Shipment to India - Packing, Shipping, Customs, etc
January 8, 2006
We began thinking seriously about the process of shipping to India about 2 months before our R2I (return to India). Of course, we had started shopping even before that.
Shipping to India as a part of R2I can be seen as three main activities. 1. Packing 2. Shipping 3. Customs clearance.
Regarding packing: Get boxes from Uhaul - different sizes - small, medium & large. Get some lamp boxes if you have some tall stuff - we fit our Xmas tree into one of these lamp boxes. Buy these boxes in bulk - that way you'll save a lot. Any unused boxes can be returned later - just be sure you keep the purchase invoice for the boxes.
Get packing material - filler peanuts, wrapping paper, bubble wrap.
It's cheaper to get bubble wrap from places like Walmart. Uhaul is a bit more expensive. Get good quality (extra strong) packing tape - try to stick to Scotch brand. Get the tape gun too - it'll save you valuable time.
Try to pack the heavy stuff like books into the small boxes and lighter stuff like clothes into the larger boxes. Fill up any empty space with peanuts. Do not try to save on packing material - you'll be risking damage to your stuff.
After packing, put the following labels on each box. 1. Packing list (list of main items in the box) 2. Box ... of ... label - you can get blank labels and print them out. Do not decide on the final number of boxes - leave it blank and fill it just before shipping. Address label - I'd recommend 3 address labels per box. If any of these boxes have fragile items, it may (or most probably not) do some good if you put on the "Handle with care" labels. If you have these on every box, then the handlers will probably ignore the warning.
Forgot to mention - before packing, tape the bottom of the box using the H pattern. Search for the H pattern taping and you'll get more details. In short, it's one tape across the slit portion (this is the center line of 'H') and one on either side.
Also, try to put in a few (maybe 6) moth balls in each box. After packing do not tape the top completely. Secure the top with just a simple tape across the flaps. You may decide to repack some stuff and then it'll be easier to open the boxes if you have not taped them all up. Make sure you tape the top in the 'H' pattern the day before shipment.
We used Sky2c for shipping. I called them couple of weeks before the planned shipment date and got a quote. Once you send them the necessary documentation you can fix a date. The documentation is simple - the main thing is a packing list with approximate value of the items - this is used for insurance purposes.
On the day of shipment, one guy came from sky2c and handled all the boxes - there were 17 boxes for us. In case you are shipping a lot, mention that and they may send in more helpers.
By the way, we were doing a LCL (less than container load) shipment. Sky2c also does palletization - and I'd recommend that you make sure this is done - there's very less chance of damage with palletization than otherwise. Palletisation may cost you a bit more because of the extra volume of shipment and the actual palettization process. If you stick to standard boxes, palletization overhead may be a bit less.
Once the shipment is on, you can get a tracking code that'll let you know in which stage the shipment is. We shipped our items about 3 weeks before our R2I.
In India our shipment came after about 3 weeks of R2I - so in all it took about 5 weeks for shipment. Once the ship arrives and the container is destuffed, you need to go for customs clearance. The Indian agent will intimate you regarding this and you can arrange a convenient date.
For customs clearance we had to be at the port for one full day. We did not have to deal with the officials much - the agent takes care of all that. At Cochin where our port of entry was for the shipment, the customs officials opens up every box and takes out stuff from that for examination. The porter repacks the boxes for you, but opening up every box and examining each one of them seemed too much. You have to pay the customs duty and 'convenience fees' if any.
The next day the boxes reached our doorstep - for us, it was a bit further off as the truck that carried the boxes was too large to get into our lane. Anyway, we shuttled the boxes in our car to the doorstep.
Overall the shipping process was not a big hassle. One warning - these days you get good quality stuff - almost anything that you need ,in India - so it's not worth shipping a lot. Only stuff that you are absolutely sure of. If you have second thoughts, my advice is to leave it behind or donate it to Red Cross.
Posted by liveit at 8:24 AM
