From which Ecommerce sites do we import?

[jay]

In India it's not always easy to source items related to Turntables including the machine itself. Not many amongst us are blessed to travel abroad frequently,nor we have friends,relatives who can bring it for us.

So many a times we need to depend on the e commerce sites across the globe to source our products like from eBay,Amazon and even Needle Doctor a site dedicated on Turntable and related product.

My query is can some of you please suggest as how has been your experience buying stuff from these places,price wise how they are placed and what could be the good ecommerce sites we can look for?

 

[reubensm]

Importing is always an expensive exercise. first, there is the rupee exchange rate, then there is the service charges for currency conversion levied by banks on the credit card, then there is the 30% customs duty (I even had to pay 30% for a small packet containing a cd player's laser transport assembly on one occassion and electronic components on another occassion). Different portals have different pricing methods. Also there's the option of ebay were bidding takes place. There is no gaurantee that the site will actually ship (some trusted sites do have gaurantees but they price their products a bit higher) and last but not the least, the item can get damaged or lost in transit. International couriers usually charge much higher shipping costs for shipping with tracking number and then there's insurance if you opt, for it as well. Overall, there are lots of hurdles and you have to get used to the long waits for the shipments to arrive. That's why this is my least preferred method for buying things from abroad.

 

[anujmishra]

I have imported many things from Amazon.com: Online Shopping for Electronics, Apparel, Computers, Books, DVDs & more, amazon.co.uk, amazon.de, ebay.com, buychina.com, aliexpress.com, dx.com etc. In past. I never had problem importing till now.

The highest value product I imported from amazon.de are the Heco HT speakers (5.0). There was some circus by custom authority for floor standers and one they released immediately and one they kept with them for 7-8 days. Anyways, the Amazon shipping agent took care of this and I only had to provide some supplementary documents to release my second floor stander.

Sometimes, my product delivered without custom charges having value around Rs. 15K and sometimes I had to pay custom for the goods having value for as less as Rs. 4K. Don't ask me why. I have no answer.

Until the product is received, it is quite restless time.