customs duties from 16% onwards for electronics above 25k rs as far as i know.why would 16% be a insignificant amount?
what i mean is,if the customs duties were "reasonable" (though why any theft is reasonable is debatable),why shouldnt we be flooded with foreign goods?
If you look into this thread:
ST50 Owners' Thread - First impressions, Reviews, Tweaks, etc., in the few early posts, I have compared the price in US and India. It is not significantly different.
Let me recapitulate.
1. The price you see in US websites is bare-bones price. The TV often does not include 3D glasses, wall mount, etc.
2. You have to do installation yourself. Now this is not a problem for pedestel/desktop stand but try wall mounting yourself?
3. Price does not include sales tax which is 7% on an average and as high as 8.25% in some cities in California.
4. Extended warranty is quite costly.
In the US, e-tailers such as Amazon, Overstock, Crutchfield, etc. are killing the brick and mortor stores. How does this affect us? In fact, we are getting goods cheaper. Right? But do consider. If there are no brick and mortor stores, how will you view and compare TVs? You will be restricted to web reviews alone. How can you judge the proper size you want? How will you really get the
real feel of the TV? In India, we have started into e-commerce but fortunately or unfortunately, the price heavy items are still purchased from real stores. Dealer margins add to the cost.
One more aspect is that USA is cheapest when it comes to electronics. Try comparing prices of the same model between UK/Europe and India. You will find that the prices are not so significantly different.
Finally, let us face it. Customs duty is meant to keep the foreign trade balance skewing towards an import economy (corruption is another story). Customs duty is not the only factor. There are other taxes such as Excise, Spl. Excise, VAT, Freight, Octroi. Some of these are taxes on taxes.
I am not justifying. I would love if goods are cheaper out here too.
