Videep Vijay Kumar

Buying stuff online? You’re already living in the right country. India’s e-commerce industry has exploded, allowing shoppers to get everything from stupidly large televisions to groceries and bubble top water cans online. Prices are largely competitive, and during times of festive sale, you’re likely to score better deals shopping on Amazon India and Flipkart than their equivalents in the United States, Europe, or even *gasp* China.

If there’s a downside, it’s that of availability. Not everything is available immediately, sellers are very conservative with their stocking, or India somehow skips a generation of products—electronics, for instance. And if you’re the sort who digs fashion (this writer merely knows how to spell the word, admittedly) or are an avid fan of all things trendy, online Indian marketplaces could be entire seasons behind. Yes, whole seasons!

But we have the internet, and world is at our feet. What follows is a list of obvious and not-so-obvious online shopping websites which will put stuff in a box and send it to you from exotic locations—as long you give them your credit card information.

Amazon.com



Let’s get the usual suspects out of the way first. While Amazon.in is fully capable of keeping Indian shoppers happy with its huge catalogue of products, inexpensive Amazon Prime subscription and one-day grocery delivery in some cities, there are going to be some unattainable products. This would be a good time to point out that Amazon.com ships a lot of products overseas (there are restrictions, of course). International shipping and duty charges (based on estimates) are applied at the time of checkout and can vary from being insignificant (DVDs/Blu-ray discs) to pretty high (electronics).

Ultimately, we’re also left to the mercy of the customs authorities—I’ve personally had some products get cleared in a day, while some have taken a month. While this isn’t ideal, I’ve found Amazon’s shipping to be the most reliable of any international site I’ve shopped from.

In the unlikely event that you don’t find what you’re looking for on Amazon, you can still roll the dice with Ebay International or New Egg (if you’re looking for computer components), both ship internationally.

Borderfree



As a logistics enabler for some of the world’s leading brands (featuring over two hundred of them from the United States and the UK), Borderfree, an initiative of US based global ecommerce solutions provider Pitney Bowes, has carved a niche for itself in this particular space.

With fixed shipping and duty estimates at the time of checkout (there are no surprises here—just expect to pay around double the listed price of any product after shipping and duty), Borderfree is partnered with niche and mainstream fashion brands ranging from BCBG Max Azria to Harrod’s and John Varvatos, as well as brands from other product categories. Order from Bed, Bath & Beyond, Guitar Center or Crate & Barrel. On a budget? Shop from Target, where paying double for something still keeps things relatively economical.

Ali Express



Since 2010, China-based Alibaba group has been selling stuff to international retail customers. Businesses have been sourcing wholesale product from Alibaba.com for much longer, but the group’s relatively newer venture is a godsend for those of us looking to take advantage of the world’s fastest growing e-commerce market. You can buy everything from mobile phones to high-end headphones and practical items such as samurai swords.

Free shipping is available on most products, while you can choose to pay a little more for premium shipping; from the likes of DHL for instance. You’re likely to find things sold out/unavailable in Indian online marketplaces, inexpensive fashion, and nifty electronics accessories unavailable here—such as replacement ear cups for your headphones or this classic Sega MegaDrive gamepad.

Shop & Ship



Aramex-powered Shop & Ship makes it easier for you to order from websites which don’t ship to India. Sign up on the site and get physical shipping addresses in the US, UK, China, Turkey, Hong Kong, UAE, Germany, South Africa, Italy, Spain, France, Canada, Malaysia and Singapore. Your shipment will then be redirected to your actual shipping address, and Shop & Ship promises a delivery time frame of 5-7 business days (plus potential delays in customs, of course). The service also has Facebook page, which is pretty informative and frequently updated.

Average shipping cost for a package weighing a 1 kilogram is approximately $20/INR 1,300 plus customs duty. Shop & Ship isn’t the only player in this space—alternatives include the popular MyUS and Borderlinx.

My International Shopping



Sometimes a resource is more useful than a sales channel, and that’s where this website comes in. With discussion boards, customer reviews, deal and even consumer oriented global economics updates (which may or may not be particularly insightful) on top of its core offering, a comprehensive list of e-commerce websites from major brands which offer international shipping, My International Shipping is definitely one to keep bookmarked, despite the suspicious-sounding URL.

There are even more resources, such as this neat little tool to compare charges of various popular freight forwarders.

The best of the rest

Gamers, you’re probably already aware that you can get some killer game deals on both Play Asia and Zavvi. Friends of gamers take note—Japanese imports are much sought after and Play Asia is a good way to find some for gifting. You’ll also be surprised by some of the deals on Zavvi on slightly older games and game related merchandise.

Musician? Get your gear on Musicians Friend, which has been shipping to India for a few years now. You’re always likely to find something you need at rock bottom prices on the site’s Stupid Deal of Day.

Love Star Wars and Chinese food? You can order these Star Wars LIGHT UP Chop Sabers from Think Geek because they ship internationally. There’s more quirky/geeky stuff on the site that you probably want or don’t need but want anyway. Esty, on the other hand, is the place you want to go for cleverly designed, mostly handmade items. Not all sellers ship internationally, but most of them do.