India’s answer to the Black Friday and Cyber Monday shopping frenzy — that just finished its run in other parts of the world — is the Great Online Shopping Festival.

However, if you missed out on good deals in the festival (December 10-12), don’t fret. The worldwide Christmas shopping season has just begun and promises hefty bargains on almost everything in web stores.

Doing your shopping overseas could, in fact, help you save a tidy sum this year, thanks to the sizeable discounts on offer, sometimes better than our home-grown websites. Overseas sites also often feature products that are not available in India. But it pays to be aware of the nuances of ordering from foreign websites to maximise your savings. Here’s what to watch out for.

Costs involved First, it’s possible to shop on overseas websites only if you have a credit card. A perusal of e-commerce websites in the US, the UK and other parts of the world reveals that a host of products, ranging from TV sets to musical instruments to electronic gadgets, are available at hefty discounts. But once you are done with the currency conversion to determine the cost of the items in rupees, keep in mind that your credit card company could levy an additional charge on foreign currency transactions, adding to your costs. So, check your credit card rules first.

Then, factor in the cost of having an item shipped to you. Larger items cost more to ship, while smaller ones could entail a more nominal charge. It’s easy to determine the exact amount you’ll have to pay for shipping; just add an item to your virtual shopping cart and proceed to checkout, where you will be provided with the amount that you will have to pay for shipping.

Keep in mind that shipping costs are often clubbed; if you’re ordering more than one item, the shipping cost could come down significantly. Comparing shopping sites also helps, since some charge less for shipping than others, even if the product may cost more.

Taxes and more Importing an item from overseas entails payment of customs duty to the Indian Government. This could add significantly to the cost of the product; so it’s important to formulate your own estimate of the cost before placing an order.

You can determine the exact customs duty you will have to pay on an item by browsing the website of the Central Board of Excise and Customs ( >www.cbec.gov.in ), which includes a section on the customs rate applicable to various imported items. For example, a tennis racket or plastic toy would attract 10 per cent duty and so would a fancy watch.

But your tax liability doesn’t stop there, as there would be landing charges (1 per cent cost, insurance, freight) and 3 per cent cess. In addition, the Indian Government simply doesn’t want you to spend forex on importing certain items, particularly luxury goods, in which case you would have to contend with a 6-12 per cent countervailing duty and even an additional countervailing duty of 4 per cent.

You would have to pay customs duties when the product arrives at your doorstep, but some websites allow you to pay these duties upfront. However, websites may err on the side of caution while calculating the applicable duties; so you may be better off paying it yourself.

Customs clearance procedures are also tedious and it makes sense to have items delivered through door-to-door services such as UPS, Fedex or DHL, rather than the regular post, since these agents will take care of this for you.

When shopping online, make sure you only frequent websites that are authentic as there are myriad fake websites that aim at getting hold of your credit card details. A way of identifying bona fide websites is to determine whether their payment gateways are secure.

Security aside, authenticity of the product itself and its warranty are important. Check whether an international warranty is applicable on the product.

Else, you might have to send it back to the country of manufactur at your own expense in case of a defect. Also, note that not all international websites or sellers are willing to ship international.

Complaints The worst case scenario is if your product doesn’t make it to your doorstep at all. Then, you have the option of raising a complaint with your credit card company to have the charges reversed, after an investigation with the merchant.

But do note that shipping delays are often inevitable, chiefly due to customs procedures. So maintain a line of communication with the website before taking any drastic action.

Another complaint that can surface is on the duties to be paid. If you suspect that the customs duty levied is not correct, you can ask the delivery agent to have the cost verified. But keep in mind that you can do this only before paying the duty.

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