[Samir Taheer]

We moved back from England after over 13 years last year, but didn't bother bringing back items such as TV's and furniture.

1. What are the options available for this and what will be the approximate cost?

We used a company called Seven Seas Shipping. We decided to pack all the items out selves - The company dropped off the boxes and collected after we were done packing. They were not the cheapest, but we had friends who had used them before and were highly recommended.

2. Will there be any custom to be paid in India separately or the courier / container company will include / manage all expenses?

Most (or all) companies, make you pay the customs. You could take the easy way out and just pay what they demand when the good arrive. This amount will also include any bribes etc. We decided to go and sort the customs out ourselves since we knew someone.

3. Will the courier company deliver to door step in India or should we need to coordinate for delivery from port in India etc

Seven seas will deliver door to door. Most other companies will deliver door to door.

You will have options to ship via sea or air.

Also beware - all the smaller/localised shipping companies (Seven Seas included) have agents in India and these agents are useless!

Hope this helps.

Sam.

[r_devakumar]

Originally Posted by Samir Taheer

We moved back from England after over 13 years last year, but didn't bother bringing back items such as TV's and furniture.

1. What are the options available for this and what will be the approximate cost?

We used a company called Seven Seas Shipping. We decided to pack all the items out selves - The company dropped off the boxes and collected after we were done packing. They were not the cheapest, but we had friends who had used them before and were highly recommended.

2. Will there be any custom to be paid in India separately or the courier / container company will include / manage all expenses?

Most (or all) companies, make you pay the customs. You could take the easy way out and just pay what they demand when the good arrive. This amount will also include any bribes etc. We decided to go and sort the customs out ourselves since we knew someone.

3. Will the courier company deliver to door step in India or should we need to coordinate for delivery from port in India etc

Seven seas will deliver door to door. Most other companies will deliver door to door.

You will have options to ship via sea or air.

Also beware - all the smaller/localised shipping companies (Seven Seas included) have agents in India and these agents are useless!

Hope this helps.

Sam.

Thanks for the details.

[Thad E Ginathom]

I moved to India about 9.5 years ago.

We used a company in India as the project managers. We had a very good manager there, but she has since moved on into commercial shipping and motherhood. The people left are not to recommended, so no names.

They sent several UK companies to my London house to quote for the work that end. The prices vary quite a lot, and some of it may be justified in the packing materials they use. If you have valuable antique furniture, then do take this into consideration. I don't. The chosen UK company was called something like 360-degree relocations.

They, and the Indian company, did door-to-door, including warehousing at both ends.

[anujmishra]

Originally Posted by r_devakumar

My relative is moving back to India after 20 years in UK. They want to bring the used house hold items, mostly furnitures, utensils, TV (no other major electronic). It could be upto full container or part container. They have few questions. If anyone done similar shifting from UK (or from any other country) please help with the below details.

1. What are the options available for this and what will be the approximate cost?
2. Will there be any custom to be paid in India separately or the courier / container company will include / manage all expenses?
3. Will the courier company deliver to door step in India or should we need to coordinate for delivery from port in India etc

Regards
Deva

PS: Mods, please move / delete the post if the posting is not in the right place

I just moved back in April from South Korea to India. The cheapest option to transfer goods by Ship Container. If professionals moved back to India then there are larger exemption in custom duty.

1. Regarding cost part not very sure as it was handled by my company. They gave me two options a. 300 Kgs from Air Cargo b. One Ship container complete.

2. Well, this is most toughest part. The crooks in customs would make list of every item and even they add some extremely used house hold items. The custom charges is exorbitant @ 36% of the price they fix. I had spent almost 6 hours haggling with them.

3. For me it was door to door delivery.

The bad part was my goods were opened many times and then packed just like garbage back in those carton boxes. Result is many thing got soiled and some items were broken when we finally received it. All, effort to pack properly of your goods gets defeated.

[sgiitk]

I have done it twice. The best option is to find a local firm, I used C&G Ayres in Reading. Excellent job. Earlier I had used Pickfords and that was a real pain, huge delay, poor packing, and the rest. Remember you can get the stuff to the nearest ICD.

[r_devakumar]

@sgiitk, @anujmishra, @Thad: Thanks a lot for the details. I have sufficient details now to start work on this now. I will be speaking to my relative tomorrow and will pass the details.

[greenhorn]

Bump!
Anyone with experience moving stuff from US to India under TR?
Last time i moved from UK to india i used https://www.cargoforce.co.uk/ ( I think Thad recommended them, my memory is a bit hazy). They did a good job, picked my stuff up and got them to india in one piece, but their local indian support was useless. They passed me onto a local partner and said good luck. The local partner asked me for some more fees to release the shipment , and then disappeared leaving me to deal with customs and local shipping.

This time I looking for a bit more support. I have reached out to
http://www.garudavega.com/
Found via a reference from a colleague who use them for sending stuff to india - they seem to be more of a courier agency and they were only able to give me a per box rate and nothing in bulk
http://cappithan.com/
Found them online - they said they would come to my house, look at the contents and evaluate and give me a quote - they are kerala based, so hopefully I should get some local support.

Any other recommends ?

[TorqMaster]

Try https://www.universalrelocations.com/.

Someone I know used their service for door to door, Florida to Tuticorin if am not wrong. Came in 2-3 months .

[greenhorn]

Originally Posted by TorqMaster

Try https://www.universalrelocations.com/.

Someone I know used their service for door to door, Florida to Tuticorin if am not wrong. Came in 2-3 months .

Any idea on pricing, quality of service (responsiveness, did stuff break/get lost etc)

[TorqMaster]

Pricing- from what I gathered few months ago- above 5 boxes is $100 per box. Above 16 boxes is $90 per box. Box size is 24x18x18 inches. Standard large box.

Quality of service - am told they have a tracking mechanism and we can track till door. I haven't used it personally. But it's better to check additional information such as customs etc with them.

Lost/broken stuff- they offer insurance plus they can pack for you. But that will increase the price and then only you can buy insurance I think.

Their website has a customer service bot which connects you to a representative. You won't need to call them and get all these information properly. Please try that.

[navtiwari]

I shipped my stuff from USA in 2017 using http://www.worldwide4shipping.com/

My items were 12 shipping boxes, one 55inch TV and a 7-section sofa. In hindsight, though it was only few months old but shipping sofa was waste as I moved to Singapore few months later and sold it for peanuts.

They offer packaging service but I did it myself. Except TV, everything was duty free for me due to TR. Have original receipt ready for dutiable items else you are at mercy of customs officer.

They were responsive and pickup happened as scheduled. They offer door to door delivery and you don't need to give exact address at the time of shipment if you don't have one i.e. if you plan to search and rent out accommodation.

Local agency guy came over to my house to get all forms signed for customs and collect cheque for TV duty fee. They give choice to hand over passport to the agent to get the paperwork done for you. I opted for it as I did not have time or patience to wait at container yard.

Once my shipment was released they delivered it without any damage

In India your only contact is the local agent that they will connect you with.

Issues:
-- They promised 2months but took 3.5months to deliver the shipment citing delays in ship schedule.
-- They did not provide me copies of customs form that were finally submitted and any receipts that they have received from customs. They said I should have asked before as all originals were submitted without copying. They assured that my contract signed in US and shipment paperwork is good enough for record, I left it at that.

[Samurai]

Originally Posted by greenhorn

Bump!
Anyone with experience moving stuff from US to India under TR?

Have you checked this site? It has decades of information there.

http://www.r2iclubforums.com/forums/...ping-Questions

[Thad E Ginathom]

Originally Posted by greenhorn

Last time i moved from UK to india i used https://www.cargoforce.co.uk/ ( I think Thad recommended them, my memory is a bit hazy).

I don't think that was me. Last time I moved a few boxes of stuff from UK to India, I used Excess Baggage.com. They provided a good service at low cost. They delivered cardboard boxes and bubble wrap as part of the service, and collected the boxes. Customs clearance and collection at Chennai Airport was down to us, though, and, if I ever do such a thing again, I'd probably pay an agent this end. It wasn't difficult, just long-winded.

Whole-house move... I used a Chennai company, who got several UK companies to visit me and estimate. I don't remember the name of that company now, but it doesn't matter, because it was one of those situations in which the person who dealt with me was important. She was brilliant; after she left, the company was was not so brilliant.

My wife is still in touch. I understand that, fifteen years later, she and her husband have set up their own company. I don't know if they are doing international or just domestic freight/removals, but they are both very reliable and experienced people. They have since handled packing and warehousing from a flat my wife used to rent, and house-removals of a huge amount of stuff from Chennai to Bangalore (including negotiating covid restrictions) for a relative. They met in the business, and have long experience of freight, personal/commercial and domestic/international.

I don't have a company name/number, but if anyone needs, please PM me, and I'll pass on a personal contact number.

[riteshritesh]

People, I am a licensed Customs Broker handling Import and Export Customs Clearance of Personal Effects/Unaccompanied Baggage at Mumbai and Nhava Sheva since 1952 ( 3rd Generation now).
A few Pointers for people shifting:
1) Don't book through Courier Mode. Personal Effects don't get cleared there. Courier Companies don't know shite and will pick up any cargo abroad and create a mess once in India.
2) On your Airway Bill/Bill of Lading, shipper and consignee should be the same person with different addresses. His Passport and presence will be required while clearance. If Transfer of residence then original Passport is required, else a notarised copy of full passport also works.
3) If sending by Sea in LCL Mode( Less than container Load), don't book the Freight booking services in foreign country. The Indian agent of the Forwarder will loot you after arrival. Origin will offer low charges as they get compensated by Destination. Make this aware to your packer that you will arrange for Freight Booking and he is to Pack, deliver and custom clear ( export part) the cargo to your nominated agent. His mood and rates will change most of the times.

[Comrade]

I moved my entire house using a SF bay-area based company called unirelo (https://www.unirelo.com/). I booked a 20ft container, and it cost me about $8000 in Oct-2018 including packing, loading, handling, insurance etc. Only Custom fee was additional. Incidentally, I found them on r2i forums while I was planning my move. I recommend them based on my personal experience.