Hello everyone ,

I was thinking of importing a 550 or 700 size electric heli kit without any electronics from Hong Kong through DHL . I know ems is very messy but has anyone any experience with DHL and customs . I have heard that DHL can clear helis and airplanes from customs without hassles.

Otherwise I usually import from usa without any trouble but the costs are higher.


Any help would be appreciated .

its fine if u order but i guess a 700 wont slip under the radar so easily u might have to pay duties .....also ups and fedex is a little more forgiving ...it depends on your luck but cant say so its safe and reaches fast no problems u might or might not need to pay customs but ur parcel will reach u in 3 days and no hassel ...i had all my shipments through these guys n it was great

that is good new for rc lovers

Just take care of the landing value of the parcel .
My friend's trex 800 was charged 26,000 duty on the landing original Value by FedEx .

26000

Thanks for the inputs. Really appreciate it.

My worry was not customs duty because I always plan on paying duty upto 30 % of the declared value, which seems common.

The point of concern was that a few years ago I had called up DHL and they said that toys from china and Hong Kong were banned , So I had to import from US.

Yesterday I spoke with Fedex and they said that now there was no ban so I think its quite safe now to order planes, helis etc from Hong Kong , keeping duties aside  , import is possible . I was worried about that and maybe people who are thinking of importing can heave a sigh of relief

I had heard many cases of customs showing their whims on EMS parcels so i never use that.

Actually thats not very accurate;

DHL, Fedex, etc will for sure charge you duty on behalf of the government, based on the declared value. If youre lucky the customs people wont take a look at the product, but if not, they'll look at it and put whatever duty they deem fit. Once I was chraged 16k on customs that should have cost me around 10k, but whos to argue with our mahan bharat customs officers. But yes, with the bigger couriers you will have to pay duty no matter what based on declared value, and also a service fee to the courier company (which is usually quite small, sub 500rs).
EMS,  I dont think I would ever get delicate or expensive stuff via EMS! EMS is pure schise via the local postal service of either countries. *facepalm* But if youre getting smaller things, parts which wont break easily and if you have *drum rolls* patience, then EMS is ok.

Depending on what you are buying, I have found its often cheaper to take a flight to the US and bring stuff back rather than buy it here or risk shipping. The s800 I just bought, the quotes I got were almost 4L in India and I got it for under just under 3 in the US and walked it in, finito! A cheaper alternative is dxb or bkk. Lemme know if you need details