Shipping books to readers abroad

How book parcels are priced

Books are dense, so they are priced on their real weight rather than their size. That makes them efficient to ship together: one reader's order of five books costs far less per book than five separate parcels. If several of your readers are in the same country, it is still one parcel each, but each one is weighed on our scale and priced on what it actually weighs.

Packing so corners arrive square

Wrap books in a plastic sleeve against damp, then pack them flat and tight, with card at the corners. A box that is too big lets books slide and crush. Send them to our warehouse in Kerala packed the way you would post them; we check and repack the shipment before it flies.

The two ways a parcel leaves here

Everything on this page turns on which of these you are, so it is worth settling first. There are two, and we run both.

If your business is registered as an exporter

You have a GSTIN, an IEC and an AD code. Your parcel ships as your export: it goes under your own IEC, and you authorise our carrier to file the shipping bill (CSB-V) on your behalf. You pay the freight, and the commercial invoice carries your business.

If your business is not registered as an exporter

We call this the simple route, and it is the one most Instagram sellers, boutiques and small shops start on. On this route you do not export at all. Your customer abroad receives the parcel as their own, under our personal forwarding terms — the same terms any individual uses to send their own belongings home. You book the shipment here, put your own bill for the order inside the parcel, and send it to our warehouse. We weigh it, photograph it, and send your customer a link to pay the shipping. As soon as they pay, it goes, and they get tracking in your name.

Selling to readers abroad

On the simple route your reader receives the book as their own parcel and pays the shipping by a link we send them, so you can sell abroad without quoting international postage yourself. The tracking emails reach them in your name. If you are a registered publisher, the parcel can ship as your own export instead.

Books from several Kerala publishers going to one reader can travel together: each publisher sends to the reader's India Rabbit address, and we ship them in one box. See Malayalam books from India for the reader's side.

As a guide, a 1 kg parcel, about one packed saree, is ₹2,500–4,000 to the UAE, ₹4,000–5,000 to the UK, ₹4,000–5,500 to the USA, ₹4,000–5,500 to Canada and ₹4,000–5,000 to Australia by direct courier, with our handling, GST and payment charges included. These are published ranges, not quotes, and duty at your customer’s end is separate.

Where to start

Open a business account and tell us what you sell. We call every new business on WhatsApp within a working day, usually to settle exactly the question this page is about, and you are on the right route before your first parcel moves.