Shipping from US to India/UAE

S

Sarath_

Adept
07/03

Not the same old queries which have been asked and answered time and again. I was wondering something else.

I was checking out HopShopGo and saw that they ship to UAE, a tax free country I have access to every 4 months. I just did a little math and saw that importing from US if done with larger quantities is actually cheaper if shipped to Abu Dhabi when compared to getting it here in the face of the recent increase in duty for mobile phones. Below is the estimate that I made through HSG.

Is there any particular point I am missing here?

If it is possible then if 4 people were to order iPhone 5 (s) and get it shipped for the estimated $60 then each one would have to pay a landing cost of just Rs.36000/-. That is substantially cheaper than local prices.

$2600 (4 x iP5) + $60 shipping

I know the query is a little rare, but have any known cases with problems surfaced when following a similar shipping plan?















Old query:

I would like to know if anyone has ordered something from US and got it shipped to India and their experience regarding it.

I finally have a friend who has moved to US. I was wondering if asking him to ship a product like a phone etc would be a good idea. I am curious as to what the cost of shipping, time and customs would be?

I can also get is shipped to Abu Dhabi, where the customs duty is close to 0% but again I do not know how the process would go.

Any help is appreciated.


- Planning on ordering a Nexus 4 from there
 
Sarath_ said:
I would like to know if anyone has ordered something from US and got it shipped to India and their experience regarding it.

I finally have a friend who has moved to US. I was wondering if asking him to ship a product like a phone etc would be a good idea. I am curious as to what the cost of shipping, time and customs would be?

I can also get is shipped to Abu Dhabi, where the customs duty is close to 0% but again I do not know how the process would go.

Any help is appreciated.


- Planning on ordering a Nexus 4 from there
Click to expand...

If u include the invoice with the package customs might clear it, if u don't they will hold it and ask u for documents, if u undervalue it, they can charge a penalty fee.
 
Hmm, I am thinking of getting it shipped to an address in UAE then. They do not charge customs, even if they do I think it is 1 or 2%.

Can anyone tell me what are the usual shipping charges for a package the size of a phone - to India
 
Sarath_ said:
Hmm, I am thinking of getting it shipped to an address in UAE then. They do not charge customs, even if they do I think it is 1 or 2%.

Can anyone tell me what are the usual shipping charges for a package the size of a phone - to India
Click to expand...

1. Shipping is around 600
2. Customs on phones is too less to be bothered about. Near 2.5%.
3. Aramex is pretty good. I have had nearly 20 items shipped from us/uk to India.
 
Thanks for the response.

Is shipping that low even otherwise? That is what if I want my friend to ship it, instead of using SnS. Can you name any reliable courier service to do the job? US to IND
 
^ Without using a package forwarder like SnS/PPO Box/HopShopGo the shipping rates will be pretty high atleast 4x-5x.

Any reason not to use a forwarder? Most of the websites ship the item directly to the package forwarder's address. Unless its a special offline deal or if the site does not accept international CCs, there is no reason to involve your friend.
 
He can always open the package and check for any defects and replace it if its faulty. But if forward it through SnS then, I might not know if the product is working or not until it has reached me.
 
Even in that case it will be cheaper to just ask your friend to ship it to the package forwarder rather than shipping it directly by Fedex/DHL.

In any case do not ship it by USPS (IndiaPost once it enters India) if its an expensive item as the customs rate is about 40% whatever be the item.
 
The SnS subscription itself seems very expensive. $45 or so

- - - Updated - - -

Varkey, just saw your post. I have been reading up that thread. It seems you have got it from Fedex. Do you recommend that for me too?

varkey said:
Fedex will be delivering the Nexus 4 16 GB that I ordered today (shipment got delayed due to some mess up with my PayPal account :(, it had reached HopShopGo on Jan 3rd, but was able to get it shipped only on 16th)

Assessable value was Rs 21570 as per invoice but was changed to Rs 26000 by the customs official, duty Rs 520. Fedex handling charge Rs 337. Total Rs 857.

Final cost after including everything Rs 23000.
Click to expand...

- - - Updated - - -

Went over the N4 thread for over an hour now: So I need the following

Credit card - ICICI
Proxy - (suggest one)
Shipping forwarding service - SnS, HSG, PPO (confused as to which one is better)

Will read up some more

- - - Updated - - -

I should have just posted in that thread instead of creating another one :|
 
The subscription can be cheaper with a coupon. Do some research and see if that coupon still works.
The SNS account is worth it, but but you could use other services like PPObox which are free and has been used by a few people without any issue.
Like #varkey said, tell your friend to ship it to the US address of a forwarding company.
 
Sarath_ said:
The SnS subscription itself seems very expensive. $45 or so


Varkey, just saw your post. I have been reading up that thread. It seems you have got it from Fedex. Do you recommend that for me too?
Click to expand...

You can use a coupon as @mjumrani suggested, should bring it down to $10.

I got it through HopShopGo, and they sent it by Fedex. If you are trying to send it directly by Fedex without a forwarder it will be quite expensive.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
A long time back I created an account on PPOBox and yesterday I could log in to HSG using my Paypal details. Which one do you guys recommend?
I feel going through the trouble of creating another account in SnS and searching for the coupons is not necessary now, unless they are much better than the above two services.
 
Nah, my moms coming back tomorrow so UAE is ruled out. Have decided to go with PPOBox.

- - - Updated - - -

Will the customs be higher if I order two phones?

- - - Updated - - -

Can you guys suggest a good proxy site to do the payment. I usually use, hidemyass to check US stores but the name itself doesn't inspire much confidence, to use my CC using it.
 
DO NOT order and ship 2 phones together. Make sure they reach India on separate days. At least a few days apart.
You could be screwed by customs
 
mjumrani said:
DO NOT order and ship 2 phones together. Make sure they reach India on separate days. At least a few days apart.
You could be screwed by customs
Click to expand...

If you are ordering it using PPO Box, there is no issue at all, customs anyway is charged only on the declared value. Even with HomeShopGo many ordered two units and they didn't face any problem.
 
varkey said:
If you are ordering it using PPO Box, there is no issue at all, customs anyway is charged only on the declared value. Even with HomeShopGo many ordered two units and they didn't face any problem.
Click to expand...

The issue comes in when the custom officer gets temperamental
 
With PPO Box, they have a customs clearing agent, so there is no issue at all even if you get 5 units. Its always cleared on declared value.

With others like Fedex/DHL it may be a problem, but never I don't think anyone mentioned they were over charged, and many did get two units.
 
Back
Top