Can we easily order items online from Chennai?

Hi there,

We are moving to Chennai and I'm wondering if we can order items online easily i.e. books, children's toys, clothes etc.

Thanks!

Of course you can. Why wouldn't you be able to?????

yes you can... infibeam.com and flipkart.com for a peek into whats on offer.

and ebay ofcourse for many more things...

You can even go to the local shops and buy these things!

However, I have found flipkart.com to be a better bookshop than I can physically find in either Chennai or London. I have also ordered and received stuff from Amazon USA, Amazon UK, and various other online businesses outside of India.

both flipkart and infibeam are run by ex-amazon talent

thanks you for the information!

Just be careful, I ordered a watch for my son from Koovs.com 15days ago, they took the Rs3000 in advance and since then after 3 calls and several emails, I haven't seen or heard anything no watch or refund.

Hi Nick

Did anyone from Amazon actually ever post anything out here to India?

It all depends in the company. I have ordered from e-bay and flipkart and what not. Even sent gifts to friends.

In my experience e-bay works due to the excellent buyer protection and flipkart is also really good (With dedicated call sentre and what not).

I usually check mouthshut.com for a website review before ordering.

Why would they not?

If, in fact, the business you are actually buying from only sells within USA, you will find that our when you try to order.

I take it that your overall experience has been satisfactory. Do you usually opt for special shipping, or just regular? Does it usually turn out to be cost-effective, or do you buy because you have no alternatives in India? Customs hassles? Delays? Worries?

.

customs is mostly not a concern with private shippers, is customs is applicable amazon collects the amount and the shipper automatically pays it on your behalf.

Its the horde of chinese sellers on ebay that use china / hk post that present such issues. customs or the post office will first block your parcel. If its the post office. you go once. if its the customs office itself, that involves 2 trips. One to the customs office to submit a declaration of what your intentions are and then once again at the post office to pay the duty...

Ive done both... the single trip and the double trip, kept driving in circles on the Grand Southern Trunk road trying to find the post office and the attached customs office

I'm not really a very regular buyer from overseas.

Twice, in the past year or so, from Amazon USA.

1. I had decided on a specific CPU cooler for my PC, and I could not get it here or in Singapore. Total cost, including duty, was rather high, but my only quibble was that the box arrived open (customs, I suppose), but I checked the contents before signing for it, and it was complete and undamaged. Small difference in duty deposit taken by Amazon against duty paid, was refunded a few weeks later. Delivery time was a couple of weeks over due-date, although tracking showed it left USA and arrived in India very quickly.

2. I accidentally bought an LED torch. I was trying to test out the password on a debit card, and it didn't ask for one. I could have cancelled, but hey, got the torch. It arrived promptly, and, a few weeks later, entire duty deposit was refunded as none was charged.

A few months ago, I bought a phono pre-amp (value about £100) from a UK hifi shop. It arrived very promptly in the post, and no duty was charged.

I've bought spares for washing machine and a coupe of European kitchen appliances from Europe. No problems.

There are also companies that provide USA/European deliver-to addresses like shop and Ship. Done that once.

Quite a few members of www.hifivision.com have used Amazon and other sites for ordering, anything from a CD to much more expensive stuff. For anyone interested, a much broader viewpoint than my experience can be found by searching that forum.

I wouldn't buy anything abroad, either personally or by post, if I had a suitable alternative here. There wouldn't be any point, and I am not someone who shops online because I don't like visiting shops: I love visiting shops! Having said that, I can always fill an entire case with shopping from either London or Singapore. That's just because I'm a shopoholic

I've mentioned Flipkart (as have others). This is my experience of shopping online within India, because they have had books available that I failed to find in physical bookshops anywhere. There would be no point in my buying a book from Amazon (even an import) if Flipkart lists it. Their customer service is rated higher than some shops: I might even buy my next phone from them.

So an update of my son's watch, after three calls, a cancellation request a raised ticket and an email stating I wish to cancel the watch and would like a refund as they did not deliver within the 7 days as promised. They now contact me o arrange delivery 15days after original order. Only problem is my son is now wearing his new watch I got from a mall as I didn't want to have him disappointed.

So now I contact them again to cancel and try to get my refund.
Happy Days

I have got items from america ,australia,europe through online.Just be careful on taxes part.i paid Rs 8000 for lens to get it through customs.Got it from B & H or adorama i guess. I get books frequently from amazon .again shipping charges and certain product will have notice they can shipped within US only.I get bags from AUS and Europe.I mainly look for what in need in local market then in national market and move to international.Some exotic items like lens filters and your rucksacks [the specific ones you are looking for] might not be available here.

Landmark in chennai spence plaza is pretty good.then i will try oddeysey and higginbothams.Thats my first choice for books.then nbcindia and flipcart the online stores.