RC India

Hi Guys, :)

I stay in bangalore and I was planning to start RC and I was thinking of ordering 350$ worth of stuff from HobbyCity NOT including radio.

Just when my brother told me that there will be customs I realized it won't be easy.

I was plannning to order a couple of Turnigy Lipos(1S 200 mAh through 6S 5000mAh), charger, Few brushless motors of varying sizes, 2 ESCs, couple of HXT servos of varying sizes, Tachometer, wattmeter, Few Props of varying sizes etc.

I went through some of the posts here and came to know that some people have successfully ordered and received from HC but of lower values like 50$.

I read about this thread http://www.rcindia.org/rc-outlets-and-resellers/customs-(tax)-on-imported-toys-(value)-418/ - which I didn't understand really :violent:

and another thread saying that Hobbycity will declare less value if required to reduce customs! :giggle:

IF I order all these using the airparcel coming upto 3.5 to 4 KGs, what customs amount do i have to pay? and what value should I ask HobbyCity to declare? ???

Getting into this hobby for me depends on weather I can get these stuff or not :(

I know people would suggest me to get started with some thing cheap initially :) , but I am the kind of guy who would like to have all the accessories ready with me If I want to start something.

Eagerly waiting for answers!

Thanks,
Vinay.

Wouldn't it be easier if you made it different orders with the description "toy spare parts", and around the $50 range for price (not sure about this, others may please correct me).  This would fall under the "personal" use category, and has a fair chance of not having any customs duty applied.

I think you should just order and keep the customs declaration form the way it is..

Be Honest and order away... :salute:

I did not imply that a reduced value should be shown.  Just split one order into multiple ones.  The description should also help.

If i split the package the shipping would be high!  :( In case if Iam honest, then How much customs should I pay aprrox? ??? I never have ordered anything from abroad so no idea! Any guessing from your side would be usefull.

Well am not sure how much you would be charged as customs  :headscratch: I think about 10% of the total amount.

Why don't you buy some stuff from mr.sai  :thumbsup:

http://stores.shop.ebay.in/rcforallin

10% of the total amount as customs should be fine considering the quality and the princing at HC.

I did go through all the local dealers site mentioned in the dealers section. I did consider buying from Mr. Sai initially, but as an initial investment to buy all the stuff I need at once, HC looked like the way to go, If customs were not very high of course!

 Most of the things I am planning to order are not available with any local dealer (like a turnigy 6S 5Ah Lipo at a sweet price of 3K INR, Turnigy Sk 1150 W motor for 1,250 INR  (:|~ which I plan to put on a 62" trainer etc.). So I'am left with no choice but to buy from HC.

I was planning to get an RDS8000 as a radio for 140$ from US from my brother, and buy the rest of the electronics from HC initially, and order rest of the build material from Mr. Sai. or other dealers depending on price and availibility  :)

As per this thread,

http://www.rcindia.org/rc-outlets-and-resellers/customs-(tax)-on-imported-toys-(value)-418/

rcdhamaka here mentions CVD, cess etc  :headscratch: and as per


what does "wherin you can get levied up to max of 17.4% of " mean and get leived of 17.4% of what tax and how much? :headscratch:
and Although the basic rate of duty is same how much is this for the kind of goods I'am ordering, if I mention as per chap 98? :help:
"CVD and cesses apply differently." how much would this be for personal use? Does 350$ come under personal use?

Can somebody please explain this? I'am really poor at understanding Non-technical stuff  :violent: I need help badly :help:
Please sombody help  :help:

Thanks,
Vinay?

The basic rate of duty has come down further from 12% and is 10%.
What this means is that for personal imports through post assessed customs duty including all additions would be around 14-15%. So now you can figure out what will be your duty on a package valued at USD 350. BTW if by 350 you mean only the items cost, you need to add to that freight and insurance as well before arriving at a figure on which duty would be imposed. If you did not opt for insurance the customs guy would put in a standard percentage on item+frieght and  then caluclate the insurance and duty.
Hope this helps

Hi,

What already is suggested is to split the order into multiple orders and somehow make sure each will be around 100 Usd.

One of the orders could get stuck up in customs. Then you need to visit the Foreign Post office , like the one on Bahadurshah Zafar marg in Delhi, incase your order does not come in 15+ days.

The FPO is a govt customs office and works like one , my friend had some experience.

Dont worry, just keep the dream of flying alive and everything will fall in place.

Hi Guys,

In case anyone has any problems with the customs, I thought it would be better to include the nos for you guys.

Hope this helps ?

Mumbai : 022 22611791, 022 26156125, 022 22611791, 022 22614488 Vinod Kumar (director)

Customs Mumbai : 022 26156152

Delhi : 01123233314

Bangalore : 080 22867302, 080 25589993 ( International Branch )

Customs at Bangalore : 080 25589992

Cheers  :salute:

Atul G.

Thanks Guys for the reply. I stay in bangalore and the shipping address will be bangalore. Does this mean my parcel could get stuck up in Delhi also?

Also If I select Air Parcel during check out(this does not have tracking), and if it gets stuck up at customs, then how will I come to know? will the customs call me inform me?

Vinay,
I think there are no specific rates of customs duty on hobby goods imported for personal use and shipped to residential addresses. During the last 10 are so years I had imported all my hobby stuff from Tower Hobbies and I always used the then available postal surface mail  as shipping option. I also purchased several items from Hobby City,during the last 10 months, mostly brushless motors and Li-Po batteries and I used Regd Air Parcel as shipping method. The orders to Tower Hobbies ranged between  $.30-00 to $ 1000+, and my orders to Hobby King ranged between $20 to $160. All these orders both from  Tower Hobbies and Hobby City came through the Foreign Postal Customs Office located in Chennai. And I live in a small town in the state of Andhra Pradesh an overnight journey by an express train away to chennai. All the parcels from Tower were opened to verify the correctness of the contents checking against the invoice that comes along with other customs declaration forms from Tower,and attached to the outside of the parcel . After inspection the parcels were sealed again and released the parcel for delivery by post office. I never have been asked to pay any  customs duty during the last 10 years are so till now.
 Only once about 5 years ago I received a notice from the foreign postal customs office informing me that a parcel from Tower Hobbies had arrived without an invoice attached to the parcel and asking me to provide one for inspection. Obviously it must have been lost during the shipping ,so I emailed Tower Hobbies explaining the situation and they faxed a copy of the invoice to me.Then I sent the copy of that invoice along with a letter requesting the release of the parcel directly to the chief of the office i.e The Dy.Collector of Foreign Postal Customs Office in Chennai by Regd Post and I received the parcel on the third day.
Except this single instance I had never even contacted by the customs  office. The parcels from Hobby City were not even opened for inspection but are passed and delivered to me.
When Tower Hobbies stopped offering International Surface Mail as a shipping option about an year or so ago I stopped purchasing major items from tower hobbies because Air Shipping or Courier shipping are too high for me and limited my tower purchases to small replacement parts and such which does not cost much even by Air Parcel.
However after a long period  about a couple of weeks ago I purchased a Hitec 7 Ch Computer Radio system from Tower Hobbies because it was not available at Hobby City. I received the parcel shipped by Air Mail Parcel Service yesterday . The parcel is not even opened for inspection but was passed for delivery.

So I believe only Luck matters when it comes to customs duty.  Also I never lost anything during shipping

Off topic, but which Hitec radio model did you get, and why Hitec ?  :headscratch:  8-)

Thanks Mr.Rao for the Update  :)

I will go ahead and book at hobby city in 2 installments, just to be on the safer side  ;D

Ever since I started in this hobby I have been using Hitec Radios.They are Prism-7X, Laser-4 and Neon-3Ch and my receivers are a mix of SC and DC (PPM ) 72 Mhz FM of Hitec . So when I ordered my new radio I wanted a radio which can be used with my existing Rx also. These radios never failed me in the field. I purchased the Prism-7X as a single channel radio but later upgraded with SPECTRA 72MHz synthesized RF module. Cost is also a deciding factor for me when selecting a radio. when compared with other Radios like Futaba etc which offer similar features Hitec is the lowest priced one and extra Rx too are pretty cheap. So I decided to stay with Hitec. At first I considered 2.4 GHz systems too but the cost of extra Rx made me drop the idea. For the kind of flying I enjoy a 7 Ch Radio would suffice and I don't need a more sophisticated Radio with higher no.of channels and features.
So I decided on Hitec Eclipse 7 ch FM Radio System.
About a couple of weeks back I received an e-mail from Tower Hobbies that for international customers it is offering a discount of $ 60.00  for orders between $200 and $ 249-00. So I decided to take advantage of this offer and ordered  Hitec ECLIPSE-7 FM Radio with SPECTRA MODULE and an 8 Ch FM Rx for $215-00. After deducting $60-00 discount and adding $ 42-00 Air Shipping charges I ended up with paying $.197.00 for my Radio System.
But the people at the Tower Hobbies made a mistake and instead of sending an Eclipse-7 FM system they shipped me an ECLIPSE 7 QPCM Tx with SPECTRA RF Module and HPD-07RH 7Ch QPCM Rx, which costs $270.And I am not complaining.

While placing my order I noticed that a new SPECTRA 2.4 GHz Module and 7 Ch OPTIMA Rx would be available in Mid OCT so I back ordered a SPECTRA 2.4 GHz RF Module and two OPTIMA 2.4GHz,7-Ch Rx for $ 130-00.
And I am eagerly awaiting them to turn up at my door.

Makes sense !

Rao sir (Capt, I am lending your style here )
Wow. You are lucky. Even i have ordered several times from tower over the past many years, and my experiences have been mixed. I always used the surface shipping option, and 9 out of 10 times, i got a letter from the customs department Delhi that there was an inbound package and needed inspection. Since it was usually not possible for me to visit Delhi just for this, I usually ignored these letters and the package came to me after about a month.
Out of around 20 times i must have ordered from tower, i have had only 2 packages missing. One was in 2002, when i ordered a 6EXA . The shipment just vanished. and the other was in 2008 when i placed a small order that included a FAAST Rx ( should have used UPS here though ) .
I would like to document here, my experience about a visit to Customs in Bahadur Shah Zafar marg.
Once in 2004 there was a parcel  coming from Tower, and i got the letter from Customs. Incidentally i was in Delhi at that time, so I visited the Foreign Post Office. It was a pretty shocking experience for me. At every step, i was offered to bribe and threatened that if not, it would take me the entire day, if not 2 days... There were around 3-4 steps needed that included verification, opening of parcel, attesting it from one officer. I spent over half a day, and was so frustrated that i just walked out.

Maybe things have changed, or other places are better .
I still order, both from Tower and HC , but keep my fingers crossed till the point i get my shipment in hand.
-Gaurav

Dear Gaurav,

What action did you take in case of the missing shipments.Have you informed Tower Hobbies.Because in the very early days I started in this hobby when placing the my very first order I contacted Tower Hobbies and asked what happens if a shipment is not delivered or lost during shipping especially when the order is shipped using United States Postal Service's Surface or Air mail parcel service. I was told that if a shipment is not delivered with in 3 months after dispatch, then it will be declared as Lost during shipping and that Tower Hobbies would again ship your order for no cost at all. I think they have some kind of insurance which covers all International Shipments sent by Tower Hobbies. All one have to do is informing Service@Tower Hobbies along with the order/invoice number provided by Tower Hobbies when the order is shipped and you can also get this number from your account page in Tower Hobbies web site. Only after receiving that assurance did I placed my very first order. Because the amounts of money involved with these orders are, at least to me, were by no means small to be ignored. I believe purchasing from Tower is 100% safe.

And when I received that single notice from Foreign Post Customs Office, Chennai, I contacted my cousin who is a Dy.Collector in Land Customs about what I should do about that shipment and he advised me to do what I did then. He advised me that when I receive such notices I should always approach the Chief of that office (who would usually be an I.A.S. ranked officer) through Regd.Post  explaining that the parcel containing the order is hobby stuff for personal usage and requesting him to clear your parcel and release it for delivery. I just did that and my parcel passed customs without any duty imposed and delivered to me in 3 days.

My cousin told me that it, usually, is the lower ranked ppl like peons, Clerks, and some times customs inspectors who demand AMYAMYA ( bribes ) to even lift a hand. The top brass are completely different. He told me to always approach the top brass through post and to go to the customs office in person only as a last resort and pray to god that your luck holds.

Good Luck,
Rao
   

Sounds like a workable strategy  :thumbsup: Others who try this, kindly update your experience here.

 Raoji
What you say may be an exception rather than a rule and might work once or twice , I have   around 3 decades of professional experience in my job dealing with this  and I can say the lower levels can simply loose your file  and after that even though your parcel will be there you could struggle for eternity  and  run around to all the IAS's you want but things will not move as day to day work is done at the lower level and these guys know that you cannot be going to the Higher up's for every small thing .



Sai

Dear Sai,
I am not claiming that everybody's experience should be similar to mine.I told only my experience with the Foreign Postal Customs office only one time when I was notified by them that a parcel addressed to me arrived with out a required invoice and asked me to produce one for the releasing of the parcel. Then I asked my cousin what course of action I should and acted as he advised and it worked for me. I am an individual person importing hobby stuff for my personal non-commercial usage. I know that as commercial importers you have to pay customs and other duties as required.
Also I am not silly enough to say that everybody's experience should be similar to mine. Before and after that single instance I was never bothered by customs and never had to visit the customs office to get my parcel. I had clearly stated that visit the customs office in person only as a last resort and pray to God that your Luck prevails.
I purchased a Hitec Radio system a couple of weeks ago from Tower Hobbies which was shipped by Air Mail and I received it a few days ago and the parcel was not even opened for inspection by customs but delivered to me.
As I stated it is the LUCK ALONE which matters when dealing with customs.

regards,
Rao. 

 :discuss:

 vinay did you place an order,if you have let us know how it goes

My experience..

My item got detained with the mumbai customs and the guys over there were very helpfull. All I had to do was send a mail to the mumbaiforeigncustoms@yahoo.co.in and attach a bill of the item and had to pay some customs duty..

But got my item safely..  :thumbsup:

Sorry guys I was busy and could not reply.

Yup, Placed the order :), Hope it goes well. Recently I visited the jakkur air field, and most of them there all get the stuff from HC. Many have even got stuff more than 10 times from HC itself. So as per them, my order should not be a porblem ;D.

Still It's all luck. Let see how is mine ;)

Also getting from US through my Bro the following things, Getting them on Nov 1st  :).

1)RDS8000 Mode 2, 8ch 2.4 ghz TX with battery X 1 and charger 110V ??? - HobbyPeople.net
2)8 channel 2.4 GHZ full range receiver X 1 - HobbyPeople.net
3)7 Channel 2.4 GHZ full range receiver X 1 - HobbyPeople.net
4)Futaba S3004 X 4(based on suggestions to use the best when it comes to servos, from the experienced people from Jakkur club) - TowerHobbies
5)1/4 inch foam sheet for covering receiver - TowerHobbies
6)Thunder AC6 Charger 6 cells 50 W USB with built in 110V 220V adapter - NitroPlanes.com
7)6 channel Dynam simulator - NitroPlanes.com (Plan to use it with emulator ;D and some other program.)
8)20 KG - 10 Gram ressolution, digital Spring balance to measure thrust. - Ordered from Meritline.com yet to reach my Bro, Hope it reaches by this Friday. Ordered 2 weeks back.
9)A small 5 KG Kitchen weighing machine 1 Gram resolution, to measure plane weight and Whey Protien and Glucon D :D  - Amazon.

Currently Iam using G/4/5 with a Frontech USB Game Pad with Mode 2 settings. Enjoying it. But it has a problem, I move the sticks half way and in the game it moves fullway. SO difficult to control. But Iam able to take off with a cessana and also able to land a Yak 8) clearly on the Runway. Howering is difficult as both the sticks are spring controlled, so cant keep the throttle at a particular point.

Any Place where I can get a 220 V charger for the RDS8000? 8-) Iam not sure if I can use the AC6 to charge the batteries of the RDS8k. If the TX can take the AA batteries, then I will load it with the Sanyo Eneloop batteries (2000 mah low self discharge) that I have, No need to charge for a long time then. 8)

What I ordered from HC is a suspense >:D Have Ordered via Air Parcel.

Will post the PICS for sure once I get the Parcel into my hands. :)

Check out www.rcdhamaka.com for they are the distributors for Airtronics/Sanwa in India.

Also many products are at prices which are cheaper when you calculate all the chargers including shipping, custom duties etc with hobby sites/shops in India itself.

Just Planning on the 220V to 110V adapter for now. If its cheap, good and works out(Good enough wattage), I can use if for multiple devices if required in the future.

Mr. Rao is Right I too have similar experience in Mumbai :thumbsup: if u panic in front of customs they will take advantage, and yes contacting The Chief of Customs Makes sense. I had ordered many times from Hobbycity and BPP hobby shop 2/7 times I paid Customs and rest of the times the good went custom cleared. Moreover the custom duty also depend upon the size of the parcel, if u order plane then hell u r in it.

Welcome Rahul...

Which one is the BPP hobby shop ? Kindly post their web store URL.  The more choices, the better !

OK Guys,
Some information I received from the foreign post office regarding shipments from hobby city (or hongkong in general) by registered air mail/air parcel ....

when HK post ships, please note the 1st two letters...
Those begining with 'RB' land in Kolkata, those begining with 'CP' land in Mumbai if the package is equal or above 2KG else go directly to the nearest metro.

So, one of my parcels came via Mumbai, one has landed in Kolkata and would eventually come to delhi, one has landed in delhi and gone for custom clearance.....

There is something wrong with with HK post or the Indian Post.  I mean how confusing one can get :banghead:

Pankaj

Hi Guys,

The status on Hong Kong Postal says
27-Oct-2009   Hong Kong   The item left Hong Kong for its destination on 27-Oct-2009

The Item is an Air Parcel not EMS. Is it possible to track this in India? If yes which site?

I tried this http://services.ptcmysore.gov.in/Speednettracking/ But I believe it is only for EMS and came up with no details found page. Or may be I should wait for few more days? Based on your experiances, How long will it take to reach Bangalore?  ??? Just eagerly waiting  (:|~

Thanks for the replies.

You may have to wait for a while.My parcels from Hobby City  usually take 2 weeks to reach the destination when shipped using Regd Air Parcel.

Does one face similar problems from customs if you are carrying RC stuff with you while traveling abroad.. I will be in singapore in the next week and planning to look for a TX from Singapore.. Anybody whos got RC stuff from Singapore... Any clue which is a right place to buy in Singapore and is it worthwhile buying there.

Shreekant

Not sure if it is luck, but I have traveled many times (8+) with radios in and out, and never had any problems. I have a friend who has done this 20+ times.

Since they look like controllers for toys in X rays, usually it is not a problem.  They may get curious if you are forced to open the bags and they see something a bit more complicated than what they had in mind.

Shoudlnt be a problem really. I have got my 10 C from US a couple of months back without any problem.
I frequently get from Singapore and the 3 places i liked the most were :
Hobby Shack
Singahobby and Rotor Sports.
Depends really on what you want, and how well you do your research before reaching there.
PM me, and i can give you some specific directions, if you need .
-Gaurav

I agree :salute:, But is it possible to track a Regd Air Parcel(Not EMS) in India, If Yes which site?

I have no idea. I never tried to track my parcels after they left Hong Kong. I used to check the warehouse status of my order and once it is shown as shipped, I simply wait for the parcel to turn up.
Don't worry it will come in a couple of weeks.

hi all i bought a 6 ch rc helicopter from Banana hobby.com i got a letter from Custom office in delhi asking me to get some papers i did that .people at custom office opened my box and checked all the stuff. i thought i will get it now.
but the officer on duty asked me to leave my phone no in case they had any questions other wise he said  i will get it by post office soon .
I got a call after 4-5 days asking if i can come to the custom office . so i did that .
at the custom office i was told that radio control machine ...etc are banned items and i can not get it
and i need to get a NOC from aviation ministry . its really sad to see these people making life difficult for every one .i have no idea about legal issue in this case .and how people are importing RC heli plane car etc . please if any one of you can put some light on this issue .
and help me figure it out . i will be really grateful   

R/C has been made a funny hobby by few people in India... Pathetic.... just for the 'Elite class' haan ?

What about the "aam janata"
does anyone think about them. 

First, try to meet the senior most officer there in person, and plead your case politely.

If nothing works, submit a request based on "Freedom of Information Act", seeking information about "how many RC toys (similar to yours, so you have to craft the question carefully) have been come into Delhi customs for inspection in the last 6 months, what percent was detained, what percent was released to the purchaser, what is the criteria based on which something was detained and something was released" and so on.  If you have lawyer friends, they can help draft the letter. I know of multiple cases where things have turned around in the face of request for facts (not related to RC itself, but similar situations). You have nothing to lose, so try it.

thanks for suggestions
i think i will go for RTI to get some clarification on this issue once for all

Aam Adami, Elite class and RC Hobby ...i don't know i consider my self Aam adami because i travel in Cattle Class

The toy ban is still applicable. The import policy has been amended on the same.

Yesterday I received a package from Tower Hobbies shipped by Air Mail. The package contained a Hitec OPTIC-6, 2.4 GHz AFHSS Transmitter, Two OPTIMA-7 Ch AFHSS Receivers , 6 HS-55  Servos, 6 HS-81 and some accessories. It came through the Foreign Postal Customs office in Chennai and passed without any customs duty. The package was opened by the customs officer to check the contents which is a common procedure and sealed again in the typical Indian fashion using jute thread and wax seals of that office. I wonder why they don't use packaging tape. It is impossible to predict what these customs officers do. I wish you luck with your shipment and you'll get it without any problems.

Mr. Rao,

I would say, you were just LUCKY!!!

Getting Tx n Rx frm tower without customs... just way too lucky...

Cheers
Saurabh

Well, I got one too, Tx + Rx w/o duty - in Delhi. Those guys did not even open the parcel. Generally, with so many packages arriving in each station at a time, I guess, they just do a random check and if you are picked, then things can get tricky.

Pankaj

I will tell you all guys that the route through which Rao gets his stuff is probably the safest route in India. ;) By route I mean the path traveled by the parcel.

I have received many parcels from HK/Deal Extreme/US and some are opened and some are not depending on the declaration and number of content in it. But most of them are opened. So its not always random. My Heli kit was opened, but it passed through.

Rao, from what I see here, the parcels were taped and then a jute thread was tied on it most of the time. But some time it was the jute thread alone and the box was horrible torn. >:D. But I never lost anything though. And I even paid a tip of 170 bucks for the post Woman so that she gets the stuff here safely, and she was happy. ;D

And I generally end up paying 20% customs(fixed) for the parcels that are declared 28 $ and above. That dosent mean you should go ahead and always declare less than 28$.

Guys please dont pm me on how to declare customs. I always get a lot of PMs on how to order from abroad :giggle:

I agree, Mr. Rao is the luckiest of us all, and the route his parcels come through are the safest !!
I have lost a radio to customs a couple of years back and had another parcel missing , so i am very cautious with Intl orders now. Keep the box size/value low, split orders etc etc.

Vinay, Did you get your heli kit from HobbyCity ? Also, if i order from Heli direct, how long does it take for package to arrive ? I have never ordered from there but want to .

Yup, Got Heli from HK. Heli direct reaches us in 12 days. Hobby city 20 days average.

Hi all any one in Delhi dealing with Foreign Postal Customs office Delhi it seems other then delhi people have no trouble getting stuff

Its all luck dude.

Hi Guys,

After ordering from hobbycity the order is still showing as processed, its been like 3 days..Does anyone know or facing similar incident ?

I guess these guys are overloaded with orders ? Any comments ?

cheers

atul g.

Just forget it and relax.
Its like this: If u order on sunday evening, then they would be overrloaded with weekend order and they may take upto 4 days to process. But if you order on friday morning then it would be shipped by saturday evening. ;D

I received one parcel today. Got 1 mg14 servo(3 more on the way). REAL SOLID build and nice centering, it makes hxt900 look like CRAP :giggle:. Would post the results after putting on Heli. :thumbsup:

great stuff..thanks vinay..It seems you order a lot of stuff on the internet.. :thumbsup:

So all my ordering would be done on friday morning  :giggle:

I do order a lot on internet as they are very cheap and good quality with reviews so that I can select based on reviews. :thumbsup:
Dont necessarily order on friday, order on any day you want and forget it for 20 days. In other words, if you plan to build a plane after 20 days, calculate the power required for it right away and order electronics right away so that by the time you start building the plane the items will be in hand. Myself and ujjwaana were way ahead, before we even decided on the plans, we read a lot decided on what motors/props are required generally, visited Ashta's house(ware house)and ordered in advance. All we need to do is start building planes. But for some reason I got addicted to Helis now :giggle: I now have 7 plane motors and 2 heli motors with me. ;)

I will buy an ARF and put 1 motor on it.

all the best..hope to see more of your spads or arf planes..

In btwn it was a wise decision to edit your earlier post  :giggle:

You got it right :thumbsup:, I already have 1/2 as many messages in my inbox as I have posted on this site. :giggle: I dunno y people dont directly ask on the forum, that should help others as well.

It's been 9 days hobbycity has still not shipped my items and after repeated e-mails they still haven't got back to me, any body ever faced this kind of problemo ?  :headscratch:

Imagine it takes 25days to get all my stuff at my place now adding 9 and god knows how many days it will be like over a month  :giggle: Kills the excitement..

Hope nobody faces this kind of problemo..

Cheers

Atul G.



 

You got to be patient.
If you have select Air mail ( and Not EMS ) they can take upto 10 days to ship. BTW is everything you ordered in stock and not back-ordered or something ?

If any item is in backorder, then it takes more than 30 days before they are shipped, plus the time for shipping and delivery. 

Hi Guys,

Everything is in stock, I made sure about that while ordering..I guess will shoot one more mail or give them a ring..

Must be because of the festival I presume  :headscratch:

Iam getting everything in time. It takes no more than 4 days for me. I booked a heli a week back and its already leaving hong kong today. Also some employees have quit HC, so the slow down. But if its 9 days, you better hurry and call them right away, Hong Kong will be closed between 12th to 20th of feb as per deal extreme.

Thanks vinay..Yea will call them up right away..

Strange..I guess am the lucky one...Or better I must have won the 7cell charger frm hobbycity  :giggle:

check their new offer 100days 100 chargers  :salute:

Its just your bad luck Atul. One of my order which I booked on 20th Jan, left H'Kong on 29th Jan and reached me on 4th Feb!! The fastest till date.

Just the tip - keep it small and simple. You can ask forum seniors for any further help. Its not preferred to post such details on open forums.

Hey Ujjwaana,

Kept it simple and small, have ordered previously from HC..I don't think there's a problem in discussing about me getting my courier so late and I have already paid for it  ;) ...  8-) Just wondering what's wrong in that  ???

I ordered some stuff (bunch of props and brushless motors, servos - without a particular application in mind) from Hobby city on Jan 22 (friday) and it was out of their warehouse on 23rd. Am impressed with their speed (hope its not a one off case). I am still patiently waiting for my order to arrive. I have forgotten that i have ordered stuff. Lets see when it comes.

Looking at Shri Rao's experience, I am tempted to order a radio from tower.  (:|~ Wonder if it is worth taking a risk  :headscratch: I am not worried abt customs. At max, they will charge some duty, which will make the price equal to a LHS. I am only worried abt legality angle. Not that I doubt the legality, but these guys will suddenly say it is a banned item etc. etc.  :banghead:

Shrikant forget it, You stay in mumbai and trust me you will never see your radio.. Not worth it..

Order from Mr.Sai or indianhobbies..

1. It was an off case. Normal Air mail/parcel ususally takes 5-8 days the day you order and the day they really send it to Hongkong post. EMS they do in 2 days ( priority). HC operates on un imagible resource optimization (as told by one of my friend, HC Platinum member, who visited their warehouse on busy pre thanks giving week). They get orders in tunes of few thousand a day, shipped by just a bunch of staff.

2. Radio from Tower and that too in Mumbai , where all 12KG pay load capacity Chinese plane episode happened ?FORGET IT! I mean even if some senior says they got it thru, please don't do misadventure as situations has changed. I have penned my experience in detail on the forum, please search it.

Whatever your experience with a particular LHS, there are many others LHS offering Radio, RCDhamaka, Indianhobbies, Spherehobbies etc. At least first two have great reputation on the Forum and supposedly provide legally/WPC approved Radio. Please, please, please, don't try importing by post and gamble. The customs at Metro are much smarter than you may think. The bigger packets are opened by Superintendents/Asst Commissioners, least to say they should have been smart enough to clear dreaded Civil Services exams.

Atul,
I was referring to do's and don't on ordering from West/online shops so that you get least trouble/cost. People like me would be glad to help a fellow hobbyist, but posting on the open forum would be not the best thing for the community as 'everyone' would be watching.

Ujjwaana,

I have paid for an item and its not being couriered for the past 9 days so thats why I have made this post if everyone is watching, fine by me..I can give them my no as well. :thumbsup:

RC imports are just 0.01% of the total imports or further less I believe, for everyone to be watching. I myself visit RCIndia twice or thrice a week. :giggle:

Hey atul, if you noticed, you just became a Forum Hero  {:)} Time for a treat. >:D

 ;D.. :giggle:

Anytime Vinay..anytime..

cheers

I can understand Atul. I hope nobody on the forum has reported 'No Ship' from HC, so may be they might have piled all the orders to ship before long holiday starts. Just wait for 2-3 days. Do one thing, wake up early in the morning and go for an online chat with HC reps. Otherwise you may call them as well (Vinay did it once I guess)

And Vinay, by 'thrice', you meant 'Daily' and not 'Weekly' ! Ain't ?? ;) I guess take it as mistype :P)

yea ujjwaana, am pretty sure they will ship it across..I guess everybody there is in a festival mood..

cheers

hello everyone,
                        i just ordered two rx from Hk on 29th jan belive it or not today i have a package in my hand i.e 10th feb exactly on 13th day what should i say"im lucky"!!!! ;) ;) ;),i oedered through "International (Registered) Air Mail  ".

yea...my items have been shipped after 10days..whooosh..

cheers

atul g.

I booked the spare parts for my crashed Heli on 31st (last last sunday) and it reached my home today :thumbsup:

Yes... You are not just lucky.. You are very lucky...  :D


My stuff ordered came in on Feb 20 (friday again).. so 4 weeks all inclusive... The parcel was opened at foreign post office and examined and re-packed.. no duties charged.. So barring the wait, overall a decent experience.

Hi Shrikant,

Your parcel was opened up in the customs ? Did your parcel contain a lipo battery or a motor ?

what happens if you have a lipo battery in your package do these guys detain it or let it through ?

any experience anyone ?

thanks

atul g.

That's the best way to deal in a polite manner with Hobby City Order. Just Order - Pay and Forget, and if you are lucky like me....ONE DAY you will definitely get your parcel.... my last order came to me auto in exactly 18th day....no hazels no worry..., but try to keep order in under 3.5K all inclusive.....

what about lipo batteries ? Do these guys detain your package if lipo's are found ?

Lipos are not Bombs, they cant detain it. Its present in every mobile phone/laptops.

lipo's can explode and also catch fire under certain circumstances..yes they are present in every mobile phone/laptops but importing them is a different ball game..

 

I agree, but the whole world ships them through air, including laptop batteries mobile phones through air. Not sure if anyone faced problems. I have not faced problems though.

true..even I have imported some batteries before..fortunately without any customs or any trouble..just wanted to know whether anyone faced any kind of problem with customs regarding the lipo's..

keeping my fingers crossed as I have ordered some lipo's this time although the order is below 3k..

 :sleepy: Just relax.....i have also ordered two batteries this time with HC ....along with some other material...i hope if batteries are problematic...then they should deliver me rest of the material................ :P 8-) :o ;D

Nope No Lipos. But motor, yes - 1 No. No issues though.  :thumbsup: All was properly packed and delivered.

I agree with Sandeep. Just order and forget. Easier said than done. Either because of the fact that you've paid for it and what if..... or anxiety to receive stuff and get going with building.... ;D

Dont worry about registered parcel, it will reach. I have recieved parcels as big as 3 KGs with tools from HC. :thumbsup:

Thats the problem with our Customs 'Babus'. If they find even one of your item under 'Restricted', they would hold the entire package. So order wise.
BTW Mr Sanjeev told that they pay additional 'Disposal cess' for Lipo, which you may be averting ordering from HC individually. For how long ? don't know... But yes, Batteries have no restrictions and are good to go under Customs HS code.

How long does EMS usually take ? A couple of shipments have reached me within a week, but there is one, thats been over 2 weeks and still no sign.
The status says " Departed HK for India ON Feb 10th ". Should i still keep up hope for this ? Anyone had their EMS delayed so much ?

EMS reaches us much faster than that. Since its shipped on 10th, then it should have been here, wait for a day or 2 max. It will reach you. Most of the times parcels reach our cities very soon. As soon as 2 days once it reaches india. But the package will be in the customs ware house for the rest of the time before it reaches you.

I purchased several times from HC and many orders were Li-Po Batteries only and I never had any problems with customs. ;D

Hi,
All types of rechargeable batteries, whether Ni-cd, Ni-Mh, Li-ion or Li-Po...none should be shipped in 100% charged state, i have read somewhere that this is a safety measure to ship batteries in air, land or sea and that too in a special cases meant for batteries only....
i have seen new Nokia and Sony mobile batteries....they are normally charged only 50%....
so i don't think that customs should have any problem with batteries as shipment......

Its not only that reason why they are charged at 50%, but also because at 50% charge, the battery tend to survive longer on the shelf and have better life rather than a fully charged state on the shelf for a long time.

i have received My parcel without open....this time i had ordered 2 lipo battery..all battery have came without any problem

congrats laxman..glad to hear that you got your parcel without any hassels..I wonder where my parcel is its almost like a month now..sob..

Hi guys, I am a new joinee to this forum, i have been reading for a while though. I am also new to this hobby but just about to take the leap. It will most probably be cars (trucks/buggy/truggy). Must say that this is the best thread a newbie could read, assuming that he will definitely come across the dilemma of ordering online. Well for a trial i placed an order with tower (some random tools/accessories) worth $42 on the 09/02/10 and haven't received the parcel yet. The reason could either be customs or the limited space they provide to enter the address. I chose the Priority Mail option (the cheaper one) and could hardly enter the whole address. Has anyone come across the same problem? Any solution?

I think you need to wait a bit more :(  Many stores even clarify that they will entertain queries about shipping delay (or lost items) only after 30 to 45 days.

Truly agree, Airmail/Airparcel/EMS ... they take more or less same time to reach India (as ALL use Airplanes and not Ships to 'Ship'). Its the whims and fancy ( and load on customs to clear them) which causes the actual delay for the package to reach us. Its all luck and timing (festive etc).

Good that we don't order Eggs thru Towers/HC, else they might get incubate at customs warehouse, and you receive hatched chicks instead!!.

or may be a 12 new eggs instead of 6
[for those who didn't understand-i mean that even not chicks but we get the next gen. of eggs]

After almost a month I finally got all my stuff...wooohhoooo..yeahhhh...

no customs no problemos..paid some money to my postman and literally hugged him..hehehe..

This weekend am flying highhh...

cheers..

Ya, better bribe your postmans, They will happily get all your parcels, and wont steal the unregeistered ones. Just keep them happy.

Congrats Atul!! And let me tell you, thats a beginning... you would learn the ropes soon... ask my friend Vinay... he would be opening a HC(India) store soon!!! LOL!!

Vinay, That is not Bribe... Thats called TIP (To Insure Promptness) or 'Bakshish' in Hindi, an old Mughal/British tradition which is keeping up till date. In my school days, I used to get loads of Money orders in lieu of PCB/Kit I used to send to Electronics enthusiasts across the country. To ensure that the Postman visits my area after finishing  all delivery so that I can get my post/MO after the coming back to school, I used to 'Bakshish' the old fella. It was nice to see grin on the face of that 55+ years old fella supporting his family. When same thing is demanded 'Forcefully' from the other side, it becomes 'Bribe' !! Thin Red line, ain't?

I am doing the same with the Post man who delivers my packets at office. The guy politely gives me a small 'missed' call indicating I should come a little but early to get my package after paying the Customs duty.
Though not mandatory, its good to keep cordial terms with your postman if you are ardent E-bay buyer.

If a post man is stealing something and you want to prevent that then it becomes bribe.

Anyways I didn't study in IIT and I am not that intelligent not to use those words interchangeably. ;)

And I believe others have a processor on their brains to process those words, w/o too much precision. :discuss:

Opening an HC store? Dude, I have too many HXT 900 with me as I have ordered MG 14s for both my Helis. You wanna buy? I have 16+ 900s with me. Anyways I have a feeling that the T racer retracts needs 9G servos rather than 5g servos as the retracts are hard, and I have a bad feeling that 5g wont be able to push /pull those retracts. So there goes 3+2 900 servos.

Never bought anything online, but isn't their a concept of postal insurance or some such thing?

Ashutosh

I think if you buy through registered post, its kinda insured. I recently got a 3KG box from HC on which there was a huge hole carved out beautifully by rats at the bangalore ware house. :giggle:

The post man asked me to open the packet and see at the spot and return back the parcel if something is destroyed. I believe they would send it back to Hongkong and Hongkong post may take care of insurance i believe. Not sure though. Hopefully all was well.

Anybody any ideas? :headscratch:

chk this link for more details regarding refunds and returns

http://hobbycity.com/hobbyking/store/faq.asp

In btwn thanks ujjwanna and vinay..finally got my parcel..yeah I bribed him but moreover it was a bakshiish..I knw that poor guy personally and what I did was out of complete happiness...

cheers..

what all you got?

2200kv motor, lipos, esc, lipo checker and some props..

any plane you building?

I am building blue baby but the setup I ordered for is dedicated to easy star..

 :D  ;)

I Don't even pray  my enemies get into this. If anybody has gone thru IT reimbursement,  they would understand what it is to haggle for ones own money. KISS - keep it small and simple is the mantra ( people with 'processors' should have already understood) to get things smoothly without much hold up.

And you Vinay!! Grrrr!!! blind following you, even I have enough of 9/5g servos that I needn't order coming 2 years !!! Now you are inspiring to buy Metal/Digi!!   

If I had kept a 3KG hardware tools packet KISS and made it 750Grams each instead, then the postal departments shipping costs would have FRENCH KISSED my wallet. Keeping that apart, it can even happen to a 500 Gram parcel none the less as all are stored in the same warehouse is what the postman said, so no meaning in doing that. Hope you got my point ;). There was another complaint he told me that some rats had even bitten into an expensive silk Saree. Now that would be real pain. :giggle:

Blame that on Ashta, after seeing all the 150 hand built planes at his house :bow:, even we thought we can build them easily right? >:D and then we ordered. :violent:
Now why blame me? ;)

 :o 150 hand build planes..exagerrated  or real ? wow that means 150 receivers.. ;D..  :giggle:

exagerrated? No, Probably more, He showed us 3 Attics filled with depron planes. Probably each attic had 30 to 40 in them {:)} all flying/non flying/old deprecated/experimented models. Keeping that aside, his cars are always filled with 7+ planes all the time. Apart from that, his car shed has hell lot of them,
apart from that he is continously builing planes on the top floor of his house completely dedicated to building planes. That HUGE 20X30 room was a depron mess! ;)

And no, that does not mean 150 receivers. If he is flying some models after a long time, then he borrows it from some other planes. He probably may be having 100+ 9gram servos with him on all the planes. ;D

Dont believe me? Ask Ujjwal.

wow.. :thumbsup:  :bow:  :bow:

Ashta sir you rule..lucky you guys had a chance to go and chk out his stuff...

My wife gets a panic attack when she sees me with the depron sheets  :giggle:  :giggle:

Believe me, since we asked, even though he had lot of relatives come to his house, he still made time in between that to invite me and ujjwal to his house and showed all his hobby stuff for almost 2 hrs. Gave us lots of tips. Now what more can we ask? ;) except to maiden our hand built planes. :giggle:

Luckily I am 28 and I have another year before I get into the trouble you are in. Till then my Credit Card is purely mine.  ;)

hahaha..hope your credit card stays with you...all the best man...

  :giggle:

Hell Ya! I testify Vinay and 150 is no exaggeration. Its like Foamie section of HAL(Hindustan Aironautics Ltd), running from a house  :giggle: :bow: :bow: :thumbsup: That house is a PLANE FACTORY MA!!

And yes, I too share this 'Hardly a year of complete freedom' syndrome with Vinay, and trying to stock up for 2 years of my hobby. Before I get a 'Finance' minister.

And then you will need to 'hide' things in !!!!

Hi guys, i still haven't got the stuff i ordered from tower on the 9th of Feb. It is one month now, does that mean it is lost?

I contacted Tower and they said that if the parcel doesn't reach me by 25th of this month i should contact them again. However they did give me an airway bill number, is there a contact number where i can find out about this? I used Priority Mail International and i am in Mumbai

I want to order some more stuff but now i am skeptical, does this always take so much time?

By the way, i bought myself a HPI Savage X from Mumbai, the dealer over here cut me a good deal. Thanks for all the help i got from RCINDIA members.

Shouldn't the thread be named "How much Customs I would need to pay" instead of "how much customs I Should pay" as if we have any choice and can bargain with customs guys (ahaa... I am referring to the fair and legal way of paying duties).

With so many parcels between me and Vinay, the Customs seems to charge only 20-22% on the invoiced amount. They have not erred to include the shipping amount in the calculation, as it is supposed to be, since most of our packet did not mention the shipping charges. This is what we have inferred with the calculation and are purely our personal experience.
And no, we were not wise enough to go back to customs asking why they have charged less (30-33% as from the HS codes).

Finally curious,
Visit the FPO and you can see the mayhem. The customs not necessarily clear package in strict order of arrival. Size of parcels, origin, amount may govern the priority. Do wait for a while before pressing the SOS button.

i agree with you
and we need to figure it out
and fight for our rights

Hey Ujjwaana, thanks for your response but would you have any idea if the FPO stays open on Saturdays? I know you are based in Blore and i am talking about Mumbai but i guess the culture should remain roughly similar.

Saturday is the only day i can visit them. Thanks.

Bangalore FPO does keep open on Saturdays (may be not on 2nd Sat of month)

Please call them beforehand:
http://www.hotfrog.in/Companies/FOREIGN-POST-OFFICE

But do keep a low key, first inquire the Postal section before jumping to the Customs (both Postal and Customs department are in the same building, which are separate entities). Don't show too much anxiety.

So to add to the anxiety this saturday is the second Saturday. But thanks man i will let everyone know how it goes.

***** 45th Day Delivery *****

Finally i got the delivery of my order, exactly after 45 days, at my door. For trial i placed an order (4way wrench and fuel bottle) worth Rs.500 and i was charged Rs.128 as customs. That means custom duty of 25.6%.

This time i chose "Priority Mail International" as mode of delivery but will it help if i choose UPS Worldwide Saver? Help in terms of lesser delivery time? Will UPS deliver it to me or will be the postal department again?

And finally the Mumbai PFO guy, (Sahab) who can help you on this topic, does not work on weekends. So if anyone is planning a visit pls keep in mind.

Well that is how customs is...i too ordered a watt meter and some connectors costing 1500 Rs but then i wasn't charged any customs at all.

depends on how much you declare. and if you marked as gift or not.

hi..
i am beginner in rc...i want to buy from hk...but i dont knw anything about the customs of india....how much will be the customs...how much do i have to pay as customs,.??

Merged into the right topic.  BTW, if you had searched, you would have found this thread, and the question would be redundant.

Short answer is that you can get charged anywhere from 0% to 25%... depending on whether it is Friday the 13th, and if it is going to be a full moon night and whether the wind blows from left to right instead of right to left ;) (OK, that was my lame attempt to be funny about randomness!).

what r u looking for? I mean kits, ready to fly, planes or helicopters and how much are u serious about rc? If the answer is serious enough, then spell out ur needs. There are a lot of pros here to help u.

has anyone experienced that shipment is detained at customs and never released?  :headscratch:

hi i also live in delhi and i want to know that if i bought na f-22 of weight 1900 grams did i had to face any customs :banghead:

Isn't it obvious that the answer to that question will be an attempt to predict the future ?  Only the likes of palm readers can answer that ! And even then, what really happens may have nothing to do with what they predict.

I think depends on your country's policy and item price... (https://technologywell.com/)