Team-BHP - Purchasing drones from overseas (vs buying from the grey market in India)

Quote:

Originally Posted by audioholic (Post 5378860)

So unless you want to use the drone seriously for professional use, consider bringing one from abroad. It shoudlnt be a big deal especially with the mini.

If you are buying online, prices are hugely inflated. However they are much more reasonable if you buy it from local grey market areas who directly import and doesn't pay tax.

Alternatively, one can always go abroad to a nearby country like UAE and make electronic purchases on cheap. Here are some quotes I got from a popular Dubai based shop in DHR (1 DHR ~ 22 INR)

Dji
Mini2combo@2000
Mini 3pro@3550
Air2scombo@5025
Mavic3combo@10500

Quote:

Originally Posted by Slushmaster (Post 5382701)

A small update- Got my Mini 3 Pro with fly more combo yesterday. Waiting for the weekend to fly it, really excited. Will post my observations post the flight.

Great ! Mind sharing where you soured it from and damages ?

Quote:

Originally Posted by Samfromindia (Post 5383938)

Great ! Mind sharing where you soured it from and damages ?

The cost in Delhi with the flymore combo is around 1.18L which is still much lesser than what people are selling on Amazon without the fly more combo.

Few points that noted during my miaden flight which lasted around 28 minutes.

Pros:
1) Controls are super precise
2) The sensors that detect any obstructions work great in all directions
3) Picture quality is excellent
4) The video feed transmission to the remote is fast and without any lag
5) The Gimbal takes very good care of the wind disturbances
6) The noise level is also better than any drone that I have seen till date

Cons:
1) It is light and strong wind gusts actually move it a lot, but the gimbal actually ensures that the image/videos are stabilised. But, that puts extra load on the entire camera system
2) It's just my observation, DJI can improve the overall plastic quality of the Mini 3 pro

Will share pics and videos from my next offroad adventure :)

Thanks,
Slushmaster

Quote:

Originally Posted by autovarun (Post 5394566)

Recently spotted on my transit at Dubai Airport! Wondering what all are possible to be carried to India without getting seized by customs.

Importing for reselling is restricted, however can be brought as a personal item.
Keep the drone in check in luggage and the controller + battery in hand luggage.
Make sure to unbox the drone and preferably throw off the box and keep the carrying case only.
You may get cheaper deals outside. DXB has 5% VAT and 85% of it will be refunded to tourists. Refer here: https://www.planetpayment.com/en/our...anet-tax-free/

Indian Customs Guideline:
https://www.cbic.gov.in/resources/ht...VELLERS_v5.pdf

Quote:

Originally Posted by Samfromindia (Post 5396090)

Importing for reselling is restricted, however can be brought as a personal item.
Keep the drone in check in luggage and the controller + battery in hand luggage.
Make sure to unbox the drone and preferably throw off the box and keep the carrying case only.
You may get cheaper deals outside. DXB has 5% VAT and 85% of it will be refunded to tourists. Refer here: https://www.planetpayment.com/en/our...anet-tax-free/

Indian Customs Guideline:
https://www.cbic.gov.in/resources/ht...VELLERS_v5.pdf

Wow thanks for the Indian Customs PDF. Going to save this for my next trip.:Cheering:

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rehaan (Post 5396242)

Just sharing the 2 parts that matched a CTRL+F for "Drone":

Yes like I mentioned, all these are applicable if one gets the item in sealed condition + Need to pay 38.5% duty for value exceeding 50K.

To give an example, say one buys a top end iPhone for 1L and carries them in box pack, be prepared to shell out duty at the above rates (38.5% of 50K). So what you do is throw away the box, carry the new phone in pocket and maybe keep the accessories in check in luggage. There is no proof whether the phone was bought from abroad or you carried it from India / given to you as a gift.

For high valuable items like expensive professional cameras and other equipment, customs provides an option to generate export certificate while going out of India which acts as a proof that they are not bought abroad while coming back. However for normal day to day items like consumer DSLR there is no need for doing so.

Quote:

3. Are costly items and electronic gadgets like camera/projector taken out of India
dutiable when brought back?
Ans. For costly items which can be identifiable by Sl. No, Marks etc. the Customs Officer
will issue an Export Certificate at the time of passengers' departure. While returning back, the
passenger may show the Export Certificate to the Customs Officer who will examine the goods
and allow the passage of the imported items without paying any duty. However, this
arrangement doesn't hold for jewellery items, which has a separate procedure.

The most important point here is to remove all batteries and keep them in hand luggage. That's why one should remove battery from drone and keep the controller in hand luggage as well. Some even recommend to remove the propeller and keep drone in camera bag along with DSLR. If not followed there is a high chance of it getting confiscated.

Hello BHP-ians,

I am getting a Mini 3 Pro from the US. Out of curiosity, I also checked the Indian price with one of the recommended retailers. As expected, I will be saving around INR 36,000 on this purchase but he was quite certain that we are not allowed to carry it on our international travels. Is this true? I see a lot of international footage by Indian content creators and even on this thread. On the other hand, I am a prospective customer and he has no reason to dissuade me with this tidbit.

Wondering if this is just a case of misinformation or if there is anything to it, with our ever-changing regulations.

And what is the situation on domestic flights? Do we still carry the drone and batteries as cabin baggage and the propellers as check-in?

Quote:

Originally Posted by a_chelat (Post 5427473)

Firstly there are no authorized resellers in India and whatever is available is from grey market. Recently many users found out that their Indian reseller sold them refurbished drone for normal "inflated" price. More details on this scam and how to identify refurbished drone from serial no can be found on Google / YouTube.

Secondly your query on drone import for personal use is discussed extensively in previous posts, I guess I should make a separate thread on this. Nevertheless repeating it again :

1: Unbox the drone package, separate out all batteries including the one in your drone.

2: Keep the drone, propellers and other accessories like cables inside the carrying case and keep it inside check-in luggage.

3: Keep all the batteries, controller inside cabin luggage.

4: Many throw away the box, but it can be folded flat and sneaked inside check-in luggage as well

Rules are simple, anything with battery should not be checked in as it will be easily detected, this includes the controller with built in battery.

I followed all these steps and had no problems importing a drone last month when I returned Pune from UAE.

Mini 2 Flymore combo cost was around 44200 INR from Virgin, a DJI authorized reseller (Similar to Reliance Digital / Chroma in India). If buying from a stand alone shop using cash, it would be cheaper by about 3-4K

Purchasing drones from overseas (vs buying from the grey market in India)-3.jpg

Purchasing drones from overseas (vs buying from the grey market in India)-1.jpg

Purchasing drones from overseas (vs buying from the grey market in India)-4.jpg

Mini 3 with standard controller was going for 65K at authorized places. You can also get it with the RC remote & the Fly More Kit & Fly More Kit+ as well. While the RC remote is nice, in case you are going for it I hope you are aware of its limitations when it comes to hacking for removing altitude & no fly zone restrictions.

Also you may register it at Digital Sky, however its totally optional and not needed.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Samfromindia (Post 5427768)

Firstly there are no authorized resellers in India and whatever is available is from grey market...

Secondly your query on drone import for personal use is discussed extensively in previous posts, I guess I should make a separate thread on this. Nevertheless repeating it again :

Thank you very much for the reply. And sorry if my earlier post was a bit too vague. I know there are no authorized resellers for DJI in India; this reseller was recommended by other users. I have been following this thread for quite some time now and am generally aware of the import "protocol" for personal use.

My query was about carrying the drone on flights after I buy it and not about the first time import to India. When the seller here is adamant that Indian authorities will not let us carry a drone (as checked-in or carry-on) on our international travels from India even if I buy the nano drone, I was a bit skeptical and had to clarify.

Anyway I have decided to go ahead with the purchase; waiting only to see if I can get better deals during Black Friday/Cyber Monday. I will keep you all posted.

Quote:

Originally Posted by a_chelat (Post 5429071)

I had three of my colleagues carry in Mavic Mini and Mini 3 to India in the last few days. No issues at customs. In fact one guy had a chalked suitcase but that was because he had a couple of watches in it along with the drone and once he approached the customs officer the officer shifted his attention to the gold chain that my colleague was wearing and after that no one cared about the watch and anything else :D

Quote:

Originally Posted by a_chelat (Post 5429071)

My query was about carrying the drone on flights after I buy it and not about the first time import to India. When the seller here is adamant that Indian authorities will not let us carry a drone (as checked-in or carry-on) on our international travels from India even if I buy the nano drone, I was a bit skeptical and had to clarify.

Anyway I have decided to go ahead with the purchase; waiting only to see if I can get better deals during Black Friday/Cyber Monday. I will keep you all posted.

Travel rules are same for domestic flight as well. Separate battery and controller in cabin and drone in check-in. US store has some great discounts including the option of refurbished ones which offer huge savings.

Quote:

Originally Posted by audioholic (Post 5429090)

Great. The key thing here to behave normally and show no signs of uneasiness in front of customs officer while going through green channel. They cannot audit each and every traveler so pick up random ones from the crowd who appear suspicious.

From 21:00
https://youtu.be/NstTPs0L_SU?t=1260