If your city has a FPO or even a GPO, the service is referred to as ‘Ordinary Post’ by the postal workers. There’s no pre-inspection of the package or tracking number but it is very affordable. You can calculate postage online here: https://www.indiapost.gov.in/VAS/Pages/calculatePostage.aspx by using ‘Small Packet’ and purchase stamps to fix on the package.
Postal routes to the US are pretty robust and take around two to three weeks. I’ve shipped a few hundred over the last few years and not a single one was lost. The longest delivery time was 41 days but that was right after the lockdown. These days it’s around two weeks.
You will need to attach a customs form, the post office would generally give you a really detailed and complicated form to fill in triplicate or duplicate along with your name and aadhar card and phone number, but I just use a simpler version that I found and modified online. Without a customs form, the parcel will be rejected by Indian Customs and returned to you with the postage stamps voided.
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