the best way to get goods from the US and the UK shipped to India? :-)

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Last Comment 2014-12-17

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shivanshuk

2014-12-17

Found some useful stuff, any other experiences…. pls share….:-}

What is the best way to get goods from the US and the UK shipped to India?

1. Got an account with Shop And Ship.

2. Then found an even better service: Borderlinx a service from DHL. Got an account there. (Have since stopped with Shop And Ship)

3. What this lets you do is get a local shipping address in the US, UK etc – and order stuff to be delivered there even though you’re not a US resident.

4. You can order multiple items from multiple online stores in the US and when they arrive, you’re notified. These items can be combined into a single shipment that saves you money, includes customs costs, and comes with trackable delivery. This works out less than what Amazon charges for overseas shipping. Especially when different orders are combined.

5. Voila – I get what I want, with no hassles. DHL makes sure stuff clears customs, I get a customs receipt, and assured delivery. And a lower cost of freight.

6. I recently improved this further. I noticed Amazon and other sites (like Google Play) showed me different inventory and prices if I visited their site from a local (UK / US) IP address instead of an overseas one. Often these local prices and choices were better.

7. So I bought a VPN called TunnelBear for about $50 a year (other options, including free are available). Now I tunnel thru and go see what a local in the US or UK sees. Then order like a local, get it delivered to a local address. And THEN have it shipped to me. A new world has opened up, I tell you.

8. The reason I paid for the VPN is a little different. Most free VPNs I found came with bandwidth limits. Paying removes the limits. It so happens I have an Amazon Prime account – for free shipping within the US. And it comes with unlimited free movies and videos to watch. For that $4 a month on TunnelBear, I can VPN in unlimited bandwidth – and can watch entire movies free on Amazon by VPNing from India or wherever. Plus the same software works on my phone and tablet, making those local-isable too at the touch of a button.
Hope this helps!

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https://www.desidime.com/discussions/the-best-way-to-get-goods-from-the-us-and-the-uk-shipped-to-india?page=1#post_1804884

abhi2010ahm

2014-12-17

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But how to pay by indian debit card?

https://www.desidime.com/discussions/the-best-way-to-get-goods-from-the-us-and-the-uk-shipped-to-india?page=1#post_1804893

shivanshuk

2014-12-17

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use international debit card or credit cards, amex….

https://www.desidime.com/discussions/the-best-way-to-get-goods-from-the-us-and-the-uk-shipped-to-india?page=1#post_1804914

babababa

2014-12-17

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sounds good, does anybody tried Borderlinx….

https://www.desidime.com/discussions/the-best-way-to-get-goods-from-the-us-and-the-uk-shipped-to-india?page=1#post_1804916

deal.r4ider

2014-12-17

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vu for the efforts.. though not everyone may not hv amazon prime ac and intl dr or cr cards

https://www.desidime.com/discussions/the-best-way-to-get-goods-from-the-us-and-the-uk-shipped-to-india?page=1#post_1804928

babababa

2014-12-17

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Amazon Prime is like flipkart first. depends how much shopping u do in amazon.

gonna try….

https://www.borderlinx.com/en/member/re...er

https://www.desidime.com/discussions/the-best-way-to-get-goods-from-the-us-and-the-uk-shipped-to-india?page=1#post_1804929

TronGalaxy

2014-12-17

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Borderlinx shipping charges are insane !!! Most of the times you can wait for 10-12 days to receive the product
so 2-5 days shipping time is not mandatory requirement.

Cost wise there are much better services out their . GEB with Ebay coupons or any of the iShop quotes come out to be way lower as compared to BorderLinx.

https://www.desidime.com/discussions/the-best-way-to-get-goods-from-the-us-and-the-uk-shipped-to-india?page=1#post_1804956

TronGalaxy

2014-12-17

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Also regarding Amazon Prime access , the bottleneck lies in the bandwidths of ISP’s of India . Most of the time internet services are choppy. Also the concept of paying to watch movies / videos / music is considered to be completely alien since everything is readily available through other mediums. I too have Google Play all music access but i bought that for my development needs.

Unless and until you shop pretty frequently it would not be worth the investment at least for occasional shoppers leave aside the VPN investment which can be easily avoided using other options !

https://www.desidime.com/discussions/the-best-way-to-get-goods-from-the-us-and-the-uk-shipped-to-india?page=1#post_1804961

Spock

2014-12-17

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did not have a problem with #6 as much. The odd instances in few digital products (mostly books) happens because many promotions are region specific. Which one can of-course negotiate with usual options.

You bought a VPN! that is great considering you have Prime and I guess it is a good thing. (Check out audible.com too I think you out to get stuff while you can, the deals change often. And the format is a propitiatory format not normal mp3.

as for your taking standard retail C&F sites help. It is nice option.
However, there are now many many Indian organisations too that extend similar help. [Not all list out the things on paper, but talking to them often makes them reveal that they can set it up (accepting delivery on your behalf within Europe/ NorthAm) ]

By taking names of local guys I do not want to seem pushy, but just check how long they have been in business and if any feedback on their services is forthcoming. For example http://www.bombinoexp.com/ContactU…px used to be okay but I do not know of late how things are.

The more important thing to remember is that over time many big names already know of the bulk booking addresses or re-shipping guys and often no returns are entertained or even the basic return period clause honoured as they know that the damage could have happened after they (the shop/site) handed it over and ‘before’ product reached end-user.

https://www.desidime.com/discussions/the-best-way-to-get-goods-from-the-us-and-the-uk-shipped-to-india?page=1#post_1804991

TronGalaxy

2014-12-17

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Captain wrote:

did not have a problem with #6 as much. The odd instances in few digital products (mostly books) happens because many promotions are region specific. Which one can of-course negotiate with usual options.

You bought a VPN! that is great considering you have Prime and I guess it is a good thing. (Check out audible.com too I think you out to get stuff while you can, the deals change often. And the format is a propitiatory format not normal mp3.

as for your taking standard retail C&F sites help. It is nice option.
However, there are now many many Indian organisations too that extend similar help. [Not all list out the things on paper, but talking to them often makes them reveal that they can set it up (accepting delivery on your behalf within Europe/ NorthAm) ]

By taking names of local guys I do not want to seem pushy, but just check how long they have been in business and if any feedback on their services is forthcoming. For example http://www.bombinoexp.com/ContactU…px used to be okay but I do not know of late how things are.

The more important thing to remember is that over time many big names already know of the bulk booking addresses or re-shipping guys and often no returns are entertained or even the basic return period clause honoured as they know that the damage could have happened after they (the shop/site) handed it over and ‘before’ product reached end-user.

@Captain have you tried Bombino firsthand ?? And how is it in comparison to other existing services ?

https://www.desidime.com/discussions/the-best-way-to-get-goods-from-the-us-and-the-uk-shipped-to-india?page=1#post_1805012

Spock

2014-12-17

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@Tron I thought you were a PPOboxite !
You are right that when its all on the plate with theatres, disks and piracy; paying for shows/movies has not caught up. But I guess dimers are always on the cutting edge.
Truth be told when Limewire or Napster went solemn I myself considered taking up a small time account on Napster. Well that was a really long time back, and Netflix had not caught on.

Shivanshu, did you check the USPS rates and who is their counter-party in India? Of-course this is only useful if there is an acquaintance or someone to receive the parcel and then drop it off to the post office.

All in all I still think going to the smaller guys too serves the purpose. All that they too do is bulk book with UPS or Fedex and get lower quotes which they pass on to customers with nominal mark up. Directly approaching Fedex or UPS (DHL or ..) results in funny quotes, even if one already has a running account with them.

https://www.desidime.com/discussions/the-best-way-to-get-goods-from-the-us-and-the-uk-shipped-to-india?page=1#post_1805025

Spock

2014-12-17

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TronGalaxy wrote:
@Captain have you tried Bombino firsthand ?? And how is it in comparison to other existing services ?

Tron bhai, it was less than first hand in that as it was for our (where I was working back then) office (server related equipment) and not a big amount nor too large a parcel (weight by volume). They did transport it fairly well and it was usual overnight delivery stretched only at the packing stage in U.S. and later in India at port document stage.

This was over six years back though and yes theirs’ was a reputed mechanism back then, our office got all customs documentation. Once the person who was friendly with me left them after introducing us to his next in command I lost track of them.

to be honest, that is all I know firsthand.
[I personally did send something with them to Oman. Perishables (mangos) but that is not relevant to this topic]

https://www.desidime.com/discussions/the-best-way-to-get-goods-from-the-us-and-the-uk-shipped-to-india?page=1#post_1805045

TronGalaxy

2014-12-17

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Captain wrote:

@Tron I thought you were a PPOboxite !
You are right that when its all on the plate with theatres, disks and piracy; paying for shows/movies has not caught up. But I guess dimers are always on the cutting edge.
Truth be told when Limewire or Napster went solemn I myself considered taking up a small time account on Napster. Well that was a really long time back, and Netflix had not caught on.

Shivanshu, did you check the USPS rates and who is their counter-party in India? Of-course this is only useful if there is an acquaintance or someone to receive the parcel and then drop it off to the post office.

All in all I still think going to the smaller guys too serves the purpose. All that they too do is bulk book with UPS or Fedex and get lower quotes which they pass on to customers with nominal mark up. Directly approaching Fedex or UPS (DHL or ..) results in funny quotes, even if one already has a running account with them.

Wow finally someone here is a fan of Limewire / napster !!
Ahhh i still remember those days when napster was a rage . I grew up on Napster / Limewire and stuff ! And since then i have enchanted by every P2P service !

Frankly speaking GEB is actually the best option money wise . With all the ebay.in coupons working on geb + further cashbacks using wallet services makes it financially viable option. Plus the service is decent ( ~10 days ! ) unless there is crazy rush for the product .

https://www.desidime.com/discussions/the-best-way-to-get-goods-from-the-us-and-the-uk-shipped-to-india?page=1#post_1805175

Spock

2014-12-17

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TronGalaxy wrote:
finally someone here is a fan of Limewire / napster !!
I grew up on Napster / Limewire and stuff !
And since then i have enchanted by every P2P service !

ditto here Brother! |sigh|
nostalgia is silly, but those were the days !!
[ran up a Rs.1100+ bill on the land-line once, as forgot or became too tempted and let the machine ON on three consecutive nights when folks would not know the modem screech if they lifted the parallel line. don’t want to go into what happened after that ]

TronGalaxy wrote:
Frankly speaking GEB is actually the best option money wise . With all the ebay.in

well truth be told I am plain scared of ebay and I myself never tried it with my account. Hopefully now after so many happy stories I can.

btw Tron have you seen the thread I started primarily with you in mind? [for few more hours the silly facebook raffle/contest of Xiaomi Singapore is open and they will give away 5 Mi Bands (just need to cargo them here if you/ anyone wins )]