Shipping from China to India
India is the market where the freight quote is the least important number on the page. Import duty and clearance, not the per-kilogram rate, decide whether an order is profitable — and Indian consumers already understand that a cross-border parcel may arrive with a tax demand.
Transit, before the marketing
Anyone quoting a fixed day count for every parcel is quoting an average and hoping you do not notice.
Why no local warehouse here
A local Indian facility would remove per-parcel duty handling, which is genuinely attractive — but it also requires an Indian entity, GST registration and bonded storage. Until a brand has sustained volume and a compliance setup, direct shipping with honest duty expectations converts better than a promise we cannot keep.
What actually decides the outcome here
Import duty
Indian import duty is set by Indian authorities and is materially higher than in most markets we serve. Build it into your landed cost before you set a price, and tell the customer up front how it is collected.
Clearance variability
Clearance time varies by entry point and by the quality of the documentation. Vague product descriptions are the most common cause of a hold we see on this lane.
Responsibility for the declaration
Accurate descriptions, HS codes and declared values are yours. Under-declaring risks the consignment and, repeatedly, the channel.
What we do before it leaves Shenzhen
- Unit-level count and condition check against your packing list
- Documentation reviewed for completeness before dispatch
- Photographs of anything that does not match, the same day
- Labelling to the requirement of the onward leg
- Weighing on calibrated scales, volumetric weight included
What we will not promise
- A duty figure — that is for Indian customs to assess
- A fixed delivery date for every parcel
- Clearance without accurate documentation
- A local returns address we do not have