So you're returning after a trip to India? Why don't you start saving?

Digital Drifter

1. Get a haircut. Saves you at least 10 quid and you don't look like dirty hippy when you get back. They called you that when you said you were going to India anyway.

On second thoughts, throw in a shave too.

2. If you smoke, get yourself the legal limit of ciggies in India. Die cheap.

3. If possible, go see a dentist and get your teeth cleaned, you'll save money and see pt 1.

4. If you have decent suitcase and you brought some good clothes, get it washed and ironed. It'll be quite some time before you can it ironed for so cheap @Rs 2.50 a piece.

5. Get a pair of spectacle frames or get your eyes checked and order a new pair. Get the address of the optometrist and make an order from home too. The logistics can be worked out with someone travelling out of Delhi or Bombay. So find someone willing to pick up the pair just before leaving India.

6. Medicines. OTC drugs are cheap; pick up a strip(10 tablets each) of
Ibrufen
Aspirin
pain creams
band aids
ear buds

Specialised doctor prescribed ones can also be had,especially antibiotics but you might find some curious customs official looking for meth stuff. So be careful with Scheduled
drugs. The price differential might not be that much too.

7. Knicknacks. If you're an ebay user/seller with a good rating then you're already there with a decent lead. This works if you have an eye for knicknacks which friends will buy and/or easily flogged on ebay.


Any more....

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davidp80

I've thought about this too - I wonder what kind of goods would sell on ebay and could easily be transported home. This would be a nice way to make a little money to ease into the transition of returning home. A nice idea in general, but definitely something that requires knowledge of of lots of particulars. Nice list

-Dave

moo

I was looking at some Indian silk scarves on a local market stall the other day, anything from 16-25UKP - in India I was buying nicer ones for r300 or less.

SteamBuff

Just have a good story ready in case you are stopped by customs.

PeakXV

Fresh, top quality Darjeeling & Assam Tea is very cheap and much appreciated back home .... okay so it looks a little like grass ..... just be prepared to brew a cup or two for some proof to doubting customs officials cum tea lovers.

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What lies behind us and what lies ahead of us are tiny matters compared to what lives within us.
~ Oliver Wendell Holmes

Don't go to India ~ Pre-trip Warnings & Misconceptions?

gregornot

Namaste,
Does any one else bring cheap item's and sell them on ebay? Feel free to PM me. I have offer wondered what kind of items would sell cheaply enough on ebay, yet give the buyers a fair price?

Any ideas?

Thanks,gregor

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"If the roots remain untouched and firm in the ground,
a felled tree still puts forth new shoots.
If the underlying habit of craving and aversion is not
uprooted, suffering arises anew over and over again."

the opoponax

maybe i've never had good darjeeling or assam tea, but i've never seen any that resembled weed in the least...

you know what they say: if it's green, smoke it; if it's brown, flush it!

and while i'd definitely rather drink it than flush it, both darjeeling and assam tea are definitely brown, in my experience.

if somebody tries to sell you brown "weed", run!

PeakXV

.... it's the plastic baggy packaging, texture, & organic nature of it that I was referring to.

the opoponax

ah, well you have a point, there.

twould be sad to see a customs agent anywhere who couldn't tell the difference between weed and tea...

i was wondering if i'd just been buying the crap tea, myself.

PeakXV

..... well they don't exactly have their PHD's in every realm of the importation market I had to explain the physical differences between tinned bronze & gold to one uninitiated newbie.

SteamBuff

I was refering to the fact that you are only allowed to bring goods upto a certain value into the country and that they have to be for your own personell use only ....

If you bring back goods to sell on ebay then these are not for your own use so are subject to import duty and vat etc.

Nick-H

But you could always decide you don't like them after all.

Might as well put them on e-bay then...



I do agree though, that cases full of a dozen of this and a hundred of that are quite likely to be looked on as imports....

cyberhippie

Yep and fakes will be instantly confiscated if found! Seems the customs have nothing better to do than hunt down fake Levis!

SteamBuff

Wot 50 Indian silk scarves for ones own use!

cyberhippie

1700 grams of silver!!!