Why so many issues in international shipping?

[chinu_hark]

I am talking about Movies, Music, Electronics...anything; Amazon, Ebay...anyone; US, UK...anywhere.
Why is it that:
1) Delivery may take 5-45 days depending on your 'LUCK'.
2) Shipment may get lost( I know this happens very rarely) depending on your 'LUCK'.
3) You may or may not be charged custom duty depending on your 'LUCK'.
4) Worst of all, item may get stuck at customs (Whatever that means) depending on your 'LUCK'.
My point is this, Why all the uncertainty people? And so much time to get a few discs from say UK to our home.
Who exactly is the culprit here, Customs, Postal system, Government or policies? Is such a problem only in India or everywhere? Isn't the overall aim to increase the overall trade and business between nations? Is it in someone's hand to improve this situation or is this something that cannot be fixed?
I guess what I am trying to say is, it's the 21st century, 2012 to be precise and shouldn't international trading be slightly simpler, faster and safer by now?

 

[corElement]

It's everyone, it's every man for himself.

 

[sidvee]

I guess what I am trying to say is, it's the 21st century, 2012 to be precise and shouldn't international trading be slightly simpler, faster and safer by now?

Unfortunately our policy/law makers don't share this view. They believe that the middle class of 200 million people have to bear the responsibility of the rest of the 900 million people including poor and rich, so they decide to make life hell for them in the form of duties, vat, taxes, surcharges, UDF's, education cess and all other bulls%#t. So nothing will be simple, fast or safe. Welcome to India in the 21st century.
In other words "How dare you have Audio/Video as a hobby when majority of the country does not have proper meals and the rest are looting the majority so they do not have proper meals."
Cheers,
Sid

 

[alpha1]

I am talking about Movies, Music, Electronics...anything; Amazon, Ebay...anyone; US, UK...anywhere.
Why is it that:
1) Delivery may take 5-45 days depending on your 'LUCK'.
2) Shipment may get lost( I know this happens very rarely) depending on your 'LUCK'.
3) You may or may not be charged custom duty depending on your 'LUCK'.
4) Worst of all, item may get stuck at customs (Whatever that means) depending on your 'LUCK'.
My point is this, Why all the uncertainty people? And so much time to get a few discs from say UK to our home.
Who exactly is the culprit here, Customs, Postal system, Government or policies? Is such a problem only in India or everywhere? Isn't the overall aim to increase the overall trade and business between nations? Is it in someone's hand to improve this situation or is this something that cannot be fixed?
I guess what I am trying to say is, it's the 21st century, 2012 to be precise and shouldn't international trading be slightly simpler, faster and safer by now?

Customs is the major trouble maker here.
Govt import Policies come next - because they direct and empower the customs ppl.
Postal system is not really a trouble, the most they can do is not deliver your packet, but ask you to pick up from their office.

So whats the Pick?
CUSTOMS department.

 

[vjc]

The license raj system is the curse. Whatever you do to unregulate something, some clever planners and bureaucrats will come with some hidden controls. It shall not die. Yes, may be when we are fully developed, educated , and poverty is vanished, we may see positive signs. But that is like... 'waiting for God'

vjc

 

[ranjeetrain]

It's not as simple to fix as it is to desire. There are multiple reasons. I will try to touch upon the topic.

The whole world is not one entity. Various countries have varying economies, different currencies, different liquidity, different tax regime, different demands, different supplies, different infrastructure, different businesses, different businessmen, different buyers, different purchasing power, different products, different markets, different money flows.

This is pure economics. When you buy goods from another country, money flows in a different direction than it would if it was a local purchase. Governments must regulate this in order to keep their economies stable.

I will give a very simple question to think about. Think about it!


What will happen if the whole world started shopping directly from China? (It is no secret that Chinese have reinvented manufacturing. Chinese are producing goods at speed and cost no one thought possible only 3 decades ago. Given a chance everyone would love to shop factory-direct from China.) What will happen if international shopping was made hassle-free and everyone started to shop directly from China?

Think about it.

 

[chinu_hark]

It's not as simple to fix as it is to desire. There are multiple reasons. I will try to touch upon the topic.

The whole world is not one entity. Various countries have varying economies, different currencies, different liquidity, different tax regime, different demands, different supplies, different infrastructure, different businesses, different businessmen, different buyers, different purchasing power, different products, different markets, different money flows.

This is pure economics. When you buy goods from another country, money flows in a different direction than it would if it was a local purchase. Governments must regulate this in order to keep their economies stable.

I will give a very simple question to think about. Think about it!


What will happen if the whole world started shopping directly from China? (It is no secret that Chinese have reinvented manufacturing. Chinese are producing goods at speed and cost no one thought possible only 3 decades ago. Given a chance everyone would love to shop factory-direct from China.) What will happen if international shopping was made hassle-free and everyone started to shop directly from China?

Think about it.

Yes but that's what import duties are for. Why do you make a buyer wait for a month thinking 'Ayega ki gaye paise?' even if he is willing to pay the import/customs duty.
Isn't that how it is supposed to work ideally, pay the duty if you want to import stuff. Why should the customs department also make you wait for the product because of their inefficiency?

 

[ranjeetrain]

Yes but that's what import duties are for. Why do you make a buyer wait for a month thinking 'Ayega ki gaye paise?' even if he is willing to pay the import/customs duty.
Isn't that how it is supposed to work ideally, pay the duty if you want to import stuff. Why should the customs department also make you wait for the product because of their inefficiency?

Yes, bureaucracy needs to go. We have a lot of that in India.

I guess they sit on shipments hoping for people to buckle up and pay them. We don't complain at right places. We have bribed and corrupted the officials. Bribing is counter productive in long term. Same way as American tipping culture. They thought tipping could get them better experience. Alas, not tipping brings worse experience. If people didn't encourage initial batch of corrupt officials, we will have much better life.

 

[doors666]

They believe that the middle class of 200 million people have to bear the responsibility of the rest of the 900 million people including poor and rich, so they decide to make life hell for them in the form of duties, vat, taxes, surcharges, UDF's, education cess and all other bulls%#t.

those 200 million people arent even bothered to go and vote, hence no one gives a damn about them. They have surrendered the power given to them, hence they have no right to crib.

 

[yrk1969]

Yes but that's what import duties are for. Why do you make a buyer wait for a month thinking 'Ayega ki gaye paise?' even if he is willing to pay the import/customs duty.
Isn't that how it is supposed to work ideally, pay the duty if you want to import stuff. Why should the customs department also make you wait for the product because of their inefficiency?

There is no waiting if you choose a shipper like DHL. You have to pay more though. Looking at how fast they are able to clear customs I think it's India Post which is source of delay.

 

[sidvee]

those 200 million people arent even bothered to go and vote, hence no one gives a damn about them. They have surrendered the power given to them, hence they have no right to crib.

If 200 million people vote for one and the other 900million vote for the ones who gave them free booze and biriyani, guess who wins. So power is surrendered for a bottle of booze and a good meal.
Anyways my views of my country, others are welcome to have other views, and in the end we will still be running around to free our stuff from corrupt customs regardless of who lost the right to crib!
Cheers,
Sid

 

[just4kix]

There is no waiting if you choose a shipper like DHL. You have to pay more though. Looking at how fast they are able to clear customs I think it's India Post which is source of delay.

That is correct. My last order on Amazon.com was dispatched via DHL and UPS. The shipment was with me four days after it was dispatched by Amazon. Previous shipment from Amazon was via Aramex and it took seven days.

Sent from my GT-I9100G using Tapatalk 2

 

[Thad E Ginathom]

DHL is, indeed, great ...and customs duty does not depend on luck, you will pay it. The last stuff I got from USA came with a great long DHL bill for customs, etc etc etc. I think they are catching up with the British idea, where the courier (even the post office) collect the customs fee and charge us a generous (to them) amount for collecting it.

But here's the biggest problem, and it occurs long before packing, ships, planes, customs and delivery guys can even get in on the deal:

This item cannot be shipped to your default address.

That's Amazon's wording for it. On some individual traders' sites, you just have to search the shipping and terms pages until you find out that, no, they do not ship overseas.

It's a global market place now. Occasionally.

 

[Sudeep]

This is probably India's answer to solving the current account deficit problem...make it so difficult to import goods that trade deficit improves on its own

 

[jsmithe]

But here's the biggest problem, and it occurs long before packing, ships, planes, customs and delivery guys can even get in on the deal:

This item cannot be shipped to your default address.

That's Amazon's wording for it. On some individual traders' sites, you just have to search the shipping and terms pages until you find out that, no, they do not ship overseas.

That used to irritate me too. I however just noticed that amazon.com has an AmazonGlobalEligible link in the left navigation which when clicked apparently restricts display to stuff that can actually be shipped abroad.

 

[Vz3000]

Customs is the main trouble. Most of the time, they do not send any notification, even for registered parcels, hoping that most of the people have no time to run to foreign post office and this makes grabbing small items easier. After all, why did you use postal service because it is much cheaper than courier service and one can not travel hundereds of kilometers and spend hundered of rupees just to claim few cds worth $30. If you are lucky and live in metros or nearby city, it will kill a whole day in arguing and bribing peons, clerks etc (from my experienece at New Delhi Foreign post office, ITO). Senior officers are not a problem there because they resolve big cases and always remain busy, it is the fourth class officers who create trouble. They operate the X-ray machine and if they find anything interesting for themselves or with a good resale value from backdoor, they will put that one in their bag or inside their shirt. Once i bought some Cds from USA and US post handled that packet to Indian customs within 7 days. I didn't receive the packet even after 20 days and status was Inbound to customs. Tried to call them but most of the time, no one tried to pick up the phone. Two or three times i got lucky but after hearing my case they hanged down the phone. Several phone calls later, issue was not resolved. I could see the status at website but they were blind. So at last one morning, i lost my temper and threatened to file a RTI (with tracking number) and result was, i got my parcel in the evening. That was good only for packets that were traceable, for normal/regular airmail its goodbye to the parcel.

 

[asliarun]

those 200 million people arent even bothered to go and vote, hence no one gives a damn about them. They have surrendered the power given to them, hence they have no right to crib.

I'm sorry, that argument is not correct. Here are the reasons why -

1. The concept of "voting" for change is a red herring. The reason why people are angry is because they are paying for services in terms of taxes, duties, and fees; and are getting almost nothing in return or are getting defrauded. What does this have to do with who gets voted?

2. To put it another way, someone buys a product or a service with their hard-earned cash. The product or service turns out to be sub-standard and shoddy or even non-existent. And your argument to the buyer is - "tough luck, you chose to make this commercial transaction with this company, and you have no right to crib"

3. Finally, let's even take voting. Even if 200 million voted, they would still theoretically lose because they would be swamped by the 900 million booze and biryani crowd.

Or let me put it this way, if the OP had actually voted, does that give the person the right to crib? Or the right/ability to walk up to Parliament House and change the government?

??

The problem, to put it bluntly, is not even corruption as people and certain parties like to think. The problem is inefficiency and a breakdown of the enforcement of the law.

Every country on this earth is corrupt - but most are efficiently corrupt - i.e. the corruption is reliable and things get done reliably despite the corruption. Corruption is viewed by the corruptor as an additional tax, and really is no different from what the government arbitrarily does, except that a different set of pockets get lined.

When you pay money and still nothing gets done or gets done 2 out of 5 times, that is a big problem. When 60% of the produced food grain rots away and nobody even cares or is held accountable, that is not just pathetic but you're saying that the machine is non-functional. There's no earthly way this can be solved by 200 million conscientiously going to the voting booth and exercising their right to vote.

 

[ranjeetrain]

I have the same feeling.

The middle class, whose wallet is running the country, whose income and taxes generated by them are funding the travels of politicians, getting freebies to farmers who never return a single penny they borrow, people in select province who get ration at fraction of the cost compared to rest of India. Money for all these activities comes from the income of middle class and the taxes they generate.

However, they are still in minority, far outnumbered by the "other people" who cast their votes irresponsibly throwing it away for a bottle of drink. Those are the people responsible for political chaos in the country. The relatively much small "paying class" is in big minority, despite being the one who are feeding the country.

The biggest flaw of the democracy is that everyone has equal right to vote. The vote of an anguootha chhap has the same weight as that of a entrepreneur bringing billions into India in FDI, same weight as that of a scientist and a researcher. Even if he doesn't even know how does his "casting his ballet" affects the country. For him its just something he needs to do to get a free bottle of country liquor.

Blaming the non-voting educated class is futile. Even if they vote, they will still be far outnumbered by drunkards and communities that vote by fatwas. Solution lies in changing the fundamental-laws to balance the system caused by disparity in education, income etc.

What we know is that everyone is equal in democracy. That's what is wrong. 1 is NOT equal to 1, when it comes to democracy. We need fundamental changes in the way people are governed.

 

[corElement]

I have the same feeling.

The middle class, whose wallet is running the country, whose income and taxes generated by them are funding the travels of politicians, getting freebies to farmers who never return a single penny they borrow, people in select province who get ration at fraction of the cost compared to rest of India. Money for all these activities comes from the income of middle class and the taxes they generate.

However, they are still in minority, far outnumbered by the "other people" who cast their votes irresponsibly throwing it away for a bottle of drink. Those are the people responsible for political chaos in the country. The relatively much small "paying class" is in big minority, despite being the one who are feeding the country.

The biggest flaw of the democracy is that everyone has equal right to vote. The vote of an anguootha chhap has the same weight as that of a entrepreneur bringing billions into India in FDI, same weight as that of a scientist and a researcher. Even if he doesn't even know how does his "casting his ballet" affects the country. For him its just something he needs to do to get a free bottle of country liquor.

Blaming the non-voting educated class is futile. Even if they vote, they will still be far outnumbered by drunkards and communities that vote by fatwas. Solution lies in changing the fundamental-laws to balance the system caused by disparity in education, income etc.

What we know is that everyone is equal in democracy. That's what is wrong. 1 is NOT equal to 1, when it comes to democracy. We need fundamental changes in the way people are governed.

Agreed, and massive educational reforms to stop promoting regressive thinking to make change look like a bad thing. This "old is gold" mindset is killing the country.

 

[bluraymaniac]

my austin powers trilogy blu ray shipped today via i parcel :x its first time amazon usa choose a different courier ,wtf its worst courier , they take upto 2 months or more to deliver and comes via dtdc in india