All international "Gift" packages now liable for customs duty @ 77%(?)

[coolrags]

@JB700
You cannot escape duty courier route,don't even think.
in notes you can tell the seller to declare lower valued.
But take a note when Aramex ask for Kyc and other stuff they will ask for proof of payment and for that you will have show order details screenshot... And you know what u have to do of that screenshot.

 

[JB701]

noice, how low should I tell the seller to declare for a 130 Dollar item?

 

[varkey]

@JB700 Which model from that listing are you planning to get?

As @coolrags mentioned, when coming through courier mode, there is absolutely no chance to escape the duty. Cause the carrier (Fedex, Aramex etc) have to submit a bill of entry (BOE) to customs for clearance with the details of the shipment, value, category etc. The only thing you can work around is the actual declared value.

Now, for personal imports, the rate of duty is 41.2% of the CIF (Cost Insurance Freight) value + 1% landing charge. However if you have an IEC, that 41.2% directly goes down to 18% for a minipc. So I'd say apply for an IEC and use that.

If you are planning for postal mode, most likely there would be duty at 41.2% cause that minipc comes in a fairly big box and if you put a really low value, I'm pretty sure they'd re-evaluate.

I think for a minipc, maybe you could go for 60-80 USD at the lowest.

 

[varkey]

I actually ordered a J3160 based MiniPC just yesterday. 4 Intel NIC, without storage and RAM. I ordered from a seller on Alibaba but the listing is similar to the below. 142 USD shipped by Aramex. I'm planning to ask them include an invoice with the value as 80 USD CIF.

233.51SG$ |Free Shipping! New Arrival Fanless Barebone 4 Lan Pfsense Quad Core Firewall Mini Pc - Barebone & Mini Pc - AliExpress

Smarter Shopping, Better Living! Aliexpress.com

www.aliexpress.com

I chose the J3160 for the low TDP and decent performance. It's also a relatively newer processor than the others.

This is the Alibaba listing but with the J3160 processor K662m Fanless Less Power 12v Intel J1900 4 Lan Rs232 Business Industrial Wireless 4 Ethernet Ports Mini Pc - Buy 4 Ethernet Ports Mini Pc,Mini Pc 12 V,Mini Pc Rs232 Product on Alibaba.com

111 USD for the device, and 27 USD for shipping through Aramex, package weight is some 2 KG they said.

Also, it would make sense to get a managed switch and let that manage the L2 stuff with VLANs etc (in which case you may not need a 6 port device)

 

[coolrags]

@varkey do they work as router ? Or just firewall ? Wifi 6 ?

 

[varkey]

You could use it as a network appliance run Pfsense or something similar on it. Router/Firewall/most things you can throw at. For wireless it would be best to have separate APs, although some models do come with wireless but that is mostly to use as a client, as an AP, the performance wouldn't be that great.

 

[varkey]

I actually ordered a J3160 based MiniPC just yesterday. 4 Intel NIC, without storage and RAM. I ordered from a seller on Alibaba but the listing is similar to the below. 142 USD shipped by Aramex. I'm planning to ask them include an invoice with the value as 80 USD CIF.

233.51SG$ |Free Shipping! New Arrival Fanless Barebone 4 Lan Pfsense Quad Core Firewall Mini Pc - Barebone & Mini Pc - AliExpress

Smarter Shopping, Better Living! Aliexpress.com

www.aliexpress.com

I chose the J3160 for the low TDP and decent performance. It's also a relatively newer processor than the others.

This is the Alibaba listing but with the J3160 processor K662m Fanless Less Power 12v Intel J1900 4 Lan Rs232 Business Industrial Wireless 4 Ethernet Ports Mini Pc - Buy 4 Ethernet Ports Mini Pc,Mini Pc 12 V,Mini Pc Rs232 Product on Alibaba.com

111 USD for the device, and 27 USD for shipping through Aramex, package weight is some 2 KG they said.

Also, it would make sense to get a managed switch and let that manage the L2 stuff with VLANs etc (in which case you may not need a 6 port device)

With the corona outbreak, this package got delayed and was shipped only on last Thursday, should hopefully get it by end of the week.

 

[Ameen]

@varkey iam ready to receive a package for which i got cash back due to delay. Just consists of cables if it's with this gst

 

[Ameen]

@JB700 even I got that 40% duty tax, last time I shipped mibox s. Paid 3.5k +1.3k=4800
And it's around 5k over here in India.
Was Not worth it.

 

[varkey]

With the corona outbreak, this package got delayed and was shipped only on last Thursday, should hopefully get it by end of the week.

The path taken by the package is interesting.

Hongkong - Japan - China - India - UAE and the destination is Kochi

The reason is that the FedEx Cargo flight take that path. Although I'd have thought they'd do the customs clearance in Delhi and then send it as a domestic package.