Online shopping and getting stuff into India (Customs)
Well it is an important question in the world of today, more and more Indians are purchasing stuff online and importing it into India. But the question most people ask is the same. What about the customs duty?
Well to be frank with you, anything you have bought abroad and are bringing into India is chargeable as far as custom duties go except some duty free items like IT Products (Digital Camera, LCD Monitors,RAM,Processors etc., confirm the list though).
Seasoned ebay sellers and other online stores try to ensure that loyal Indian customers aren’t forced to shed customs at all. Remember you don’t need an IEC number to import stuff for personal use.
Here is what most companies do so that you don’t have to pay customs for importing stuff into India :
1. They mark the product as a gift on the customs declaration form of the package. This is illegal by the way , but there is no way to detect whether the thing is a gift or not. Unless the other person leaves an invoice inside the so called gift 😛
2. Even after declaring the commodity as a gift, Indian customs will still charge it if the price is above Rs.10000 , so these ebay sellers under-declare the value of goods. This is a double edged sword, as if the product is stolen it would mean that you would not get the right price from insurance, so this can lead to losses.
Now both these steps do save duty to the importer, but you should realise they are probably illegal and be ready for consequences. Also keep in mind the more expensive the courier, the more closely the customs will examine your package. They know that EMS and DHL aren’t used for low value items, hence these packages are scrutinised more than others. On the same time Airmail and Registered Airmail is more prone to theft especially in India.
Now the fact is most genuine importers don’t mind paying a little duty on the products they are importing into India, but the customs are so notorious that most try to circumvent them, because they know if their package is caught by Indian customs, there will be a lot more paying up to do! Also if you are importing in bulk and you don’t have an IEC, you are in big trouble.
Another question people have is what happens if the customs find your item chargeable, dont worry no one will send you to jail unless you are importing prohibited stuff. If your item is found chargeable, your package will be seized by customs and you will be sent a letter usually asking you for purpose of import etc. Be truthful while replying. If customs are satisfied with your reply, then they will calculate the appropriate customs duty and send the postman to your home who collects the duty and delivers your shipment. As easy as that. There is a small fine too for mis-declarations. Frequent mis-declarations will get you in trouble though. So be on the right side of the law. In case you have questions, feel free to ask via comments. Also this is not legal advice, hire a lawyer if you need legal advice.
hi ,
i have ordered a watch from a u.s.a based online store , the price of the watch is 115 USD , and it is being shipped thru DHL . It is a simple normal watch run on battery (non electronic) . Will i be charged at customs?? please inform me asap , i need to order it quickly , its a gift for my mom whose birthday is in a week , i need to get the watch before that .
I am on behalf of a Church based at Chennai, India. One of my friend would like to gift used pair of speakers and one mixer and one amplifier for Church purpose. What would be the process and is there any duty applicable. If yes how much it would be?
Hi,
I am planning to buy an electric shaver from ebay from US.It costs arround 200$ on ebay.Can any one suggest me how much will i need to pay as custom duty to get it imported to India hassle free and also which postal service should I Use?
Thanks
Hi,
I ordered some clothes, shoes and accessories online from Hong Kong based website for about $2000.00. I didn’t know about custom clearance and charges. Can you tell me what the charges will be like?
Guy, I dunno if this will help you or not. I do a lot of shopping from eBay USA and Amazon etc etc. Although I moved to Australia now, but I still ship items from USA to India for my family there. I use a mail forwarding service called ComGateway ( google it ). I ship all my US purchases there to their address, and then they repack it and mail it over to India. They use DHL for shipping the packages, and the rates are very cheap too.
I am telling you guys about this because I found that, that was the best way to ship items to India. As they send by DHL, I didnt have to worry about shipments getting stuck at customs, because DHL does all the customs work and deliver it to the address in India via Blue Dart, if any customs duty is needed, the Blue Dart guys collect it at the time of deliver. This is much easier and faster than the Indian Postal Service, which takes ages as I am my own experience with them while I was in India.
So, you guys can give it a try for international shopping if you want to,
i have purchased some electronic goods from foreign goods brushless moter,2.4 ghz transmitter and receiver etc.is there any problem for these goods,
Recently my uncle bought a laptop of worth 710$ including taxes in US. I wanted it to get imported in India. My uncle posted it through USPS service with insured. It costed around 85$ in USPS service. By tracking dates, its been with Indian customs since one week. Anyone have idea of when will I recieve my lappy to my door…???
Hi,
I just wanted to order a few cosmetics range from strawberrynet.com.
They would total to a max of Rs 5000.
The site says international shipping is free.
I dont really know, would there be any additional charges apart from the gross amount?
—any customs?
—any VAT?
–any other latent cost?
Please help 🙁
Hi,
I’ve just ordered a box set of Bluray Discs from Amazon.com and selected their standard shipping option. The total cost of the discs in under $100 inclusive of shipping. Any ideas on the duties I would need to pay and where I would need to go an pay them? Also by standard shipping does Amazon send it by a reputed shipper or some local player?
I would like to buy an iPhone or a laptop from amazon US
Will I be charged any customs?
Can I surpass the customs by sending it as a gift to India?
or is there any other way to surpass them?
hi this is rina ,i want to purchase some clothes from shnaghai based company , n it will approximately 12 pcs and rate would be 5880 and weight will be 4 kg around and i want it for my personal use…then what woulfd be the custom duties??? and any problem will be generate in that?
Hi,
Excellent Blog,
Query: How much Customs fee will be charged if I were to Bid and win Gold plated Jewellery from ebay.com.au,or any other, than ebay.in. All purchases below $100.
-Warm Regards-
Pradeep Gour
hello.. I am importing 5-6 pairs of shoes from pro direct soccer worth 25000 rs..can u tell me the import /custom duty on it..??
hi
i want to buy online body supplements from bodybuilding.com for personal use ,what is the maximum amount not to exceed according customs ….after ordering it should not stop by customs …?
I purchased a titanium ring for $10 ( Approx. Rs.466 ) from ebay.com, from china. I want to know if i am eligible to pay for any kind of import fees or custom duty on the ring? I have absolutely no idea abt this stuff, plz help me…
I want to import a Tablet into India from china, should i use DHL, Fedex, UPS ? or should i use USPS and Indian Post ?
Also do i need an IEC number ? Can i pay with my Indian Rupee credit card for US Dollar purchase abroad ? , Will i violate FERA / FEMA ?
I have a shipment of 3 diecast models valued @ appx. 100$ stuck at customs. Now the last time I had some computer parts seized I was told that there was a fine of Rs. 5000 on purchases of Rs. 2000 and above without an IEC code, I think this is total bullshit and I just wanted a confirmation on if this is indeed true or just a money making racket they are running at the customs offices. Basically they asked me to pay customs duty @ 40/45% + Rs. 5000 as fine. Also do you have any idea what the customs duty on diecast toys would be?
^ For those being asked for IEC, make it clear in your responses that your package is for personal use only, no IEC is required for the same.
The 2k limit is for electronics only.
I ordered a shirt from wweshop
I livin in india …do i have to pay any custom fees? The price of the shirt is 8dollars
(www.wweshop.com/item/john-cena-cenation-t-shirt/Clearance/01-12259)
i ordered my pack of supplements from bodybuilding.com(us) through DHL in new delhi. The box had arrived in india but still it has not been delivered to my house. Is it possible that it is being held by the customs department? N if is it so then what should I do?
Hi there a very good post… there is so little information on this topic.
I have a question perhaps you can give me your opinion, I live in the Netherlands and I’m coming back to India. I have 30KG limit on flight luggage, excess baggage costs are very high. I find Air shipping to be cheaper and easier from NL, there is service called TNT here I will use that. I just want to ship my heavy clothes and my precious books. Do you know if I will have any customs problem? I have to fill in a form and attach it to my TNT box inside a transparent envelope, which gives the details of all the things in the box, their PRICE and so on. Now what should I fill as the price for clothes and books? They are my personal stuff and for some of the clothes/books I don’t even remember where I bought them and how much they cost any longer.
Help! Please!
@shiva for DHL, use the DHL tracking number on BlueDart website and it will tell you when you will receive the package, just like the normal BlueDart deliveries. To know if any customs duty needs to be paid to the BlueDart guys, just call your local bluedart customer or DHL toll free number care and give them the tracking number.
Hi,
The thread has been pretty helpful in understanding our Indian Customs. Apart from these, I have a few questions to ask you, WiseTechie:
1. I have ordered 3 fragrances costing AUD 150 inclusive of shipping and taxes from US. I would like to know, if there would be any Customs Issue when the shipment arrives in Chennai, India? The shipment is sent through UPSP.
2. I’m looking to order a Canon DSLR worth AUD 1400 from Hong Kong to India. It would be sent through a courier service(FedEx, DHL). I would like to know the Customs related Issues and the Dutiies if I will have to pay any.
Kindly clarify.
Cheers,
kc
how much duty for 40 inch 3 led tv in indian customs?if i say transfer of residence,i can come back after vacation?
dear sir i have got a freind of mine in Hong kong a few months back he send be one used mobile with some religious stuffs he alrady paid for it in HK but the customes also made me pay here in INDIA TOO .it was send through post office. is it legel to get money from both of us. he wants to send me some clothes and sandals what will we have to do??? any thing to avoid the tax…???plz do help me
My 2 cents….
If you want to order anything from abroad, buy from amazon.com or amazon.co.uk only. They have a very good customer policy. If you ordered by standard shipping, and the product didnt reach you, they will return the amount. If you ordered by priority international shipping, they have a global shipping program which collects the duty from you at the time of order so you dont have to pay anything. The product will reach you in 3 days max. After few days( in a months time) they will return the difference to you( if any). This is much much better option than ebay global or shop your world.com where you pay almost the double.
There is no duty on books
@ 20 -25 % duty on cd, dvds
Priority mail send by dhl (amazon us)
Ups( amazon uk)
hey if i am buying a few t shirts from wweshop n they are charging me 13$ for shipment do i need to pay extra for duty when it arrives
hello i want to buy some mechanical items from china and the cost for 1 piece is 1000$ so can anyone help me what will be the requirement and what cost i have to pay for duty etc. I ask the forwardeer,they says to the two port i mentioned ,don’t need shipping cost,
For deposit,they need 30% advance, balance they do L/C, ?
so can anyone help me in this matter
1. Origin Office Item Booked
2. ISC CHICAGO IL (USPS) UNITED STATES Item Bagged
3. UNITED STATES Item Bagged
4. INDIA Item Bagged
5. Exchange Office: Sent for Customs Verification
6. Customs Office: Customs Retained Reason: High-value goods – Official Customs declaration required
7. Exchange Office: Received from Customs after Verification
8. INDIA Item Bagged
Can any wise guy in here explain what has happened with this package. I didn’t call anybody or didn’t ask anyone at indiapost or customs. If the package has cleared customs and indiapost has paid any duties then what happens if i refuse to pay the duty.
The item is marked as gift with approx. market value of $400. I sent it to myself from US.
I don’t wish to disclose the contents but i know that import of this product has no duty on it. All i want to know is that why does it shows retained by customs?
There was no invoice in the package and consignor and consignee were me.
The mystery will break 2moro when i receive it but am getting too curious about this. 🙂
It was sent using USPS and to my amaze it cleared customs in just 1day. I’m getting skeptic about this promptness.LOL!
BTW it was USPS GXG service.
Indian Customs are real pain in the ass. I had to pay no duty as the item was under duty free import category. They retained it for no reason however they didn’t delay the procedure.
I guess some UN-educated person might have selected the wrong code and updated that on status page.LOL! Anything can happen in India.
Once i ordered shoes in US and as the seller delayed the dispatch it was forwarded to my address in India(i had to pay shipping). The shoes reached India after 3 months. I was already back in the US by that time and had purchased another pair of shoes. LOL!
Uncertain things happen in India, so my advice to all is that have some patience and wait before you get in touch with these authorities coz once you get in touch with them there is no way that they will release your shipment without proper bribe. :))
Hi,
I recently purchased boots worth £106 (INR8,480 approx) from a UK based online shopping network. The courier services (mumbai office) told me that a custom duty of Rs. 2100 (approx) has been charged on my package @ 21% (I guess). Is the custom duty charged on my parcel correct ?? Is there anyway I can protest/claim the duty charged to me ?
Your response is much appreciated.
Cheers,
Abhishek
@ wisetechie
I have just purchased a set of plastic lenses worth 99$ from hong kong sent through Hong Kong Mail as the vendor uses that as standard delivery.I am interested to know if it’s safe and if any duty is liable on this amount.they have been shipped today so was wondering when I can receive them in Mumbai.
Thanks much
Hey @WiseTechie!! I’m planning to buy a Tablet PC with value 125 USD i.e. approximately 6,250 INR. Will it attract Custom charges.. if so how much?? I’ve heard that gifts upto rs 5000 come in duty free, if so will duty be charged on the balance INR 1250 or on whole INR 6250?? Please Help..!! Thank You!! =D
hi wisetechie
i bought a rambo cutlery knive from dhgate.com (china).they send it as a gift via china air post and the price is also doctered…when i track it it says it is outbound from office on 1 st december 2011 but it has not reached me yet .how would i know where it is or when would it reach the customs.who would deliver it when it clears indian customs.also please tell me whether it will be scanned .it is a low priced 1/2 kg package to me ,a student in a university. so would it get through????
please answer in detail ,lov you wisetechie
@ abhishek ,,no the customs have been already paid by the courier and you will have to pay them the amount .you can check the applicable duties on shoes from the net or if you can visit the customs office.answer mine please.
How long does this customs thing typically take? I sent a mobile phone to my programmer in India – truly a gift, he didn’t pay anything for it – but it has been sitting in customs for a week in Delhi. When should I start worrying? I have sent items before and it seemed they went faster, but maybe I’m mis-remembering, as it was a few years back.
Your ideas are much appreciated. 🙂
^ Its completely random, usually takes around a week or 2 fore customs to clear , before that you shouldnt really worry.
@Mohammad – you may have to visit your GPO with the tracking number, there isnt a surefire way to know if it would be scanned, but since its a knife, it can be confiscated.
@dhiren – Its chargeable since its not really a gift 🙂 , on gifts only amount above 5k is charged inclusive of insurance and shipping
@Vaddi – I have ordered only once via standard HK mail and never got the shipment, since then I only use registered airmail.
I want to purchase paintball markers online from ans gear.value is around $2200 via ups.can you please advice me how to get them,and what legal procedure should i follow.
Hello WiseTechie … you are an awesome guy, its really amazing how you keep up with postings…
When I saw this blog post, I couldn’t help but ask about my shipment too.
I had ordered a rigol oscilloscope (cost 399 $) from germany and the courier company is DHL (Premium delivery – 84 $)
Currently, its scheduled for clearance by customs in India for the last 2 days.
I would like to know if I would have to pay extra customs duty for the same.
Thank you for the great blog post… hope you can help me too… 🙂
@Deepak – I am not sure if its under exemption category, if not, it will be charged customs which DHL would pay it and collect the same from you. There is usually an agent fee there too.
Hi,
What steps should i take to receive Gold jewellery etc on a regular basis from auctions in the US,UK etc?
Thanks a ton for the heads up
But this is what I can track. Any idea what this means
 ITEM n° RT124711643HK new search
Local Date and Time Country Location Event Type Extra Information
12/28/2011 12:24:00 PM HONG KONG Receive item from customer (Otb)
12/31/2011 5:07:00 PM HONG KONG HONG KONG AIR MAIL CENTRE Insert item into bag (Otb)
1/1/2012 6:22:00 PM INDIA MUMBAI AIR Receive item at office of exchange (Inb)
1/1/2012 6:41:00 PM INDIA MUMBAI AIR Send item to domestic location (Inb)
1/2/2012 3:27:00 PM INDIA MUMBAI FOREIGN POST OFFICE Update item (Inb)
1/5/2012 1:44:00 PM INDIA MUMBAI FOREIGN POST OFFICE Send item to customs (Inb)
1/5/2012 3:20:00 PM INDIA MUMBAI FOREIGN POST OFFICE Record item customs information (Inb)
Retention reason : Articles importation subject to restrictions import- license
1/5/2012 3:23:00 PM INDIA MUMBAI FOREIGN POST OFFICE Return item from customs (Inb)
1/5/2012 4:10:00 PM INDIA MUMBAI FOREIGN POST OFFICE Send item to domestic location (Inb)
Thank you wisetechie 🙂
Please tell me what it means ,has my parcel cleared customs?
Local Date and Time Country Location Event Type Extra Information
12/16/2011 7:02:00 PM CHINA BEIJING Insert item into bag (Otb)
1/2/2012 8:48:00 AM INDIA KOLKATA AIR FOREIGN Receive item at office of exchange (Inb)
1/2/2012 10:31:00 AM INDIA KOLKATA AIR FOREIGN Send item to domestic location (Inb)
1/4/2012 3:12:00 PM INDIA DIMC NEW DELHI 37 Send item to domestic location (Inb)
If I Import a mobile form usa through usps express mail international of actual worth of $219, and the seller sends the item as a gift by mentioning it value as $30 then what will be the stand of customs people regarding this issue .
Thanks in advance ,
hi i ordered some clothes n shoes from china worth 150 dollors courrierd by air mail….do i have to pay customs for it??
@ KJ – Customs aren’t stupid you know, its their daily job to assess values, if they open your box, they would put a penalty and charge customs on whatever value they assess for your goods. If its a purchase, you should be paying duty on it. Evading duty, as the post says , is a crime 🙂
@meow – Of course customs is payable, whether the customs open it upon arrival is what is not certain.
Hi
my parcel from Japan is stick in Mumbai customs for last 3 months
http://tracking.post.japanpost.jp/service/singleSearch.do?searchKind=S004&locale=en&reqCodeNo1=EJ128859826JP&x=11&y=12
the EMS tracking info says that the parcel has been in Mumbai customs from 15th October 2011 and still it has not reached me now on 13 January 2012.
I contacted their office but nobody pick up the phone.
can anyone please tell me how to contact them properly. Im ready to pay fine, tax whatever.
but they have not informed me anything up till now.
Im fed up with this bad service, Im damn frustrated..i hate them..if they want money Im ready to pay but atleast tell the parcel wherabouts.
Ohh Indian customs are so un-professional.. if like this happens India is surely lacking lot of business and professionalism. It can never be super power with so poor workers and poor mentality
Kriti – I’ve had mixed results re custom duties when I purchased cosmetics from StrawberryNet. The first time I didnt have to pay any duties. The second time Rs 258 for an order of approx 1200 …so about 1/4th the purchase price. But you can get the VAT and duties reimbursed on StrawberryNet…they dont have to pay you back, but theres a form for refunds, which I have filled in last week…lets see.
What I want to know is what is the rate of custom duties? I still have three more packages – all cosmetics – on the way and am dreading paying 1/4th my bill amount to Customs 🙁
Hi
I have sent one digital camera of $250 from Australia to India. The parcel got delivered to my india address but when my mom opened up, there was only newspapers in it. I am not sure what happened.
The post was from Australia Post to Indian Post via registered post. I mentioned on the envelope “Gift Item – Camera” and the price $250.
Can you please advice what could have been the reason. I am not sure customs guys would do such things, i.e. taking out the camera and sending the envelope to the destination.
Also is there a way to get my camera back?
Thanks in advance for your advice.
– Nikhil