Anyone used Desertcart recently?

There are customs duties you pay just before checkout, but there are no hidden charges after checkout. So the final price you pay will be listed price + customs.

If you sign up for their Pro trial there are no customs charges also. So you will pay only the listed price. You can cancel the trial after ordering if this is just a one time purchase.

Will DM you a referral if you still need it.

Kindly refer to this thread:

Hello Folks,

I wanted to order something from Desercart. Here is the website link:

Desertcart

The item has 3 location options to buy from: US, UAE and UK. The price in the UK for the listed item is the lowest so was planning to buy it from UK seller. The cost of the item is 6.4k and it says that the price mentioned is including ALL Import Duties and Taxes.

Now my questions are:

- Since it clearly states that the prices they mention includes all import duties and taxes are there any hidden costs they levy once the item arrives that I have to pay later on?

- Are they safe to order from?

- The Estimated Delivery is between 10-15 days after I place the order... do they usually deliver in that window or is delivery delayed in most cases?

If someone has ordered products through Desertcart kindly share your input and experience as that will be very helpful.

TIA

It helps to search -
@puns please merge.

Black_Hawk said:

Hello Folks,

I wanted to order something from Desercart. Here is the website link:

Desertcart

The item has 3 location options to buy from: US, UAE and UK. The price in the UK for the listed item is the lowest so was planning to buy it from UK seller. The cost of the item is 6.4k and it says that the price mentioned is including ALL Import Duties and Taxes.

Now my questions are:

- Since it clearly states that the prices they mention includes all import duties and taxes are there any hidden costs they levy once the item arrives that I have to pay later on?

- Are they safe to order from?

- The Estimated Delivery is between 10-15 days after I place the order... do they usually deliver in that window or is delivery delayed in most cases?

If someone has ordered products through Desertcart kindly share your input and experience as that will be very helpful.

TIA

Click to expand...

@anmolbhard004 bro if you can offer any insights on this..

I have used https://www.desertcart.in/ once in November 2023. It was for kids toys worth Rs. 7000. Order was shipped the next day, and reached my place in Kerala on the 10th day from shipping. It was shipped from UK, passed through Dubai, and then India. India delivery was handled by BlueDart. Item received intact.

Delivery was free either since it was my first order or because I signed up for the PRO trial (which I cancelled later without any charges). I don't see any mention of customs duty in the invoice. I didn't have to pay anything extra other than what they asked me to pay at the time of order.

By the way, I see that desercart has a referral offer. Please let me know if interested.

Introduce your friends to Desertcart via Email, Facebook or Twitter with a unique referral link and they get a 20% discount code of up to ₹ 1,000. Once their first purchase is delivered to them you too will get a 20% discount code of up to ₹ 1,000. It’s that simple!

Click to expand...

I saw many people ordering casio watches from desertcart on the watch India subreddit. They opted for the 1 month trial pro membership as it gave big discount on shipping charges.
So, if ordering, do check this option. The prices shown are final and there are no hidden costs afaik.

I think you can combine both pro membership offer and referral offer to get the best price.

unni said:

I have used https://www.desertcart.in/ once in November 2023. It was for kids toys worth Rs. 7000. Order was shipped the next day, and reached my place in Kerala on the 10th day from shipping. It was shipped from UK, passed through Dubai, and then India. India delivery was handled by BlueDart. Item received intact.

Delivery was free either since it was my first order or because I signed up for the PRO trial (which I cancelled later without any charges). I don't see any mention of customs duty in the invoice. I didn't have to pay anything extra other than what they asked me to pay at the time of order.

By the way, I see that desercart has a referral offer. Please let me know if interested.

Click to expand...

Seems interesting but I've found the desertcart prices always had a bit more markup compared to the US or Aliexpress prices of the same products, unavoidable I guess as they do the shipping and skip customs

unni said:

Delivery was free either since it was my first order or because I signed up for the PRO trial (which I cancelled later without any charges). I don't see any mention of customs duty in the invoice. I didn't have to pay anything extra other than what they asked me to pay at the time of order.

Click to expand...

The PRO service can be cancelled within a month after signing up right? I went to place an order last night and saw that they needed to link my CC to the Pro service but it was mentioned that the charges of 10k would only be applicable if I continued to keep the Pro service after a month of placing my first order.

Should I ideally cancel the Pro service after my first order is shipped?

Black_Hawk said:

The PRO service can be cancelled within a month after signing up right? I went to place an order last night and saw that they needed to link my CC to the Pro service but it was mentioned that the charges of 10k would only be applicable if I continued to keep the Pro service after a month of placing my first order.

Should I ideally cancel the Pro service after my first order is shipped?

Click to expand...

you are correct

Placed an order with Desertcart last night. Availed their Pro Shipping (free for 1 month) offer. Also, their Customer Care over chat very kindly gave me a coupon code as this was my first order.

I have another query though... this free Pro shipping is there for a month. If I say place another order will they then still keep the Pro shipping free or charge me with 10k next month since I am ordering twice? Or does it not matter how many orders I place within the next month Pro will regardless be free? I plan to cancel Pro membership after 1-2 weeks lest I forget because otherwise they will charge me 10k for a year which I don't see the point of buying at the moment. I might in future though.

ordered bicycle koozer hub worth 9800 including duty received within 15 days to india doorstep delivery carried by bluedart all good so far

Black_Hawk said:

Placed an order with Desertcart last night. Availed their Pro Shipping (free for 1 month) offer. Also, their Customer Care over chat very kindly gave me a coupon code as this was my first order.

I have another query though... this free Pro shipping is there for a month. If I say place another order will they then still keep the Pro shipping free or charge me with 10k next month since I am ordering twice? Or does it not matter how many orders I place within the next month Pro will regardless be free? I plan to cancel Pro membership after 1-2 weeks lest I forget because otherwise they will charge me 10k for a year which I don't see the point of buying at the moment. I might in future though.

Click to expand...

scott1391990 said:

You can order as many items as you like without worrying about any extra charges. I ordered 2 items around 3-4 months ago using the trial 1 month PRO membership.
It was my first time using such service but desertcart was providing best value and frankly speaking, I love desertcart for their service. Items were available at their website at a good enough price. Coupon and the free delivery in pro membership sealed the deal for me. They deliver quite fast too and safely. I didn't continue the membership because it's costly but if I had to use any such service in the future, desertcart will be my first choice.

Click to expand...

Can both of you tell what coupon are we talking about and is the coupon you get BEFORE your 1st order? If yes then what does the coupon entitle you to?
About customs etc, is that factored in on the page where we see products or we get to see at time of checkout as I want to make sure I don't see say $100 for something and then checkout says $150 due to customs and what not.

raksrules said:

Can both of you tell what coupon are we talking about and is the coupon you get BEFORE your 1st order? If yes then what does the coupon entitle you to?
About customs etc, is that factored in on the page where we see products or we get to see at time of checkout as I want to make sure I don't see say $100 for something and then checkout says $150 due to customs and what not.

Click to expand...

When you go on a particular item's page the product cost in INR will be clearly written which includes Import Duties & Taxes. When you click on the "Add to Cart" option you will be taken to the shipping option page where you will see 2 options:

Standard Shipping: This is NOT free and you will be charged shipping charges. The amount to be charged will be clearly stated.

PRO Shipping: Shipping is FREE.

Pro Membership is completely free for the first month when you register for it and thereafter you will be charged 10k annually for it if you want to continue. Should you decide to cancel PRO Membership within the first month then that is that with no additional charges. But you must cancel the membership within the 1 month duration or else Desertcart will auto-renew it for a full year (10k) and that is non-refundable.

The coupon code that I got was given to me by a Desertcart CC agent over their live chat feature. One can apply that coupon code in the product checkout page. I got a 5% discount code. You can just chat with their CC and ask them your queries, they are very helpful over chat. If they don't give you a coupon code then you can politely ask them for one since it's your first order and they will provide it to you I'm sure.

A couple of things that I noted and thought to mention are:

If you choose Standard Shipping (non-Pro): Even if you don't get a coupon code there is a quiz on the checkout page that you can play and if you get all the right answers to the questions then that gives you a small discount on the price of the product you are ordering. The quiz is super easy and a cinch to take part in and win.

Secondly, if you choose Standard Shipping (non- Pro) then you get options of using your Debit Card or Gpay for payment along with Credit Card options. Under Pro Shipping you don't get the option of using Gpay or Debit Card, you only get 2 options: Credit Card and International Cards.

Once you pay the amount after choosing your Shipping Method (Standard or Pro) that is the final amount you will pay. Nothing extra. Post that your item is shipped and it reaches from the US or UK to their hub in Dubai and then it's further shipped from Dubai to India. Once it reaches India they clear the Customs and then ship the product to you in India. The last mile courier within India is I believe done by Bluedart. No extra charges at all.

Thanks a lot for such a detailed reply. Much appreciated.

Normally they have the "DC4" coupon working throughout the year that provides 5% discount. The current advertised "TAKE25" is providing about 7.4% discount on any item. Have to see how well the Buy 2, Get 3rd for 50% works.

t3chg33k said:

Normally they have the "DC4" coupon working throughout the year that provides 5% discount. The current advertised "TAKE25" is providing about 7.4% discount on any item. Have to see how well the Buy 2, Get 3rd for 50% works.

Click to expand...

I tried 'TAKE25' coupon code but it unfortunately did not work for me and 'DC4' is applicable only on the first order you place with them.

Black_Hawk said:

I tried 'TAKE25' coupon code but it unfortunately did not work for me and 'DC4' is applicable only on the first order you place with them.

Click to expand...

Is DC4 is a standard first time 5% coupon? Because that way, in case I want to buy something, i can avoid talking to CC and just directly use the coupon.