[whatcanthisbe]

Hi All
I am starting golf, had a couple of lessons hit quite a few balls and now thinking within a month - 2 I should buy my own set. I found a few inexpensive ones in the US. My question is if i buy them in the US and have them shipped over what would be the import duty on these ?

[dins]

I think any big courier company like DHL etc. or clearing agent would be the best person to suggest you for the same.but i think you will get different answers and figures from differernt people for the same.

[joecherian]

Hi, I came across this Chinese online shop Wholesale Electronics - China Wholesale - Discount Electronics Wholesale From China. Would like to know whether anyone has ordered any stuff from them ? Their site tells that they ship to all countries .Still, is there any additional tax or duty if you get it in India ? How reliable are they ?

[HotChillyPepper]

I have ordered a Stiffening Cap from the US ebay and the seller shipped it through USPS. From the online tracking I could see that the item cleared the Indian Customs on 24-11-2008.

But now I dont have any information about the shipment. When I enquired with the Seller he informed me that the package is handed over to the Indian Postal service for delivering. But it is more than a week now, but the item not reached me.

Is there anybody on Forum faced same issue? Any numbers where in I can query about the shipment in IPS?

[anantnehru]

Not addressing any particular post, but just thought this might be helpful to people in the future:
Products below about $20/$25 are not subject to customs.
Electronics customs are @ 31.703% of the entire value (including shipping, and after the addition of 1-2% for handling fees)
If you have a clearing agent, they have a separate fee.
If a shipment comes in with the name of a company on the invoice, there is a need for IEC code and all necessary documents.
If they feel the product is underinvoiced, all you have to do is give them a catalogue/printout of the price of the product and they will charge customs accordingly. (If they are understanding! - otherwise they will charge customs on the value they THINK the product is, regardless of actual value.)
However, if the invoice is in a company name and your courier company files a bill of entry in the name of a company, thats a big problem - this in my experience is a rare occurence, especially if the courier company has handled cases like this before.
Usually DHL, USPS and EMS handle things like this brilliantly, even if you have to pay customs - they pay it for you and you pay it on delivery.
Things get thru customs usually without a hassle, but when they get stuck they get stuck - and can result in a big hassle. But again, from what I have learnt is; its all about the luck of the draw.
Oh and yes, Customs takes a LONG LONG time to get their things done. So if your stuff does get stuck, be prepared to wait. I once had to wait 3 weeks for my stuff to clear ONLY from customs. Courier to Delhi from Mumbai was another wait.

[luky_13]

Originally Posted by HotChillyPepper

I have ordered a Stiffening Cap from the US ebay and the seller shipped it through USPS. From the online tracking I could see that the item cleared the Indian Customs on 24-11-2008.

But now I dont have any information about the shipment. When I enquired with the Seller he informed me that the package is handed over to the Indian Postal service for delivering. But it is more than a week now, but the item not reached me.

Is there anybody on Forum faced same issue? Any numbers where in I can query about the shipment in IPS?

I have been through the grid on numerous occasions, getting parts for my Bike via USPS. Generally it depends on the mode used, if Sea then the parcel would not reach you before 60 days and if Air then again depending on the price you paid for freight it takes anywhere between 3~15 days.

The Post office (where the clearance is done) has a register which maintains a list of all parcel recieved from abroad, you can run through those and see if it has hit the PO (check for your name in the register). If its there in the register then its there in the Post Office.

[ST7677]

I bought a GPS over EBAY on 4th Dec, it was shipped through USPS with a tracking number. The status shows it was "Out of Foreign Customs, December 14, 2008, 2:16 pm, INDIA" but I have still not received it.

I contacted the local post office and they have no clue of it all they say is that if it was received by us then it would have been delivered to you.

It's been in India for about 15 days already. I do not know which port it has landed and which customs office did it get cleared from. Also if it is already cleared then why is it taking so long? Any idea what to do now?

Also does Paypal /Ebay payment offer any insurance against loss during transit? Usually I buy insurance from the seller, but in this case there was no insurance being offered by the seller on shipping.

[phantom76]

This is a problem if you receive through USPS. There is no proper tracking. I have lost about two electronic items like this purchased through eBay. Fortunately they were cheaper items - once a charger and another time a Dell Mini-PCI wireless card. Most of the time you will have no clue on what happened to the item.

Most likely your item is with customs for clearance. They normally take 15 to 30 days to clear an item.

After these experiences, I order only if the seller can ship through UPS/FedEx or DHL. You get peace of mind.

[ST7677]

Would Paypal buyer protection program be of help in this case?
I would wait for another 10 days and then file for a Item not received case with Paypal / Ebay...

[xotiq]

Whenever you buy from Ebay, (or for that matter, from abroad and have it sent via courier) the process followed though simple, is frustratingly long.

From my observation...

1> Usually the merchant will ship the package the day/day+1 after payment clears.
2> USPS / DHL or others, once the package is posted, it takes less than a week to reach India.
3> Your USPS / DHL package can be tracked with the docket number till it reaches India, when the status shows 'Out Of Foreign Customs'.
4> Once it reaches India (respective Foreign Post Offices), it is routed to the jurisdictional PAD office for customs evaluation and inspection.
5> PAD (Postal Appraisal Dept) is manned by Customs officers who examine and evaluate your package for calculating duty to be levied, if any.
6> On PAD clearance with no duty required, the package is assigned a Local Package number and routed to you via your local post office from the foreign post office.
7> If PAD determines duty to be collected, then the process takes longer. PAD sends the duty assessment to the customs commissioners office (or equivalent). At this stage, the Customs/PAD is also supposed to send a duty payment notice to the recepient, which he has to acknowledge and move go ahead with paying the duty.
8> Once you know that your package has reached India, it would be better if you can send the invoice and declaration to the PAD. This expedited the time taken for me.

Not sure if Paypal buyer protection covers delays / losses due to customs related issues.

[BAKIYA_2K12]

Originally Posted by ST7677

I bought a GPS over EBAY on 4th Dec, it was shipped through USPS with a tracking number. The status shows it was "Out of Foreign Customs, December 14, 2008, 2:16 pm, INDIA" but I have still not received it.

I contacted the local post office and they have no clue of it all they say is that if it was received by us then it would have been delivered to you.

It's been in India for about 15 days already. I do not know which port it has landed and which customs office did it get cleared from. Also if it is already cleared then why is it taking so long? Any idea what to do now?

Also does Paypal /Ebay payment offer any insurance against loss during transit? Usually I buy insurance from the seller, but in this case there was no insurance being offered by the seller on shipping.

I am a regular buyer from ebay it usally takes 8 to 10 days to receive an item from usa including saturday and sunday. in your case if any duty has been charged you should receive a letter from customs after 5 days.i think you better contact foreign post office.

[androdev]

how much would be the shipping cost from UK to India for a child seat? Unfortunately I don't know the weight and dimension of it. I tried DHL calculator with approximate data and I am getting some 3000 GBP :-)

[ST7677]

i think you better contact foreign post office.

Where would that be, how do I get it's address? Would it be the one in Bangalore, or it can be Chennai, Mumbai etc also.

I am also a regular buyer on international ebay, but this is the first time I have faced a problem like this!

[frankmehta]

Originally Posted by Nikhilb2008

@gunbir --- Isnt there a lower limit of 5,000/- for electronic items?

I heard that items below 5K are not charged customs duty.

Even if an electronic item that costs 10$ enters the country, will duty be charged on it ?

heres an indicator!
sorry for opening an OLD topic but im surprised how no one has spoken much about this..
question: is the 5000 rupee limit still valid?

[rjstyles69]

Looks like I put my foot in the wrong place for once !! Thanks to EMS and my package is yet to be delivered.

I ordered a bag from ebay and the item was shipped from Hong Kong. The tracking info from hongkong post is as below

Date Location Delivery Status

16-Apr-2009 Hong Kong Processed for departure.
16-Apr-2009 Hong Kong The item left Hong Kong for its destination on 16-Apr-2009
18-Apr-2009 India Arrived.
18-Apr-2009 India In transit.

The sellers website clearly states that in India EMS Speedpost would be handling the package. Tried the Speedpost website and no luck with the tracking, also the number provided on their website don't work.

I have been buying expensive stuff off ebay for the last 5 years and have never faced any issues till date. Except for this package which is to be delivered by speedpost.

Any pointers folks ?