[binand]

Originally Posted by pedrolourenco

Has anyone tried buying from Amazon.com. Any issues with shipping, customs etc?

I have bought lots of stuff. Generally it has been quite painless. They will charge an amount over the product cost that would pay for customs.

[arunphilip]

Originally Posted by pedrolourenco

I was thinking of buying a HP50g calculator. Amazon.in has it for Rs. 8305/- whereas Amazon.com has it for $64.00/- (Rs.4264/-). That's roughly half. Has anyone tried buying from Amazon.com. Any issues with shipping, customs etc?

I've bought several items (electronics and non-electronics) from Amazon.com over the last few years. It is the most hassle-free way to get stuff from abroad - they take care of all shipping and customs, and ship it through sensible and timely couriers (no China Post nonsense like some sellers on Ali Express). They also take care of packaging very well.

The $64 price is the selling price, without shipping and customs. You'll have to add it to your shopping cart and initiate checkout to see what will be the final price, since those can easily add a few thousand.

That said, I have a simple tip for Amazon.in - I check the shipping time provided, and if it is 1-3 weeks or something similar, I know it is being ordered from abroad by the seller, and then delivered locally to you, for a profit. I've seen that sellers like BooyahChicago, Cart2india, iBhejo, etc. (there are many more) use this business model. The selling price they list is more than what it would cost you to buy it via Amazon.com, since it includes their profit. In such cases, you'll find that directly ordering from Amazon.com will be cheaper than through such sellers.

EDIT: Forgot to point out, your Amazon.in link shows that it is one such importer/reseller offering the calculator in India. So do check what it will cost to get it from Amazon.com.

[binand]

Originally Posted by arunphilip

The selling price they list is more than what it would cost you to buy it via Amazon.com, since it includes their profit. In such cases, you'll find that directly ordering from Amazon.com will be cheaper than through such sellers.

I do the same; but I go one step further - I also have signed up for an account with shopandship.com. If Amazon does not deliver to India, I get it forwarded through them.

[arjithin]

I've almost made my mind to buy a Lenovo Note K5 from Flipkart. There are no offers or cashback on cards available now. Given that the shopping season is almost here, when can we expect to see some kind of offers on this product?

My other phone is still running, but needs charging twice a day. So nI am not in a hurry to buy straightaway.

[Prowler]

Originally Posted by arunphilip

I've bought several items (electronics and non-electronics) from Amazon.com over the last few years. It is the most hassle-free way to get stuff from abroad - they take care of all shipping and customs, and ship it through sensible and timely couriers (no China Post nonsense like some sellers on Ali Express). They also take care of packaging very well.

I have been buying supplements and small gadgets from the US for quite some time. But my auditor - after seeing my expenditure on the statement warned me that, there is some procedure to be followed if we spend more than 25 USD online. Some sort of declaration about which I will be intimated later.

Customs duty on these items depends a lot on your luck. Some times an Action Camera which costs almost a 100 dollar gets through without any duty. On the other hand, a supplement - chromium picolinate that hardly costs USD 7 gets slapped with Rs.800 as duty.

Personally I would prefer a seller in India who takes the trouble of paying customs duty and all the local taxes. One day it might save us the hassle of dealing with the Govt for minor 'violations'.

[binand]

Originally Posted by Prowler

Personally I would prefer a seller in India who takes the trouble of paying customs duty and all the local taxes.

Amazon does that. They charge an "estimated" customs charges above the product cost + shipping. Once the shipment clears customs they refund any excess amount.

I pay for a lot of other things ("services") in foreign currency through my card; mainly for renewal of my professional certifications, memberships and subscriptions.

[Thad E Ginathom]

Originally Posted by binand

Amazon does that. They charge an "estimated" customs charges above the product cost + shipping. Once the shipment clears customs they refund any excess amount.

There is a distinction between Amazon International service and others. Amazon International does as you say; others may not. And all too many Amazon .com/.uk items state "Sorry, this item does not ship to India"

[binand]

Originally Posted by Thad E Ginathom

There is a distinction between Amazon International service and others. Amazon International does as you say; others may not. And all too many Amazon .com/.uk items state "Sorry, this item does not ship to India"

it is for these kind of items that I use shopandship.com. I basically get a dropbox address in 15+ countries (I have used only 2-3 of those so far); which is then forwarded to me in Bangalore automatically. I pay cash on delivery that covers shipping and customs based on actual expense.

In my experience Amazon international shipping and shopandship.com both work out to be approximately the same; within Rs. 100 of each other on a Rs. 5000 purchase. Tracking on SnS is more accurate whereas Amazon is slightly quicker.

[BlueEyes]

I had to return a dashcam to an ebay seller as it went kaput after few months. Visited post office last week to send to seller's China address. I was promptly refused by the lady at the counter as it is electronic gadget and India Post rules does not permit booking one. I had sent a similar package to Hong Kong last year through IndiaPost-WorldNet service, I didn't know that that service has stopped now!!
I am struggling to understand here, doesn't India Post delivers parcels with electronic goods? I have received plenty when purchased from aliexpress.com via China Post. How different it is from a booking an electronic gadget?

[diyguy]

Originally Posted by BlueEyes

I was promptly refused by the lady at the counter as it is electronic gadget and India Post rules does not permit booking one.

You shouldn't tell them it is a camera. Say it is a cable for phone or something.

[Thad E Ginathom]

The postal people have some funny ideas about what they do or don't accept. A couple of years ago, I was not allowed to send a DVD.

[Sherlocked]

Originally Posted by Sherlocked

I personally have never faced any issues with Amazon fulfilled items and have found their way of operation aa good as it was two years ago. In short, positive.

Ok guys so let me just enter in the list of members who have had bitter experience with Amazon fullfiled items. My trust with them has shaken a bit today.

I had ordered something which was Amazon Prime fulfilled and got a message this morning along with the mobile number of the delivery boy that it will be delivered by today.
It's 1930 hours and no sign of my package I called up the number. Call wasn't picked up but within next 5 minutes I got a sms saying that delivery could not happen because customer was not available.

Customer wasn't available?
How can it be! Poor customer hasn't even left the home today! It's been a boring Sunday for him.
But no, seems like they came to the conclusion that today being a Sunday the customer must have gone to a party. A party lasting the whole day, starting from the morning.

Quite psychic these people are! I am amazed!

Why the rant?

I wouldn't be ranting if the message of non delivery would read like this:

Dear customer,
Apologies for not being able to deliver your product today. It will be delivered to you by tomorrow positively.
Thank you for choosing Amazon.

I would have said to myself, "It's ok no problem. They are apologetic and at least aren't coming with a lie"

But no, they decided to come up with a lie!

Trust = Shaken.

[diyguy]

Originally Posted by Sherlocked

Customer wasn't available?

this is quite common and is an issue with the logistics provider and not Amazon. It has happened to me couple of times too and I can understand your concern. When they have a delay, they do not want to select a reason for which they can be penalized, hence the option to blame customer..

[arunphilip]

Originally Posted by Sherlocked

It's 1930 hours and no sign of my package I called up the number. Call wasn't picked up but within next 5 minutes I got a sms saying that delivery could not happen because customer was not available.

Originally Posted by diyguy

this is quite common and is an issue with the logistics provider and not Amazon. It has happened to me couple of times too and I can understand your concern. When they have a delay, they do not want to select a reason for which they can be penalized, hence the option to blame customer..

As diyguy said, its putting in a status that doesn't put the blame on the delivery/logistics side. Interestingly, its not the delivery boy who is doing this on his own to safeguard his own delivery performance metric. Even if you raise it with customer care, they'll hand-wave the issue and just give a bunch of apologies and assurances it'll be delivered the next day.

I realized this when I contacted customer care, only to realize that they were in the game on this whole thing. I wonder if its a way by which Amazon India games their metrics which are analyzed by corporate HQ in the US.

[binand]

Originally Posted by diyguy

this is quite common and is an issue with the logistics provider and not Amazon.

Well, it is a problem that affects the trust the customer places on Amazon and hence it is for Amazon to solve. I have followed up a few times when this has happened (not just with Amazon; even Flipkart, other e-commerce sites and also regular office-to-office couriers are affected). One delivery boy told me - during cross-examination - that he was at Marathahalli at 6 PM and didn't want to deliver at my office near Manipal Hospital and then return to his home in Gunjur, so he skipped. When I asked him if he's aware that I had paid money for guaranteed delivery, he said no (that information is not made available to these people).