Importing laptop into India

S

sherlock7

Contributor
Hi guys

I am willing a buy a laptop from Nigeria as the same laptops available there are comparatively cheaper due to the currency difference (1 Nigerian Naira = 0.087 Indian Rupees). However, I need two things to consider:
1) find a retailer who ships internationally or find an international shipping company.
2) handle the import and custom duty charges.

According to my calculations, even after the taxes, the imported laptops will still be comparatively cheaper.

Is there any company who handles international shipping as well as help in customs clearing in India? How do I make the process (buying a laptop in Nigeria and importing it into India) easy for myself? Are there any companies or dealers to approach? I would like to have some tips and advices from the people who have bought previously any items internationally and imported them into India.
 
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+1 to what was said by @rsaeon Indian Customs always plays a spoilsport. Another major factor is the warranty and model availability for servicing.
Also if you want to import a laptop, why Nigeria and whynot USA. It depends on the model. The price vaiance that you mention will be suitably marked up too (Costing INR 1 will cost 11.5 Naira). A simple example is base model of Mac Air M2 ₦ 1,450,000 or 1,25,000 INR, the same is avaiable in India at lower prices with international warranty in both cases.

Unless you have Naira readily available, it will be better to look for alternative import options.

Do post your choice of laptop config, make, model and I am sure you will be flooded with alternative import options and also within India.
 
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I really want to know your thought process, did you think about buying a laptop from Nigeria, all because of just searching for countries with the "best" exchange rate? Read the first comment here, you're not going to get it cheaper from nigeria of all countries
https://www.reddit.com/r/GamingLaptops/comments/14llmv7

The country is going through crazy inflation. Secondly, I would say it will be impossible for you to find an importer who will import your purchased laptop specifically and the fact that the majority of imports are raw resources, not laptops.
And the shipping itself will probably cost more than the laptop entirely.

https://www.reddit.com/r/thinkpad/comments/192n41o
I don't know if you saw some reddit post about steal deals on laptops in africa. Those laptops are actually stolen. You can do the same in india too, just walk into a store with a sharp object.

Unless you have some relative there, stick to buying a laptop here or from the US
 
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rsaeon said:
Are you sure about it being cheaper? Customs is calculated on item cost + shipping and is usually 42% for electronic items.

So a $499 laptop with shipping becomes a $599 + 42% = $850 laptop with no warranty.
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Actually, I just found out you are right. Laptops are indeed cheaper in the USA. The other countries which sell cheap laptops are Saudi Arabia and Kuwait even if we take currency difference into account.

Quickr currently has a lot of laptop frauds going on. The sellers are high end offering laptops at very cheap rates and saying they are importing from the US. However, they are using international numbers, refuse to acknowledge/reveal if they have any physical location in India and want you to make payment using UPI ID. (They refuse to reveal bank details for payment as UPI ID are untraceable to a person. Similarly, they are smart enough to not use Indian numbers as Indian numbers can be traced to a person using Aadhar ID).

Olx does have some genuine laptops. Buying used laptops from ebay is not that expensive, has less chances of fraud and may save you customs/import duty as it's not a sealed laptop. However, the last time I ordered a pendrive, it stuck in the Indian customs and took forever.

Which is the right way to buy high end laptops and import cheaply? I don't mind buying a used laptop as in India, the prices are too much.
?dOuBtFiRe? said:
+1 to what was said by @rsaeon Indian Customs always plays a spoilsport. Another major factor is the warranty and model availability for servicing.
Also if you want to import a laptop, why Nigeria and whynot USA. It depends on the model. The price vaiance that you mention will be suitably marked up too (Costing INR 1 will cost 11.5 Naira). A simple example is base model of Mac Air M2 ₦ 1,450,000 or 1,25,000 INR, the same is avaiable in India at lower prices with international warranty in both cases.

Unless you have Naira readily available, it will be better to look for alternative import options.

Do post your choice of laptop config, make, model and I am sure you will be flooded with alternative import options and also within India.
Click to expand...
I am trying to buy high end laptops of either Lenovo, ASUS or Razer with these features: 18 inch size, i9 13900HX, Nvidia RTX 4090 12 GB GDDR6.
 
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sherlock7 said:
Actually, I just found out you are right. Laptops are indeed cheaper in the USA. The other countries which sell cheap laptops are Saudi Arabia and Kuwait even if we take currency difference into account.

Quickr currently has a lot of laptop frauds going on. The sellers are high end offering laptops at very cheap rates and saying they are importing from the US. However, they are using international numbers, refuse to acknowledge/reveal if they have any physical location in India and want you to make payment using UPI ID. (They refuse to reveal bank details for payment as UPI ID are untraceable to a person. Similarly, they are smart enough to not use Indian numbers as Indian numbers can be traced to a person using Aadhar ID).

Olx does have some genuine laptops. Buying used laptops from ebay is not that expensive, has less chances of fraud and may save you customs/import duty as it's not a sealed laptop. However, the last time I ordered a pendrive, it stuck in the Indian customs and took forever.

Which is the right way to buy high end laptops and import cheaply? I don't mind buying a used laptop as in India, the prices are too much.

I am trying to buy high end laptops of either Lenovo, ASUS or Razer with these features: 18 inch size, i9 13900HX, Nvidia RTX 4090 12 GB GDDR6.
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Better if you can quote your splurging budget and then we might be able to help you further..
 
nRiTeCh said:
Better if you can quote your splurging budget and then we might be able to help you further..
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I am looking under or near Rs. 1.5 lacs. However, the required features are: 18 inch size, i9 13900HX, Nvidia RTX 4090 12 GB GDDR6. I know these laptops cost so much in India that is why I was looking for ways to reduce costs or find second hand in good condition.
 
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sherlock7 said:
I am looking under or near Rs. 1.5 lacs. However, the required features are: 18 inch size, i9 13900HX, Nvidia RTX 4090 12 GB GDDR6. I know these laptops cost so much in India that is why I was looking for ways to reduce costs or find second hand in good condition.
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Bro forget shipping and customs charges, In which country laptop with these specs is selling for 1.5L equivalent as base price? I will personally travel to that country and buy a couple.
 
dash2009 said:
Bro forget shipping and customs charges, In which country laptop with these specs is selling for 1.5L equivalent as base price? I will personally travel to that country and buy a couple.
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Well, that is why I said I am willing to buy second hand. Saudia Arabia has one ecommerce seller which is selling at around Rs. 2 lacs after conversion to our currency.

People who are selling at Quickr but unfortunately located in different states are selling at under 1.5 lacs. Dealers who get high end laptops from offices at giveaway prices also sell comparatively cheaply.

If you don't take custom duty into account, even you can get one under that budget from ebay.

Cheap technology products can be bought from Saudia Arabia, Kuwait and Malaysia, also possibly Thailand, if you don't take custom charges into account.
 
sherlock7 said:
I am looking under or near Rs. 1.5 lacs. However, the required features are: 18 inch size, i9 13900HX, Nvidia RTX 4090 12 GB GDDR6. I know these laptops cost so much in India that is why I was looking for ways to reduce costs or find second hand in good condition.
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1.5lac is a much comfortable budget to get a great laptop in India itself. Wondering why you selected Nigeria?
 
nRiTeCh said:
1.5lac is a much comfortable budget to get a great laptop in India itself. Wondering why you selected Nigeria?
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I did not select Nigeria. I was considering my options. I mean if there is any way to get a high end laptop at cheaper rates, why should we not get it? However, realizing the custom fees as well as corruption done by the custom officials, I think it is better to buy second hand laptops from individuals or dealers at a discount. Ebay would have been an extremely good selection as I have previously had good experiences with it. The money in Ebay does not reach the seller until the item is received by you. My pendrive from China had got stuck in customs and I got my complete money back. I wonder if the corrupt customs department will ask money for second hand imported laptops from Ebay? They should not ask for it lawfully because the unsealed items are not eligible for tax.
 
sherlock7 said:
They should not ask for it lawfully because the unsealed items are not eligible for tax.
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I wonder where you got this from!
Anything that has value, if it crosses the border, gets charged with import/export duties.
Only gifts are exempted, but used items can't be sent as gifts anyway. Purchases from abroad will definitely attract custom duty unless its of low value ( < US$15 to be safe).
 
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Some clarifications:

sherlock7 said:
However, realizing the custom fees as well as corruption done by the custom officials, I think it is better to buy second hand laptops from individuals or dealers at a discount.
Click to expand...

It's not so much as corruption as it is patriotism — the money doesn't go into anyone's pockets, it goes straight into India's budget. Once paperwork is done with customs assessed, that money goes to the government. I've not met a single customs official or immigration official that took a bribe. These people probably bleed in tricolour.

sherlock7 said:
The money in Ebay does not reach the seller until the item is received by you.
Click to expand...

It depends on your seller reputation. I'm a ebay seller, and I never shipped anything until the money was in my account. Ebay does have great buyer protection, so refunds are almost always in the buyers favour.

sherlock7 said:
I wonder if the corrupt customs department will ask money for second hand imported laptops from Ebay? They should not ask for it lawfully because the unsealed items are not eligible for tax.
Click to expand...

That only applies to items carried by hand with a passenger. Not imports.

Going back to a few years ago, when the previous government was in power, it was illegal to import used electronics, whether for personal or commercial use: https://pib.gov.in/newsite/PrintRelease.aspx?relid=67144

I lost a 100k+ shipment because it contained a used laptop, and there was no recourse. I'm still bitter about that today.

This ban was lifted in 2019: https://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=dgft may 7th 2019
 
rsaeon said:
It's not so much as corruption as it is patriotism — the money doesn't go into anyone's pockets, it goes straight into India's budget. Once paperwork is done with customs assessed, that money goes to the government. I've not met a single customs official or immigration official that took a bribe. These people probably bleed in tricolour.
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The ladies purse and men's watch and travel diary, all under US 50 dollars, are the items which were never cleared by the Delhi customs department. Moreover, they were asking for Rs. 2000 for "clearance" on the items which were not eligible to be taxed in the first place as they were small value items gifted to us. Not only they did not give the items to us for refusing to pay custom "fees", they never returned the items to the sender.

Similarly, my 5 US dollars pendrive was never cleared by them and the sender did not receive the item back.

We had been tracking ID for all the items.

Indian government enables them to scam people in the open day light as evidenced by their Google Maps reviews:
maps.app.goo.gl

Delhi Customs · H435+389, NEAR IGI AIRPORT, New custom house, Indira Gandhi International Airport, New Delhi, Delhi 110037

★★☆☆☆ · Customs office
maps.app.goo.gl maps.app.goo.gl

Do you consider this also an act of patriotism? I doubt if all the people who posted their grievances are unpatriotic.

I find bribery so common everywhere: DTC bus passes, traffic police, passport verification by police, train ticket checker in the Indian Railways, DMRC metro guards and possibly many more.
 
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Op seems like someone who just wants to get a good laptop for cheap, without really considering the reality of imports.
Also even without imports, the prices arent realistic.
Thats how people get scammed.
 
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