A shipping quote from India is usually a single figure with no explanation, which makes it impossible to tell a fair price from a padded one. Here is the whole structure.
What makes up the price
Every international shipment we quote is built the same way, in this order:
- The carrier charge. What the airline or courier charges to move your box, by weight and destination zone.
- Our commission. Our margin for receiving, storing, photographing, repacking and documenting the shipment.
- Additional charges. Surcharges the carrier applies to specific shipments — remote delivery, oversize boxes, very heavy pieces.
- GST at 18%. Applied to the whole taxable value, once. Indian law requires it on a service supplied from India.
- The payment gateway fee, 3.5%. What the card processor takes.
That is the entire number. There is no fuel surcharge added later and no handling fee that appears at checkout.
The part nobody can quote you
Import duty is charged by customs in your country, on the declared value of the goods, and it is paid by you on delivery. No forwarder can tell you the figure in advance, because it depends on what is in the box, what it is worth, and the rules where you live. Anyone who quotes you a duty-inclusive price for a general parcel is guessing.
The same is true of destination storage if customs holds your parcel, address correction if the address turns out to be wrong, and re-attempt charges if nobody is home. We list all of these on the pricing page rather than leaving them out to make the estimate look tidier.
Why two parcels of the same weight cost different amounts
Three things move the price: the destination zone, whether the box is bulky for its weight (see volumetric weight), and which service level you choose. A 5 kg box to Dubai and a 5 kg box to Sydney are not close to each other, because the carrier's zones are not.
How to pay less
The single biggest saving is consolidation: several Indian orders combined into one box pay one shipping charge instead of several. The second is packing — retail boxes are mostly air, and we strip them before repacking. The third is choosing Economy where it is available and you are not in a hurry.
Run your own numbers on the shipping calculator. It shows every service level available for your destination and weight.