Getting International Packages in India from eBay

This is my account on the shipping situation which exists currently in India when ordering from abroad. Specifically, this post talks about my personal experiences with eBay and USPS shipping. Here is what happened and the final outcome :-

1. Placed an Order on eBay

I ordered a Blackberry Curve 8900 on February 15th and paid the full amount of USD 399.98 the same day via PayPal. The seller had 98% positive feedback so I was pretty convinced that I was buying from a genuine seller and it all looked good. The product was NEW and had never been opened.

The seller shipped using USPS on a Flat International Shipping rate of USD 49.98. It was a little reassuring to see the eBay Buyer Protection has got YOU secured banner across the screen once the payment was complete.

The Price of the Curve 8900 was $350. So the total came out to be : $350+$49.98 = $399.98

2. Tracking Information

USPS is United States Postal Service and works much like the Indian Post here. After I placed the order I got to know USPS has a bad record for delaying shipments to over 30 days at times and 20 days waiting is a standard. I became a little worried but hoped I would get MY item in time.

The tracking information started showing updates from the next day – 16th February and the item reached India on the 21st February. Within 5 days of being shipped. I waited with my fingers crossed for it to clear the customs.

3. Custom Clearance

At the time of ordering i had completely forgotten about the import duty that is levied on imported products. I came to know that anything above Rs.10,000 attracts the custom duty. The Import duty on Mobile phones was 4% so, I really had no option but to hope things turn out fine.

The USPS tracking showed cleared Indian Customs on 22th February – the next day it arrived in India. I felt happy and thought I would get the same within 7 days now.

4. Ordeal Begins

The days passed, and from 7 days it became 10 and then 14 days! There were no updates on the USPS tracking and I called the Post Office of my area and as expected they did not have any information on the same. I contacted the seller and she did not respond so I filled a claim – dispute with eBay.

The seller responded soon after saying the item had “cleared” customs and might have “just got delayed”. I was told to wait patiently for some more days.

5. Foreign Post Office (FPO)

Then with every passing day I became more and more anxious, there had been no updates since the last 20 days and the FPO contact number seemed to be either busy or when it rang, no one answered. I sternly told my buyer to refund me the full amount which she confidently refused saying I should wait as the Seller is not responsible for time in Transit. I finally decided to visit the Foreign Post Office myself on 8March (Around 22 days after it was purchased)

As usual, most people I met tried to offer alternate solutions to the best of their ability – WAIT is what they said. Then as it happens, there tends to be a helpful guy among the rotten apples and he volunteered to track the package for me. Maybe he was touched by the miserable look on my face.

I had earned $400 and decided to invest in a Blackberry. I thought it would be a good gift for my birthday on 24th February but it never reached me in the expected time.

The item was finally traced to the customs. It said that the product had been detained on the 24th February. Exactly on the day of my birthday while USPS showed cleared Customs from 22th!!!! I was given a rather scary numerical number of the detained package and told to meet the customs official.

With a sad heart, I went to the officer’s table and was surprised to find numerous USPS packages, parcels scattered around everywhere. I thought my Blackberry must be here somewhere in those things. Anyways, I was told that MY ITEM was cleared today itself as its number to appear before the custom official for analysis was 8th March!

So, the product was lying with customs for more than 15 days detained! I was told that going by the general idea, Blackberry’s cost Rs.20,000 and 4% duty would be Rs.800 that I would have to pay to the post man when he comes to deliver the same.

Yeah, right. Even 8520 (Rs.13000) and 9700 (Rs.26,000) would be estimated at Rs.20,000. That’s the Indian Customs for you. I was shocked but couldn’t really do anything about it. The eBay payment receipt seemed just like a piece of paper.

I was told that it would now be delivered within 3 days since it got cleared today and there was no provision to take the delivery for the FPO itself.

6. The Last Step

I received myBlackberry Curve 8900 on the 25th day of ordering. Flat 7 day shipping be dammed, it took me around a month to receive the item. In the end, I did receive my item and was happy it reached me safe. Although, it was not as smooth as I had expected.

Next Time, I would prefer paying 5% – 10% more and getting the product from India only from the retail shop than go through this cumbersome and tiring process to endless wait. The funny thing is even after being delivered, the USPS showed the same 22th Feb status : Cleared Customs.

I hope this post helps others who might have purchased valuable goods via eBay US. The problem is with shipping through USPS. Instead of USPS, try to get it shipped using Fedex, UPS, DHL etc

Tagged as: eBay Shipping, USPS Delivery Problems, USPS International Shipping Issues