Buying and Shipping Flat LCD or Plasma from USA to India? If? How?

Buying and Shipping Flat LCD or Plasma from USA to India? If? How?

Anyone with insights on shipping big things across continents / people who have migrated & lived in different continents or anyone else please advise.

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I do not watch too much TV so I have lived without one for a long time now. Also, I travel a lot so I am barely home to enjoy anything at my place.

Everyone once in a while I do have a craving to watch a DVD on big screen or something. But have not bothered investing.

Here's the scenario:

I have some family visiting me from India and I need to get a TV for a month or two. I figured I could buy an LCD/ Plasma and then do one of the 2 things:
1. Ship it to India with family when they go back
2. Keep it around until I move my residence next and then ship it to them.

WHY BUY IN THE USA & SEND?
- Cheaper, more variety, better options, my GIFT to familia

WHY NOT TO SEND?

- Shipping might not be reliable (???)
- Shipping might be expensive and supercedes the SAVINGS you got (How much $$$?)
(Insurance ofcourse included)
THOUGHTS / INSIGHTS?

- Custom Duty Charges for Import into India (How do they charge now? How much.. and would it be the same under both of the above scenarios?)
THOUGHTS / INSIGHTS?

PS: I know someone who bought a Big Flat prior to moving from Singapore to Japan since they are MORE EXPENSIVE (3 times the price) there. Ofcourse, here it was a CORPORATE MOVE so well taken care of by the company.

Please let me know your thoughts. I very much appreciate anyone who can give me clarity here.

shipping will be very expensive and it will be cheaper fo you to buy it in India.

You have to air ship, not by SEA. Depending on the size and weight, you will pay a nice rate.

Then you have to worry about them dropping itr. In India, things such as "FRAGILE", "THIS SIDE UP" mean nothing.

I buy tems from India which are packed in big pallets. By the time the pallet leaves, it is has been broken apart and restacked.

GOOD LUCK !!

I know with a Plasma TV you have to be very careful about the shipping 'position'.

When my Plasma came by semi truck .. there was a 'level indicator' on the package. The instruction said that if the indicator was 'red' (as in the TV had been laid down flat vs in the upright position during the shipping process) to REJECT the shipment.

I would hate to think what ocean cargo and trucks in India might do to a TV that has to be shipped in a proper upright position.

May not be the case of LCD TVs .. I do not know.

This mostly applies to plasmas because of their glass front. Just like a window it should never be transported horisontally (the strain on the glass becomes to great). A LCD should be transportable, the best case would be if they could take it with them as luggage. Shipping it on your own dime doesn't sound like a great plan (cost/risk/compatability/warranty).

I don't know what India's power supply is, but I'd guess it's 220. A TV bought in the USA won't work unless you convert the power supply. Buy one in India.

Also consider issues with NTSC/PAL video formats that may not display correctly. LCD can safely be shipped in any position, plasma is much more sensitive as a previous poster mentioned.

I would've hoped to have gotten replies with more information.

PS: I found some information about Customs Duty. How do I find out a source to figure out the shipping related questions I had.

Very expensive . I agree, but I have no clue on how to find out the $$$ Cost to ship. I hope someone can point me in the right direction.

Thanks. I'll keep that in mind about PLASMAs. Probably go with LCD.

$$$ ?

Thanks. I am aware of the 110 / 220 V AC Voltage Downstepping requirement. Not a big thing to add a converter.

Thanks. I am aware of the NTSC/PAL. Appreciate the LCD vs Plasma insight.

Anyone point me to SHIPPING related insights?

call FEDEX/UPS/DHL -- if that does not work...then call the airlines...SQ/BA/CX all have good cargo loads going to India.

make sure you have all your info...dimesions of the box/weight/insurance value and so forth

if that does not work, try the baggage shipping companies...but I will tell you off the bat that you are looking at a min cost $1000usd to ship a tv, if the companies will even accept it.

Let us know how it turns out.

Shipping rates are very difficult to asses because there are a ton of options available - e.g. door to door or only to port of entry, exclude/including packing, insurance, customs clearance, etc. For this reason you need to contact a shipping company. It strongly suggest you contact a company other than fedex/ups as this could well reduce the price quite dramatically. make sure its an agent that has an office or counterpart in the city in India to which you ship.

I would be very suprised if there's any cost advantage when you ship from the US - you might be better off locating a large retailer in Dubai - they will ship to India regularly and will be in better position to help (and likely at a lower cost).

I think the replies that warn you of the countless problems you are likely to encounter and that you'll likely not save any money are actually chock full of information.

Is there some reason you are intent on doing this? It doesn't make sense to the rest of us. Is there a particular model you want that is not available in India?

To addto the above. You definately want to do LCD rather than Plasma for a variety of reasons. Also if you shop carefull you will fnd that there are models out there that are 110/220, there are also some that do NTSC and PAL the only caveat being that they will only have a NTSC/ATSC tuner but if you are using an input device (cable box or sat receiver) this will not matter. In my own research some of the OEM brands have LCD screens up to 40 in that even with packaging weigh under 90 lbs, the absolute maximum generally that you can take along with you (with a fee). the big question is dimension of the shipping box as many are too large for most airlines limits. I also believe that some of the posters above are not aware of the price disparities between the US and certain developing countries. For example a no name 40 inch LCD which can be had in the US for under $1300 can easily retail for $4-5k in many developing countries.

If I were you I'd be comfortable with buying here. Look for some of the Sharp (46" and less) which typically are 110/220 compatible. You'll be mostly screwed on the tuner (PAL/NTSC) but depending on your usage it won't matter - if you use an American DVD player or PC, you'll display fine. If you can get a cable box or sat tuner in India with HDMI or component out, it'll work fine as well.

Price disparities do not even come into play when you open your "cheap" USA TV and find the screen cracked !!!

personally, in this situation, I would either do the following:

1) Buy in India an have the TV place deliver it to me.

2) Buy brand new in a box and then have the company ship it to me in India and pay for the freight with all the responsibility on the company doing the shipping.

This is a moot point unles you are buying some amazing new TV that no one can get a hold of.

Well, if you ship w/ a reputable carrier in the original packing with insurance, you are pretty well covered. Typically you can't find any top-of-the-line stuff in India, at least that I've seen.