Importing Items from US to India
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Dimers,
We have been dealing with importing goods from US/Others to India since ThanksGiving Deal. So to give a unified version i started this thread!
Please share your experiences here and let all be benefited!
Thank you everyone for Karma and Votes!
jhbalaji wrote:
My recent experience was in importing a Citizen watch and Apple iPhone 4S 64GB from US to India:
Watch retails in India around 35K wherever iPhone 4S 64GB around 40K
The watch was sent through express mail which directly reached the Chennai EMS since i am in southern india and i was charged around 24% of the invoice value even though it was marked as GIFT (declared as $49) and also levied INR 30 as Postage fee
Check this http://www.tamilnadupost.nic.in/msvc/custo…tm
The phone was sent through a forwarding agent who marked as Gift (declared as $35) and to my surprise it escaped custom charges. Initially it landed in Delhi FPO and reached my Head Post office after a week. There was no clue on this since it didn’t have “Return Item from Customs” wherever initially it had “Send item to customs” and later after 7 days it was changed to “Receive item at Delivery office”
Tips:
* Used USPS services!
* Took around 20 days to get item since its holidays season
* Never describe item as “Used” in Item Description since Used electronic items are banned in India and customs can charge a hefty duty on it.
* Express mail was charged duty wherever priority mail didn’t!
* Cheapest way to go with is USPS Small Box Flat Rate International + Registered Post which comes around $30 (Priority Mail®
International Small Flat Rate Box 8-5/8″ × 5-3/8″ × 1-5/8" Maximum weight 4 pounds.). It comes with tracking and safer even though it takes some additional 5 days!
How much did you buy iphone 4s for?which website?
pokiri wrote:
Make it step by step plz….
Means?
weblogic wrote:
Hi, There is nothing called free Duty even if you declare the item as Gift. I have used almost all the services of frieght forwarders.
1. USPS – Lot of times the shipment would be delayed and few shipments are debonded (Used electronic items are banned in India, this includes laptops, cameras, mobile phones). This is the cheapest but most risky proposition.
2. Shopandship – They are pathetically bad in clearing as they are dependent on external clearing agents (If your product is through Delhi customs you are lucky but if its through Mumbai and the product doesn’t have proper tax invoice (most of the times if you purchase through ebay you will not have one if its a used item) the duty and fine they charge is provacative nearly 45% of value determined by customs of prevailing Market value (This is like Rs 50000 for a used Iphone)
3. Borderlinx – They are not cheap but very reliable and clearance is done through DHL and you prepay any charges upfront and know hat you are paying and there will be no more and no less. The process is hasslefree, I would suggest this method for people who are importing few items over a period.
If you have any more queries do post it across will try to answer as far my knowledge is concerned.
Regards
On 2012-12-21, weblogic wrote:
Hi,
If the Parcel was sent through USPS and landed in Delhi FPO there is a possibility of it being held under new directive from ministry of Enviornment and forest to get clearance certificate (NOC) for used electronics. If thats the case then you are in soup. But 6 days is not much it might take even 15 – 25 days for certain clearance shipments. Delhi customs being a little lenient you do have a chance of getting the package with a fine.
For the Watch in Chennai EMS you will receive a notice from EMS after say 15 days if they scrutiny if not you will receive the package from the post office in 15 to 20 days.
Never ask the sellers to use the word Used in your packages and dont use USPS/ EMS from hongkong, china for shipments always use services of frieght forwarders like Borderlins, PPObox etc who have arrangement with customs.
Regards
Satish
On 2012-12-18, jhbalaji wrote:
I have declared one item as “Used Mobile Phone” in customs form and it is through Delhi FPO
I am residing in XXXXX
Its actually an iPhone which is declared as “$45” and GIFT any way to get out?
For the past 6 days it shows as “Send Item to Customs” Location “Delhi FPO”
Any idea whether they will release it?
Also what about USed WATCH?
One more parcel also declared as “USED WATCH FOR PARTS” which is stuck in Chennai EMS with “Send Item to Customs” Location “Chennai EMS”
Please help
From where you ordered and procedure to bring it here…..
If i remember correctly .. you wrote about some package forwarding service that you found on ebay.com
Can you tell us about it and your overall experience.
I got one Dell laptop from ebay.com through express parcel, paid some 2k customs. It was nice deal that time 4 years back.
Got one Nokia smart phone at 60% price of local market (costed 16k for 28k mrp), I remember paying to postman some customs. I lost these dell and nokia in a theft at home from the window.
So got on HP laptop from ebay.com (seller tigerdirect) for $200 and paid $120 to 20north, delivered thru Aramex, $120 is for shipping, handling and customes. Lost dell was fantastic but this HP sucks.
And I lost 2 small value items in shipping I believe less than 2k value bought from eBay. No eBay protection since I bought from ebay.com and paypal also didn’t refund my money for some reason.
All in all, it is better to stay away for peace of mind. And also these days, I don’t see much price difference.
It is possible you might save a few bucks from importing goods from US .. The bucks you are saving , you would be spending on coffee or adventure but our country is suffering from big losses due to this .. We are earning from India and paying taxes to US and making their economy stronger and our economy weaker. But we are Indians and can’t stay on ethics , we will keep on importing from united states. Cheers
jhbalaji wrote:
Dimers,
We have been dealing with importing goods from US/Others to India since ThanksGiving Deal. So to give a unified version i started this thread!
Please share your experiences here and let all be benefited!
Note: Mod’s let it stay here for few days until all get noticed and make use of it!
Buddy please if you get any good deals to share for christmas and new year time then please share with us..
Also share any good deals of Watches and Mobiles like nexus etc
If not possible here then pm me
Guys for saving few bucks…
Can we lose our peace of mind..:roll: (Don’t we all want this only)
We are importing the items from abroad .. and for saving it from the customs we do a lot of TAM-JHAM (activities)…
Custom people may also become greedy and may start asking Bribe..
On one hand we want to strengthen INDIA with anti corruption movements and all, and on the contrary we are doing all these stuff.
The foreigners aren’t losing something, for them manufacturing cost itself is less that’s why they are selling for less.
The shipment is also paid by us,, instead buy it from our INDIAN partners , and let us help in making our GDP better..
For me it is as good as buying it from the chor market..
At the end decision is urs ..cheers 
how do we pay costumes ? should we go to some tax office and pay costume or something ?
UNNI wrote:
how do we pay costumes ? should we go to some tax office and pay costume or something ?
we dont pay costumes…
if we pay costumes, what will we wear?
NewAge bro ki yaad aa gayi yaar.
Custom officer donot wear costume !!!!
you know what i mean
than why to give them……………..
i want to buy this –
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Hame-3G-WiFi-802-11n-Ho…
using ebay $15 coupon. will i be charged customs? if yes then how much….
You think it is advisable to declare the value of Lower spec model value while importing it through courier channels? eg iphone- 16gb value instead of the 64gb one? Does customs require an official invoice copy and some retailer don’t ship with Invoice.
Thanks
Sudipt
killerxter36 wrote:UNNI wrote:
how do we pay costumes ? should we go to some tax office and pay costume or something ?
we dont pay costumes…
if we pay costumes, what will we wear?
NewAge bro ki yaad aa gayi yaar.
:-D i mean customs
ephoenix wrote:
i want to buy this –
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Hame-3G-WiFi-802-11n-Ho...
using ebay $15 coupon. will i be charged customs? if yes then how much….
will someone please reply?
i am asking this query in various threads for many days… 
ephoenix wrote:ephoenix wrote:
i want to buy this –
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Hame-3G-WiFi-802-11n-Ho...
using ebay $15 coupon. will i be charged customs? if yes then how much….
will someone please reply?
i am asking this query in various threads for many days…
Per my experience on eBay, you’ll not be charged customs, however, no guarantee because I’m not from customs nor have any knowledge about it.
using amazon global shipping, if I put something in cart to check final price it asks for CC details. suppose I enter CC details and on next page total value including customs is too high, do I have option to remove item from cart and not confirm the vary purchase? :-/
thanks for ur reply… can i make the payment thru debit card of icici bank… i hv a verified paypal account but no balance in tht coz paypal automatically transferred that to my bank account…
n yes if customs is charged on this then max how much it can be?
karma added Balaji..
good info..
I can answer the 1st question below :
ephoenix wrote:
thanks for ur reply… can i make the payment thru debit card of icici bank… i hv a verified paypal account but no balance in tht coz paypal automatically transferred that to my bank account…
YES you can make the payment thru debit card of icici bank, however, only if you’ve added your card on the paypal account.
As per RBI guidelines, Paypal cannot keep your money on the account. The amount needs to be transfered back to your BANK account by the end of the day. So, whether you receive money from somebody or you load it, you have to use if before the end of the day, else paisa wapas and you pay the difference in currency rate.
Thanks a lot bro… waiting for someone to answer the 2nd question regarding customs…
ephoenix wrote:
i want to buy this –
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Hame-3G-WiFi-802-11n-Ho…
using ebay $15 coupon. will i be charged customs? if yes then how much….
how u will get $15 coupon? I also want to buy this
ephoenix wrote:
i want to buy this –
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Hame-3G-WiFi-802-11n-Ho…
using ebay $15 coupon. will i be charged customs? if yes then how much….
is it a good idea to ask the seller to mark the item as a gift?
ephoenix wrote:ephoenix wrote:
i want to buy this –
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Hame-3G-WiFi-802-11n-Ho…
using ebay $15 coupon. will i be charged customs? if yes then how much….
is it a good idea to ask the seller to mark the item as a gift?
Yes!
But make sure he does not attach any invoice outside!
Moreover your item does not goes over INR 1000 hope you will get out for free
If not as per my idea you will get roughly 26% as customs!
sudipt123 wrote:
You think it is advisable to declare the value of Lower spec model value while importing it through courier channels? eg iphone- 16gb value instead of the 64gb one? Does customs require an official invoice copy and some retailer don’t ship with Invoice.
Thanks
Sudipt
Yes, it might work since they are not going to switch on mostly for testing! If you’re going to pay to customs i suggest you to ask the seller to stick a copy of invoice outside the box so customs can charge as of it!
Remember there is a extra fee of 100 if its a regular post and 30 if it is a EMS for customs clearance
sanfactor wrote:
Guys for saving few bucks…
Can we lose our peace of mind..:roll: (Don’t we all want this only)
We are importing the items from abroad .. and for saving it from the customs we do a lot of TAM-JHAM (activities)…
Custom people may also become greedy and may start asking Bribe..
On one hand we want to strengthen INDIA with anti corruption movements and all, and on the contrary we are doing all these stuff.
The foreigners aren’t losing something, for them manufacturing cost itself is less that’s why they are selling for less.
The shipment is also paid by us,, instead buy it from our INDIAN partners , and let us help in making our GDP better..
For me it is as good as buying it from the chor market..
At the end decision is urs ..cheers
Oh bro, everyone’s wish the same and we are supporting swadeshi in every manner we can.
But just think off prices
A watch which i can get for 20k retails 65k in India here. iPhone which is around 60% off the indian prices. Electronics a lot more are cheaper. Moreover the technology which we get here is almost outdated!
Believe me i own a 1GHz and 1GB Ram smart phone since 2011 Jan wherever in India it have just have reached now at the same nearby price!
My recent experience was in importing a Citizen watch and Apple iPhone 4S 64GB from US to India:
Watch retails in India around 35K wherever iPhone 4S 64GB around 40K
The watch was sent through express mail which directly reached the Chennai EMS since i am in southern india and i was charged around 24% of the invoice value even though it was marked as GIFT (declared as $49) and also levied INR 30 as Postage fee
Check this http://www.tamilnadupost.nic.in/msvc/custo...tm
The phone was sent through a forwarding agent who marked as Gift (declared as $35) and to my surprise it escaped custom charges. Initially it landed in Delhi FPO and reached my Head Post office after a week. There was no clue on this since it didn’t have “Return Item from Customs” wherever initially it had “Send item to customs” and later after 7 days it was changed to “Receive item at Delivery office”
Tips:
International Small Flat Rate Box 8-5/8″ × 5-3/8″ × 1-5/8" Maximum weight 4 pounds.). It comes with tracking and safer even though it takes some additional 5 days! .
Seller Name,
Company Name,
PO. Box No,
Texas
wherever the phone has a personal address as sender address!
iPhone
Watch