| Re: How to purchase on eBay?
eBay buying/return experience and the ordeal with government agencies
I had ordered a food grade supplement for my cousin. This particular product wasn’t available in India and was found on eBay.com. The seller was UK based and eligible for international shipping. Confirmed via eBay messaging on the product, expiry date, return policy, packing etc. The cost of the product was around ₹20k including shipping. The seller had promised that it would be a cold package with refrigerated shipment.
After couple of weeks, it reached home via Speed Post and was given the customs receipt for 7k. They (Customs) marked the item as “Vitamin Tablets” which wasn’t the case. Anyhow, paid the duty and received the package. Immediately handed over the package to my cousin. Upon opening the package, we realised it wasn’t any cold/refrigerated packing (Just a normal zip-lock packet enclosed in a cardboard packing). Then once the zip-lock packet was opened, saw that all were melted/leaked from the enclosed covers. Took the photo, raised the return along with the photo. The seller immediately accepted the return and promised me that they would cover all expenses but they did not send any shipment label.
Now the ordeal with the system here in India. (Mentioning the time and kms as well just to show how one simple thing takes a lot of effort).
Day 1
Went to the post office to ship the item back to UK and mentioned that it was a food grade supplement. They immediately rejected it and said that I need an authorisation letter from the Drug department. They directed me to the Collectorate at Kakkanad (15kms from my place and min 45 mins - 1 hour on a Sat). Reached there and the inquiry dude directs me to the concerned office which was on the far end of the building. When I reached there and a dude there says it’s on the other side. Finally reached the place and the dude says it’s at Willingdon Island (Roughly 22 kms from there). Of course, no basic courtesy of offering a seat (there was a lady with me). We then drove to Willingdon Island and find the place. Since it was a Sat, it looked like the place wasn’t functioning. The cop at the gate directed us to the control room where a “central government employee” was there. He had absolutely no clue of the concerned office/dept that we wanted to meet. He asked us to come on Monday.
Day 2 (I had a take half day off from work)
Reached the office at around 10am. The cop at the gate (another dude) confirmed that this is the place and directed me to the office (This cop was the only decent person we met). Imagine the dude that we met on Saturday. He didn’t know the department operating in. The same building (It was a small building with 1-2 central departments operating). Waited for around 30 mins and entered the concerned officer’s cabin. We explained the entire situation and he was like “why did you import the drug illegally”? We were like “Uh”. We explained that this was a supplement and not a drug and even if it’s a drug how is it possible for a layman to purchase this off the internet. He said we had to seek their permission before purchasing it. We finally opened the Ebay account, showed the product to him and explained what we were trying to do. Then he was more concerned with the seller. Since this product was damaged, what will the seller do with this? That was when we kind of lost patience and asked him “What are we supposed to do with this package”? We paid 20k+7k for the package and want to return this. If there’s any restriction, this should be clearly mentioned in the return policy with the seller since they are dealing this on the frontend. Anyhow, that was when he realised that it wasn’t a drug and asked up to go to the food safety dept which was few blocks from this office. And yes, we spent some 25-30 mins trying to convince this dude, but again as always didn’t show the basic courtesy to offer us a seat (the guests before were all sitting n making merry - might be some pharmaceutical dealer).
Even though the next place was 5 mins from this place, we had a tough time finding this. Since there were many people around, we asked them and found the place. The dude here was pretty helpful - said this was a food grade supplement and can be returned via post without any authorisation. He was like “ Who the hell asked you for a letter”?. Anyhow, he said they can’t issue any letter, but said the post office can call their office in case they need any clarification. Also shared some guidelines showing that the ingredients are marked as food grade.
Next to their office, there was a post office and mentioned the item to her. She was very patient but wasn’t sure whether this could be shipped. Called her superior and explained the situation. Finally they accepted the package and asked us to write “Food Supplement” on the package. Got the tracking number and we left the place. Kept tracking the number every alternate day to check if it passed the customs. Was at customs for few days and finally saw that it reached UK. Finally, it went through for couple of hundred bucks. The seller who was pretty responsive initially stopped responding after we raised the return. eBay had to step in to process the refund. Got the refund in couple of days, but lost the customs duty of 7k.
We had tried to ship the package using a reputed international courier service in the meantime. They do accept this with a doctor’s prescription and eBay bill (we had both) but the approx cost for shipment was around 7k. | 
21st February 2005, 16:32
. Alright, forget that! ) If you purchase from seller outside of India, custom duty surely applies. Shipping charges will be specified on the Item auction page. Make sure the seller is ready to ship it outside US. Best way to ensure that seller is reliable, is check his past history (it is available for each e-bay member). Choose one with minumum -ve remarks.
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Thanks
