Mine Experience and Research: How to Buy TV from USA and Ship to India

[dheerajg77]

Guys,

After long time, I am sharing my research in buying TV from USA and using it India. I am going to share 2 options

Option 1

1. So I wanted to buy a 50 inch TV from USA and we all know that TV in USA is cheap. So i looked onto various options and found that there is a site "ShopUSA" that will ship tV to india. I started checking the shipping cost and if you enter TV dimensions then this site tells you the exact shipping cost. So I found my Samsung TV MU6300 on sale and shipped my TV to ShopUSA ware house address(when you will register then they will generate a unique address for you). At the time of checking out TV from any site like Amazon usa and many, just specify this address and ship will be shipped to their warehouse. I found a solid deal of $350 for this TV so pressed the button right away.

Once TV is received the they will send you email right away so you know when TV was shipped to them.

Now the customs part. If TV is below $500 then they will allow you to pay customs upfront and if I remember correctly then it was coming out to be $380 for shipping plus customs plus insurance of $18. So overall I paid. $380 plus $350 for $750 dollors approx..

TV reached airport but it was held by customs for 20 days. Reason being that they were suspicious on TV cost. to be honest I declared TV value to be $300 (just to save extra 30 to 40 dollors) to save customs but greed never helps. So UPS asked me to show the bill. I could have produced a fake bill of $300 (instead of $350) but i showed the original bill and a letter to custom officer saying that there was a mistake at my end of $50. I was skeptical on this and nervous that i will be charged with heave penalty but was lucky as i didnt pay anything. May be custom officer liked my letter.

All in All, if you declare the right value and TV cost is below $500 then in total you will pay $780 for a 50 to 55 inch TV. And Trust me, you can get this TV for this price range in US. I know tons of good sites where you can get cheap good quality TV in USa. AMazon US is just one site.

Option 2(preferred)

www.bhphotovideo.com is another site where you can buy and at the time of checkout, just choose india as shipping country. Their shipping charges are cheapest in country. Trust me, they will ship 55 inch tv for $250 dollors. Which is damn cheap. Only tricky part is customs because they will not pay for customs.

SO customs officer will check the bill and probably add 40% as customs. but if you have someone in customs, then you can find your way. Even you dont ordering tv from usa is still cheap. If TV is damaged then you can let them know (BHphotovideo) and they will ask UPS to pick the TV.

TV working
With step down transformer, TV works fine with any cable setup box. Picture of MU6300 is flawless. TV is still strong.

 

[Marakk]

So you bought a 2-year-old model for approximately 52k, taking the risk of damage in shipping along with no warranty. Doesn't seem like an attractive option. Maybe if you had gone for a FALD model H8F, that isn't available in India, can be understood. An ordinary Samsung model without any local dimming...why? You could have taken equivalent models from India itself.

 

[edjamesx]

Better to buy from india with warranty ... and there's only 15k difference , that money you will loose in paying to customs. Sometime you ended up in paying more...loosing warranty , chances of getting damaged during transit ..etc. Instead consider buying projector , they are very cost effective...

 

[Vinod.R]

There are too many variables in buying a TV from the US.
Nowadays, India can be cheaper with no hassles. Yes US prices are cheaper but the trouble is not worth it.

 

[homur]

dheerajg77 Really appreciate your effort. But you took huge risk. Glad that everything came out well in the end.

Assume , Even if we get the TV delivered without any physical damage. Samsung 4K tvs are infamous for their panel lottery. Its not only limited to samsung but others brands too. Banding issues, dead pixel and if you find other flaws. Definitely will not happy with the purchase, even if it costs half the amount in India.

I'd personally avoid shopping such costly items even in local online shops(flipkart/amazon india). Not to mention abroad.

 

[dheerajg77]

i just wanted to share my opinion. thanks everyone for their feedback

 

[frend2001]

Well you struck lucky. Congratulations for the TV and luck. But as other FMs pointed out its a risk.

Buying with warranty coverage is always a preferable way as you save huge on peace of mind and serviceability of the peoduct.

Consumer electronics don't last long now a days. So warranty coverage is a must.

The forum is full of threads where FMs have shared horrible stories of even TOTL TVs failing just after warranty period is over.

Better safe than sorry.