What Can I Do If My AliExpress Order Was Cancelled by the Seller?

People purchase items on eCommerce websites as just another part of their day-to-day lives thanks to the convenience they offer. AliExpress stands as one of the most popular eCommerce websites on the internet.

The platform received more than 2.7 billion visitors between December 2021 and May 2022. However, not everything runs smoothly during the ordering process. Running into issues with your AliExpress order can be frustrating, especially when it doesn’t arrive in time or the seller suddenly cancels it, without providing any reason.

If your AliExpress order was cancelled by the seller, you should contact them immediately to resolve the issue or open a dispute. Most of the time, the seller is able to provide you with a reason so that you can simply reorder the item or look for a new seller.

This article will discuss why some sellers may cancel open orders, how to resolve order cancellation issues, and how to avoid having an AliExpress seller cancel your order in the first place.

What Does It Mean When My Order Is Cancelled by a Seller?

AliExpress’s order tracking will display a “Shipment Cancelled” update or you may notice that your order status is “Closed” when a seller has cancelled your order. Following this update, you will receive a refund within 20 working days. In some situations, the AliExpress seller will also be penalized for cancelling your order.

Unfortunately, this also means your order will no longer be processed and shipped. Therefore, you would either need to re-order the product from the same or another seller.

Why Does This Happen?

Either AliExpress or the seller may cancel your order for numerous reasons, some of which may be undisclosed to you – however, it’s important to know what they could be. We’ve listed the most common reasons for cancellation below.

Seller’s Decision to Cancel Order

AliExpress sellers can choose to close an order from their end. However, they may be penalized for doing so. An AliExpress seller may decide to cancel your order for a number of reasons.

An instance could be that the item you ordered is out of stock or simply discontinued. Similarly, they may cancel your order if they haven’t received your payment after a certain duration following your order placement.

Some sellers may even cancel your order if they can’t locate your shipping address – although sellers generally get in touch if they spot an issue regarding outstanding payments or incorrect shipping details.

Although sellers are advised to resolve issues with buyers directly or come to a mutual agreement to cancel the order, some sellers choose to ignore this.

Over the Processing Time Limit

AliExpress sellers have a set time limit within which they are required to ship out orders. This time limit is known as the “order processing time”. If the AliExpress seller hasn’t shipped your order within the assigned order processing time, AliExpress’s system may automatically close your order.

Security Issues

Your AliExpress order may also be cancelled by either the seller or the platform due to security issues on your end. Such problems could arise if you use invalid coupons for discounts or include suspicious or incomplete information for your order.

Similarly, they may cancel your order if your payment details do not match the ones on your account or if you have made multiple successive orders using different payment details.

Customs Issues

AliExpress items typically go through a customs clearance process in the country they are dispatched from. The customs authorities from the seller’s country could reject your order if they detect issues with the items being shipped.

This often happens when the seller has wrongly declared or under-declared the item. They may also reject your order shipment if they believe the item is counterfeit, restricted, or illegal.

Wrong Tracking Number

Your order status may also show up as cancelled if the seller has provided you with the wrong tracking number or if AliExpress has provided an incorrect update (which happens very rarely). In this situation, your order hasn’t actually been cancelled, even though the status shows it is.

Steps to Resolve Seller Cancelling Issues

If an AliExpress seller has cancelled your order, you can resolve the issue by following the steps that we’ve described below.

Contact the Seller

Your first move should always be contacting the seller directly and finding out why the order was cancelled. You can do this by visiting the “My Orders” section on your AliExpress account, scrolling down to the order, and clicking the “Contact Seller” button.

You can then write the seller a message inquiring about the order cancellation. Once you are in contact with the seller, they may ask you to confirm your shipping address to check if that was the source of the issue.

If the seller gave you the wrong tracking number, you can ask them to give you the correct one. In rare cases, you may not receive a response from the seller.

The seller could also choose to give you a generic answer or in some instances may not be able to help you. If either of these situations occurs, you should proceed to the next step.

Open a Dispute

If you’re able to have the issue resolved by contacting the seller, you don’t need to open a dispute. However, you should open a dispute if the seller is unable or unwilling to help you. 

Opening a dispute may be necessary if the seller cancels your order after you used a discount coupon. In other cases, you may need to open a dispute if you didn’t receive a refund if the seller cancelled your order without a reason, or if the seller isn’t adhering to AliExpress’s seller policies.

Follow the steps below to open a dispute on AliExpress:

1. Log into your AliExpress account
2. Locate the cancelled order and click on it to see the order details
3. Select “Open Dispute” in order to initiate a case

Take note that cancelled orders will be automatically refunded to you. However, if that doesn’t happen or you want to manually initiate it, follow the steps listed above.

File a Complaint

If opening a dispute doesn’t resolve the issue, you should file a complaint with AliExpress as a last resort. However, we recommend doing so only if the seller has attempted to sell counterfeit goods, has committed fraud, or has engaged in any activities of a similar nature.

Once you file your complaint, AliExpress will investigate the seller to ensure similar issues do not happen to others in the user community.

Tips to Avoid Getting Order Cancellations from Sellers on AliExpress

Resolving an order cancellation issue can be tedious and time-consuming. For this reason, you should try to prevent this issue from happening in the first place. You can avoid having an AliExpress seller cancel your order by following some best practices discussed below.

• Check Seller’s Credibility – Check the seller’s ratings and reviews before placing your order. Sellers with high ratings and good reviews tend to be reliable and complete orders without having any issues with their buyers. Conversely, sellers with poor ratings may have been unresponsive or cancelled orders without notifying buyers in the past.

• Select A Reliable Shipping Method – Consider choosing a good carrier that offers a tracking number to avoid running into shipping issues. This will allow you to keep track of your order and stay up-to-date with its status. A reliable carrier would also be able to cope with orders during peak season avoiding exceeding the seller’s processing time. 

• Read The Product Description Carefully – Reading the product description carefully may help you deduce if the item is counterfeit or restricted. Ensuring the product is genuine and permitted reduces the likelihood that customs will seize it.

• Monitor Processing Time – Note how long the seller has left to ship the order. If they have only a few days left, get in touch with them and ask them for an order status update.

• Double Check User & Shipping Details – Ensure you have included the correct shipping details for your order and that this information remains up-to-date on your AliExpress account. You should also ensure you do not use certain coupons such as ‘new user coupons’ twice. If you do so, AliExpress may remove the coupon or in some cases cancel the order.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

As some of our readers have submitted questions related to AliExpress order cancellations, we’ve taken the time to respond to them. Feel free to write in if you have any questions related to this topic.

What Should I Do if I Have Not Gotten My Refund After 20 Working Days?

It’s rare for AliExpress customers not to receive their refund within 20 working days from order cancellation – it’s usually even faster. If you haven’t received your refund within this timeframe, you should contact AliExpress’s Customer Support and verify that they are processing your refund.

If AliExpress confirms that they have already processed your refund, you should contact your local bank and check if they are experiencing issues with receiving the funds. 

Is It Possible for a Seller to Cancel an Order Without Notifying Me?

An AliExpress seller can cancel your order without notifying you. However, they may receive a penalty for doing this. You will also receive a full refund in this situation.

If you used any discount vouchers on your order, you can contact the seller and ask them to apply the discount when you re-order. If they refuse to do this, you can open a dispute to resolve this issue.

Can I Purchase From the Same Seller That Cancelled My Order?

You can purchase from the same seller who cancelled your order. However, you should understand why your previous order was cancelled before doing so. If you’re certain the issue won’t happen again or that the seller will be cooperative, you can go ahead and order from them again.

Alternatively, you could source for the same or a similar product from a more reputable and reliable seller.