Guys,
I was looking to import a Kit - Pattern 1.20 size Epsilon from CA models.
I found an online store that is ready to ship this by UPS
Was looking for some advice on whether it would be safe to import, or if I should wait for things to settle down further.
What would happen if they were to ship via UPS ? I am ok in paying any duties, but of course wouldnt like the custom officials to confiscate the shipment.
Let me know your views on this.
-Gaurav

no prob if u select ups as the shipping option,recently i placed an order frm tower and they shipped thru ups and it arrived on my door step on the 5th day.they wil do the customs clearance procedures if any

Santhosh,
That sounds encouraging. What did you order, an ARF ? I am not worried about the duties, more qorried about the custom officials not knowing what to do and confiscating ( or destroying ) the kit...

Hi Gaurav,

As from my experience, please dont ship your items from UPS try fedex or some other way of importing your stuff..

Try to google for UPS and people's shipping experience and am sure you will understand what i mean to say..

tk care mate..

cheers

atul g.

I don't have much experience with ups, my first one was successful,  i ordered an  arf from tower hobbies, customs duty i paid was around 1.5k
santhosh

I have had no issues with UPS as such till date

I have also had good experience with UPS so far (internal shipping in the US, and shipping from the US to Qatar).

Any company that has been around for a while will have some negative reviews developed across a large time duration.  And the bad news gets amplified, while the vast majority of good is not "news" at all, and no one really hears about it (no one really thinks about it either).

Thanks guys.
Actually i was not looking for feedback whether UPS is good or not. Rather wanting feedback on whether it would be safe to import a Kit.
I have my person good experience with UPS, but not sure how the customs would treat a kit. I am scared about hearing shipments of many other dealers being held by customs and the news earlier this year about how they planned to destroy these planes.
-Gaurav

I think this needs to be answered by someone who has imported a significantly sized  (.90 or higher) ARF recently (within last 45 days or so).

The discussion around UPS is kind of important, as they seem to take the burden of dealing with customs away from the you for the most part.  The possibility is still open that when there is a conflict, they may wash their hands of the matter too.

ALL courier companies handle the customs formalities and ALL give up if there is a problem of any kind. At best they take it easy leaving it to you to follow up, meet the appraiser - or whoever is holding things up. Generally, "it's now YOUR problem" attitude. The problem gets compounded as you cannot meet any of the officials concerned directly. It has to be through them.

Most of the time, things are alright. But it can be painfully frustrating if held up, for any reason.

I was comparing it more to non-courier options (like USPS).  Usually most online stores offer one of the big courier companies (Fedex/UPS/etc) and USPS as the options. There may be something like "Surface" transport too.

With the non-courier companies, you are on your own from the beginning   Not seeing the end-customer in front of them does have a higher probability of the customs side of things being simpler

Not sure about India, but many people here are using Aramex Shop-n-Ship : http://www.aramex.com/shopandship/default.aspx .

How does UPS compare to EMS Speedpost ? For one ARF I want to import the company seems to charge double for DHL than for EMS Speedpost.
Would speedpost be considered a 'non-courier company' ? and that i should be prepared for problems with customs ?
BTW the ARF i am looking to import is a Fliton Inspire 90.
-Gaurav

I understood Speedpost/EMS as a service (or a wing) of the postal department of that country (USPS or Indian postal service).  You can call it the "courier service" wing of the corresponding postal service.  If you went the ESM route, a package is picked up by USPS and handed over to Indian posts.  With courier companies, it is the same courier company (or a private partner company) that does the transaction end to end.

The "value added service" nature of the true courier services make it a costlier service (things like tracking service through out the transit, rapid transit infrastructure like own cargo planes etc).  They also deal with customs (at least initially, until there is a problem) which seems to help in the vast majority of cases. I am not sure about difference in the default insurance level, but that may be another factor (upto X dollars is covered automatically).

Always the case courier is more expensive when compared to postal service when in the case of ARF or large sized packages as they take the volume of the box to calculate weight of shipment.

Also insurance is not covered unless you opt for it. Same all over the world just logistics.