
2. Seller doesn’t respond: After 72 hours of no reply from the seller, AliExpress steps in. They auto-cancel the order on your behalf and issue a refund.
3. Seller refuses cancellation: If they reject your cancellation before the 72 hour window closes, unfortunately you can’t force it. However you can open a dispute to negotiate if the refusal doesn’t seem right. Check the AliExpress cancellation policies to understand next steps when sellers won’t cancel.

And that’s the drill for canceling paid orders prior to shipping. Pretty straightforward!

Unfortunately there is no way to cancel once the seller has already shipped your purchase. At that point you’ll have to wait for delivery before you can potentially return or dispute the order.

So always try to cancel unwanted items ASAP and before shipping if possible!

What to Do If the Seller Refuses to Cancel Your Order

Most good sellers will gladly cancel orders if messaged before shipping. But some may reject requests – which can be frustrating!

If a seller refuses your cancellation request, you have a few options:

• Negotiate politely: Reply to the seller politely asking why they cannot cancel and seeing if you can find mutual agreement. Often times courteousness and understanding goes a long way.
• Wait out the 72 hours: As mentioned already, AliExpress will automatically cancel if the sellers takes no action within 72 hours of your request. So you can simply wait it out.
• Open a dispute: If negotiation fails, you can open an “Unable to cancel order” dispute in My Orders. If the seller cannot provide valid reasons for refusal, AliExpress will mediate and likely force a cancellation plus refund. So disputes work!
• Leave negative reviews: As a last resort, you can threaten to (or actually) leave bad seller reviews if reasonable cancellation requests get denied. Most sellers will quickly cancel to avoid poor reviews which can tank their sales.

So try these tactics to pressure sellers who improperly block cancellations. Polite communication or threats of disputes/reviews usually get vendors to play nice!

Okay, skipping ahead…one of the big questions facing buyers is how long does it take to receive your money back after canceling an AliExpress order?

How Long Does the Refund Process Take After Cancellation?

Once your request completes or gets approved, how long until that sweet, sweet refund cash hits your wallet?

It depends on a few factors, but the typical AliExpress refund timeframes after canceling an order are:

• 3 to 20 business days: The standard refund period quoted by AliExpress is 15 business days. But it can vary between 3 days up to 20 days depending on variables.
• Faster refunds via e-wallets: If you paid by AliPay, bank transfers or other e-wallet methods, refunds come significantly quicker. As fast as 24 hours even!
• Slower refunds to credit cards: Bank cards tend to be on the slower end for receiving refund cash after cancellations or disputes.

So in short – expect to wait around 15 business days typically. But payment method makes a difference, as does processing bottlenecks.

During especially busy periods, particularly the 11/11 and Christmas shopping rush, refunds may take longer. Both AliExpress and banks face heavier loads which delays transfers.

If your refund hasn’t come through after about 20 days, you should contact AliExpress customer service to investigate. There may be an issue needing resolution or reprocessing on their end.

Can You Change the Shipping Address on an AliExpress Order?

Mistakes happen! What if you realize you entered incorrect shipping details after placing an order?

Unfortunately, AliExpress does not allow buyers to modify the shipping address on an order after purchase. Once an order gets locked in, no further changes can happen.

Here are your options if you input the incorrect delivery details:

• Cancel existing order & re-order: As described earlier, if you catch the error quickly, cancel the order. Then simply place a new order with the proper shipping address.
• Contact seller to change address: You can message the seller after ordering requesting to modify the address. Some sellers will cancel the original purchase and instruct you to reorder.
• Have package forwarded after delivery: If unable to cancel in time, allow the item to be delivered to the original address. Then use a freight forwarder to redirect it to yourself. This does incur extra shipping fees however.

So proof carefully when entering details at checkout! But with quick action or extra coordination after-the-fact, incorrect shipping addresses can still be overcome without losing money in most cases.

Common Questions About Canceling AliExpress Orders

Here are answers to some frequently asked questions about the cancellation and refund process on AliExpress:

Can I cancel an order before shipment?

Yes absolutely! AliExpress allows cancellation without penalty within 7 days before the seller dispatches your package. Take advantage of this timeframe when needing to reverse orders.

What happens if the seller refuses to issue a refund after I cancel?

If the seller improperly rejects a reasonable cancellation request, wait 72 hours for AliExpress to automatically step in. Or open a dispute for failing to cancel the order. Reviews threats also sometimes work.

Do you get a refund if you cancel orders with “Awaiting Shipment” status?

Yes, AliExpress will process a return of your money if canceling an order prior to it getting shipped. As long as you cancel within 7 days of ordering and request a refund, your payment will revert after the typical processing time.

How to cancel an AliExpress order on mobile?

Cancelling via the mobile app works identically as on desktop. Open your account, access My Orders, select the order, choose “Cancel Order” or “Request Cancellation”, pick a reason, and submit your request. Same process!

Conclusion and Key Takeaways

And in summary, the key things to remember when needing to cancel an unwanted order and get your money back on AliExpress are:

• You can easily cancel any unpaid orders yourself instantly
• Paid orders can be canceled if “Awaiting Shipment”, subject to seller approval
• No way to cancel orders after seller ships package – only returns
• To cancel, open order details, select “Cancel Order” or “Request Cancellation”
• Important to message seller via order asking them to confirm cancellation
• AliExpress auto-cancels after 72 hours if no seller response
• Typical refund times 3 to 20 days after successful cancellation
• No modifying order shipping address post-purchase

So in a nutshell, act quick if needing to reverse an order! And leverage buyer friendly AliExpress cancellation processes to painlessly get refunds for unwanted goods.

We hope this guide helps you easily cancel AliExpress orders whenever needed! Let us know in comments if you have any other questions.