custom duty for binoculars? which overseas courier to use?

[sat]

I would like to have a 2 year old 8x43 binocular shipped from the US to India.
Which courier company would you suggest one uses? UPS is one which comes to mind.

Any idea how much custom duty will apply for the used binoculars & new binculars, spotting scope.
What are the rules and your experiences if someone sent as a gift or one purchased a new binocular, spotting scope from the US.


Many thanks

sat

[cyrixoutside]

dont ship it, chances it will either be broken or will simply vanish.

import duty on new optics is 35 percent of price including shipping

rajat

[sat]

thank Rajat, damaged & broken I can understand but vanished...

I was under the impression that with Fed Ex or UPS which have a tracking no. items vanishing was something of the past.

I just heard that it was a good idea to insure any parcel coming from overseas (through our postal dept ) even for a small amount. The parcel/package coming does not vanish as some kind of a record is maintained...

On a lighter note, I had someone from Darjeeling send me some lovely 2nd flush tea. After taking delivery of the parcel, we discovered that a 'rat' had carefully opened part of the white cotton covering stitching, taken out all the tea, filled in some rubbish & re stitched ... superb effort I though..


sat

[mehulkamdar]

Sat,

If they are being shipped form the USA, I would suggest using USPS - the United States Postal Service. By far the cheapest and the best service available over here. I have sent some very valuable stuff to India and they have an end to end tracking and signature and ID verification system which is second to none. You can also insure the binoculars with them and they are very prompt in paying if something goes wrong. As a matter of fact, even if the delivery is delayed, they pay back your postage charges over here - something that Mark told me about when I had a delay once.

If you must go through a private courier, then ask for DHL or Fed Ex. I used to work for UPS in another era and would not suggest their use. Few companies are as incompetent as UPS are and I am happy that I am no longer with those clowns.

Hope this helps.

[sat]

Thank you Mehul, much appreciated...

I spent two days with a few people from the US, keen birders,
Got to use some lovely optics Zeiss 10x42 FL, leica 8x32 bn trinivod, swarovski 8.5x43 EL, 8x32 EL . Will write about what I felt about the optics in another post.

Also made a attempt at flight photography of birds with long lenses, 400 & 500mm. Imho requires a lot more skills to get a good shot with lens than with a shotgun.

sat