How To Pay Customs Duty (If Applicable) For Pens/inks

[amondalju]

Dear All,

This is my first post in FPN.

 

Being a fountain pen lover, I have tried to buy pens from different sources. I found that ebay is a good place to get a fair deal on pens. I use credit card for payment via paypal account. Till now I've got around 8-10 pens from abroad as of now. These costs upto maximum upto 25 USD.

 

In order to buy premium pens, I checked the govt portal for customs. Which says customs duty is applicable for fountain pens above 100$.

 

I would like to know your experience while importing a premium pen from abroad.

1. Did you have to pay any customs duty for any pen?

2. How did you pay such customs duty

3. Please mention the original price of pen and customs duty so that they can be compared.

4. Please share if any bad experience happened.

 

This will help newbies like me to add some romance to the love for FP.

 

Thanks,

Aniruddha

Edited July 17, 2015 by amondalju

[PenHero]

Dear Aniruddha,

 

When I get questions like yours from buyers outside my country, I refer them to their local post office. In many countries the postal service can help you figure out what is subject to duty, how much it might be and who and how you pay.

[terim]

From a sellers/shippers perspective, I cannot recommend first class USPS method to India. Despite having lots of wonderful Indian customers, I've had to stop shipping via first class due to about a 50% theft/loss rate. Insurance always pays off, but the inconvenience and disappointment are not worth the risk.

 

TERI

[drmithun2007]

Dear Aniruddha,

In all my purchases from foreign sites only once did I have to pay customs, when the order value was about $110. The customs duty was collected by the postman at the time of delivery and the duty was approximately 14% of the declared value if I remember correctly.

 

Hope this helps

[mriganksinha]

Dear Aniruddha,

In all my purchases from foreign sites only once did I have to pay customs, when the order value was about $110. The customs duty was collected by the postman at the time of delivery and the duty was approximately 14% of the declared value if I remember correctly.

 

Hope this helps

Is the value inclusive of shipping cost ??

[prashant.tikekar]

Yes the value is including shipping cost. In India custom duty is applicable on import in excess of inr 2000. If you import without licence fine can also be imposed. Custom duty is 41% for fountain pens.

Edited May 9, 2016 by prashant.tikekar

[mriganksinha]

Yes the value is including shipping cost. In India custom duty is applicable on import in excess of inr 2000. If you import without licence fine can also

I guess its not viable then but there a huge difference in prices ,

vac 700 on the website is for 6500 while on indian sites its for 8500 and without the nib that i am looking for .

[prashant.tikekar]

I guess its not viable then but there a huge difference in prices ,

vac 700 on the website is for 6500 while on indian sites its for 8500 and without the nib that i am looking for .

Which nib you intend to buy?

[mriganksinha]

Which nib you intend to buy?

FIne nib

[prashant.tikekar]

FIne nib

I think pens point New Delhi may have or can arrange it in fine.

Here is the link

 

http://pensravi.blogspot.in/2016/05/9711427616-any-enquiry.html

 

Note: No affiliations

[mriganksinha]

I think pens point New Delhi may have or can arrange it in fine.

Here is the link

 

http://pensravi.blogspot.in/2016/05/9711427616-any-enquiry.html

 

Note: No affiliations

Thank you .

[dchatter]

I've had some rather interesting experiences with Indian customs in the recent past, and through a number of iterations I've narrowed down to one particular mode of shipment that works out in all cases of my interest.

 

There is apparently a rule that says that if I buy a pen worth above Rs. 2k, it will go through customs and I am liable to pay the basic charges + a fine. (I didn't understand and therefore can't explain why a fine may be charged --- it makes little sense to me, but don't bother about this matter and read on.) Of course, pens manufactured in Europe/USA/Japan are mostly valued above Rs. 2k, so this brute-force mechanism is not good enough; one needs to be a bit more intelligent. There is a different rule that says that if I buy a pen that costs at most Rs. 20k as a gift for a friend, and I can prove my intentions, then there can be no customs charge nor fine levied against it. This mechanism is quite convenient if I want to buy the Pilot Custom 823/743, Sailor Pro Gear Realo II, etc, for each one of them is within Rs 20k in, e.g., Rakuten, amazon.jp, amazon.com, etc. In view of this rule, I have purchased the Pilot Custom 823 on my credit card from Rakuten, shipped it to a friend (just to ensure that the pen is directly shipped to the person that I intend to give the pen as a "gift"), and watched the fun. Of course, the shipment was held up at customs, and my friend received by post a standard letter stating various rules, etc, and asking him to report to the customs office. I had forewarned my friend of such an event, so he sent me the "By Number" in that letter promptly. Thereafter I sent pdf copies of my credit card statement and the shipping invoice (in my friend's name) as attachments to an email, with the By Number as reference, to the email address mentioned in the letter, claiming that the pen is for my friend and proving my intention to give the pen to my friend as a gift; the shipment was released the following day. Of course, the customs officials had opened the package and checked the contents before releasing it, but I don't mind them doing this cross-check.

 

That said, I have purchased and shipped a Sailor Pro Gear Realo II to my address directly, and that somehow evaded customs. However, that I believe was an unusual case, since almost all my shipments have otherwise been stopped at customs.

Edited May 15, 2016 by dchatter

[abhishek021196]

Dear dchatter, I am in a similar predicament. I have ordered a lot of stuff which includes fountain pens and converters and ink from Amazon to a suite address at Borderlinx. I am worried about paying a hefty fee at the customs. So I was thinking of using your technique. All I would need are the statements from.my debit card and the shipping address to be of my friends', right?

[jestoppel]

Has anyone ordered from Cult Pens? I want to order a shipment - a TWSBI and some 30 ml bottles of Diamine ink. Any idea what customs is liable on Airmail packages from UK? Any chance it'll slip through the cracks, being less than Rs 5000?

[yr1994]

Hi,

I ordered platinum 3776 century(rhodium) form a Japanese seller on ebay.com for $125. The seller sent the pen through EMS(international post). The pen was at Sub foreign post office for 20 days. I had to pay a customs duty of ₹ 4004 to the post-person who delivered it. This was my first time ordering from an international seller but it ended up ₹2000 than amazon.

[nura]

Hi all,

I am not a regular to the fpn site and realize now only that it could cost a lot! Infact without doing proper research here, i had ordered a pilot VP special alloy nib from eBay, through EMS mail,enticed by the "free shipping" caption.The price was around Rs.6.2k. The Amazon price for regular gold nibbed VP is Rs.8.6k. Now only I realize that with the addition of customs duty,fine etc,the cost will be at par with the gold one,if brought through Amazon.

Right now the pen is in transit and headed to Kolkata air clearance and I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

Shall further post the developments for the benefit of others in the group.

Thanks.

[hari317]

Reg your question on how to pay the duty, usually the postman will collect it from you before handing the parcel over. In some cases you may receive a customs summon letter where the parcel will be opened in front of you at the customs office.

 

Yeah pls post updates if you feel like it.

[nura]

Thank you Hari sir.

Any idea on what is the approx.percentage of customs duty levied now?

Is it 41% of the CIF value?

Thanks.

[hari317]

Thank you Hari sir.

Any idea on what is the approx.percentage of customs duty levied now?

Is it 41% of the CIF value?

Thanks.

Its a flat 42.08% of the assessed value. Here is a snapshot from one of the customs duty receipts paid by me.

 

[nura]

Thank you for the information,sir. The key point here is the "assessed value." Let me see how it turns out.

Can I choose not to accept the delivery? Will EMS return the pen to the point of origin? Once it reaches the seller, can I ask for a refund minus the to and fro transportation costs? Will it be economical than accepting the duty?