Sending a digital camera to India Question

DoDi

Hi... I have a question I hope someone will be able to answer.

I just returned from visiting friends in Kerala and Tamil Nadu and I want to send my used digital camera as a gift.

It's probably worth about $350 usd since I'm including some extras (battery, memory cards, etc.)

My question is this... will my friends have to pay customs and if they do would it be expensive?

Also... what would be the best way to send it? Does it have to go registered or can I be reasonably sure it will arrive if I send it regular post?

Thanks very much for any information or advice you can give me.

Merchant

Best method is FedEx or DHL or similar courrier, which is expensive but ensured and trackable. If you send it by post, you still have to declare it for customs, at which point it is highly likely to get filched. Even registered provides you little protection.

redtiger

fedex or DHL is great for safe and fast delivery... but from memory if the item is more then $200 then taxes apply and the important thing is to list it as a gift. so if U decide to go this way underpice it to get away from paying the taxes... but you might want to contact them to clarify the taxes
good luck

Nick-H

Somebody posted here a few weeks ago that he had is camera couriered from hiome. He was charged a huge amount of duty by Indian Customs: IIRC, pretty mush as much as the camera was worth

Might be better to take the camera next time.

...It's another thing to add to the Reasons To Go Back list

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Just one member of the IndiaMike Mod Team

DoDi

You've all stopped me from committing what probably would have been a very expensive mistake....

So now I'll either
1) find someone going to India from San Francisco who could mail it locally as registered domestic mail
or
2) keep my used camera and buy a different one online from a business with locations in India and have it sent to my friends

Gracias for your kind and wise advice

crvlvr

shere

Ah well nothing better to do so might as well do some basic maths

The aggregate duty would be around 34.45% of the CIF value (cost+insurance+freight/postal charges).

I think if you send it to someone by declaring it as gift, there is a Rs.10000 deduction, otherwise no deduction. Calculate 34.45% of the final amount, which would be the duty payable. Remember to mark the package as a gift on the customs declaration. It maybe worth checking if the deduction applies. If the items cost below 10,000 rupees and are marked as a gift then no duty is payable. So might be worth sending the items as seperate packages if the camera cost is less than $227 (CIF).

The $:RS rate for April 2005 is 1$=44.05RS. So $350 = RS 15,417.50 less the 10,000 deduction = 5,417.50.
Duty = 5,417.50*.3445= RS1,866.33.
(I have assumed the $350 = CIF value).

Do include copies of the invoice so your friends can prove the cost of the item.

Jamie11

Hi

I have sent many items to india from uk. I use registered post and it normally arrives within a week (I have never had a problem), And this is to a very remote place. The last item was mobile phones and they didnt have to pay anything at their end, (apart from the usual Rs10 to the postman for delivery, the customary bakshees or whatever you call it)

Jamie11

Oh I forgot to add, I did send a parcel by DHL once, but beware because once it has arrived in bangalore (or the nearest place to the destination if the destination is not in a city) they then pass it to a local courier and they have no way of tracking it from there so they say. And guess what, it never turned up at the village and DHL said they could do nothing about it. The value of the goods were about £400, the courier company blatently stole it to cut a long story short, could have been a one off but sending the small packages by normal post has never failed.

crvlvr

Apparently, the postal clerks in remote places are more honest than the ones in the cities.

DoDi

First of all... thanks to all for the great replies, especially to shere for doing that math :-)

OK... here's what I'm thinking now.... I'm a little bit more confident about sending the package. I don't want to say it's a camera, or that it's worth a lot... since that may attract attention and make it more likely to get stolen on route. Since it's used I can put a low value, and delare it as photos/books (there are manuals and, well it is photos in a sense). And it is a gift, so I can say that too.

I will send it registered, but I guess I'll still have to decide whether to send postal service or UPS. I can ask advice at our local 'Mailboxes, etc.' outlet about what is the best price and most knowledgeable service to where I will be sending it. I know from experiance sending registered mail via UPS that if I send it that way it will go to a subcontractor for the last part of the journey to Nagercoil. But UPS is good about keeping track of thier subcontractor.

GoanCanuck

Agree 100%.

monkgonemad

better to try an dsend it in with someone. its going to get all stuck up in customs and your friends are going to have to pay some stupid amnt of money (maybe they dont even have).

while you may have paid 350 is it really worth that? the camera my dad gave me cost 500 bux -bet i cant get 150 for it. but you can bet they will be chgd full retail in india for it (duty/excise)!!

if you have nice shots of them, blow them up, crop them nice -my experience is people in poor countries never have enuff pix of da family!

shere

If the item is used then customs will allow you to depreciate the original value.

(i) For every quarter during 1st year - 4%

(ii) For every quarter during 2nd year - 3%

(iii) For every quarter during 3rd year - 2.5%

(iv) For every quarter during 4th year - and thereafter 2%

So if the item is 2 years old then the depreciation for first year is 4x4=16%
second year is 3x4=12% so total depreciation is 28%.

So the value of a 2 year old item for customs purposes will be : cost x (1-0.28)

manojb

I once sent something worth about $120 and my people were charged a customs duty of Rs. 1100.