Ever since I got into biking a couple of years ago I have been shocked at the prices that people in this country pay for decent gear. There seems to be a fear of importing ones own gear to the extent that people will pay dealers hefty margins to buy gear here. Given a choice between paying those kind of prices I would probably pick up a ticket and head out to Singapore or Australia to buy my gear but I do recognise that a lot of people cannot put together the funds to combine a holiday and buying gear as you would then have to buy a lot of gear to justify going abroad.
While I do understand that there are genuine dealer websites that take the trouble to import gear and stock it and I think that they deserve to be supported, a lot of websites I have now come across promise delivery in 30-40 days which is pretty much more than what it takes to import the gear yourself and these are the ones who I have a problem with.
Anyways since I have a bit more experience in buying and importing my own gear I thought I would outline the system for those that want to give it a go. It is really not as complicated and fearful as people think it is.
BUYING AND SHIPPING:
I have so far bought stuff from FC-Moto.de, Motardinn.com, Ebay and Gumtree (australian equivalent of OLX). I have never bought through Amazon because they have really expensive shipping costs and an import fee deposit. At the outset it needs to be mentioned that each persons experience with a website is different. For example with FC-Moto there was no indication that my item was out of stock and it was only a week later that they finally shipped. Additionally even though it was shipped through DHL it took a month to land as it was finally delivered by India Post itself here and not DHL.
Some pointers with regard to buying / Shipping:
• I have till date never had an incident of someone not shipping something I have bought, so buying off most foreign websites seems to be reasonably safe. In the one case that the item I ordered went out of stock I was refunded without even having to ask for the refund.
• I do however tend to look for sites that offer paypal as I consider that safer than typing my card number into a website. Additionally paypal offers a redressal system where you can open a complaint against a merchant so this is a better form of protection.
• Most postal services such as USPS, DHL and Auspost offer trackable items, however it is important to note that while the item is in transit by air this tracking number will not reflect any activity for quite some time until it lands in India. Also Auspost has a cheaper shipping option that is not trackable so be aware of what type of shipping is being used.
• Being constantly on the lookout for closeout deals is important as the market abroad is highly seasonal and items from a couple of seasons ago are always heavily discounted (for example check the last chance bargains on the closeout section on motorcyclegear.com). I also got a closeout on an australian website where the guy was dumping his entire stock of RS Taichi stuff at 50% off!!
• Additionally if you really look out there are some fantastic deals on second hand gear abroad as they really do not care about the value of an item once they have no use for it. You would need to look on gumtree / craigslist. However postage on these kind of deals is tricky as you would not have any bill etc in case the item does get stuck in customs. If the person you are buying from is willing to mark it as a gift then you would probably get away with customs however I would not take a chance on high value items such as helmets or jackets this way. Again payment here is made safe because of paypal and its grievance system.
• Remember that sizing is a huge issue and each brand is highly specific in terms of size. For example RS Taichi being Japanese tends to be really small in all their items so I would probably go 2 sizes higher if buying Taichi. Fortunately now that Alpinestars and Dainese are available here in Bangalore I happily went into the stores and tried on their jackets prior to buying my jacket abroad.
CUSTOMS CLEARANCE:
From my experience at the Bangalore Foreign Post office and a conversation with my postman (who due to the large number of parcels and generous tips has now become very friendly with me)
• It is the foreign postal department that decides which items to sent to the customs for inspection (customs is actually on a different floor but in the same post office on museum road in Bangalore) so not all items are guaranteed to be sent to customs for inspection. Apparently typically they target items over 100 dollars in declared value or items that are marked as electronic goods (hence my LEDS came under inspection). As a disclaimer any item that is large enough would probably be treated suspiciously.
• When an item is sent up to customs an internal number is generated to track the movement from the postal to the customs department. Therefore if you want to enquire with the customs department on the status you first need to get this internal number from the postal department by giving them your tracking number and then go to the customs dept with the internal number. My advice is to not call the phone numbers given for both the customs or post as their numbers are constantly busy and it is therefore easier to get the job done in person. I have however put up a link to the numbers at the end of this for those that want to go through this ordeal.
• Always take all bills and matching credit card statements to show to the customs officer as that is how they ascertain the commercial value and type of goods in front of them.
• If the customs officer assesses that your item is dutiable you would need to pay the duty to the postman who delivers the item to you. The duty is calculated as a percentage of item cost plus shipping cost. For example my LEDS were approx 9k and shipping was 3k which is a total dutiable value of 12k. Customs on electronics was 30% i.e 3k to be paid on delivery of the parcel.
• While they will send out a letter by registered post to inform you that an item is stuck in customs, very often this letter will only land much after you have actually visited the office and cleared the consignment.
• Both the post and customs people have been hitherto quite polite to deal with and I have never had to pay anyone anything so far and the system is quite clear.
A couple of websites that can help:
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http://www.dutycalculator.com can help in the calculation of duty on imports
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http://foreignpostmumbai.blogspot.in...omer-care.html all the numbers for the foriegn post and customs offices in the major cities.
The usual websites for gear (most of which are discounted and primarily based in Europe)
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http://www.fc-moto.de/
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http://www.motoin.de/
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http://www.motardinn.com/