Buy local vs import · India
Importing to the India: is it actually cheaper?
We haven't priced individual products for India yet — but the checker works on any India product link right now: paste one and we read its price, match our US price of record, and do the landed-cost math below. Here's how importing to India works.
How importing to the India works
- Import VAT
- 18% on the US price + shipping (CIF), above a ₹0 de-minimis threshold.
- Duty
- 22% — No de-minimis: duty + 18% IGST apply to any value. Duty varies by item — laptops/tablets ~0% BCD (IGST only), phones 15% BCD (+SWS ≈16.5%), headphones/cameras/watches 20% BCD (+SWS ≈22%). IGST is assessed on CIF + duty. Phones must have their IMEI registered (Sanchar Saathi) or they're network-blocked.
- Forwarding
- Shipito, from the US — about 5-12 days.
- FX
- ₹96.8/USD mid-market + 3% card spread, as of 2026-10-11.
Every verdict is computed only from these figures — it's never for sale, and we're not a shipping company, so we don't earn more when you import.