Your first order from abroad, step by step

1. Settle which route you are on

One question decides it: do you hold an IEC today? If you do, your parcel ships as your own export under your IEC and our carrier files the shipping bill for it. If you do not, you are on the simple route: you do not export at all, your customer receives the parcel as their own, and they pay the shipping through a link. Whether your business ought to register is a question about your own affairs, which depends on what you sell, how much and how often, and we do not rule on it. What we can tell you is how each route works here, below.

2. Check the destination takes what you sell, before you take the money

Clothing, sarees, handloom, books and most handicrafts are routine. Food, pickles, cosmetics, ayurvedic products and jewellery depend on the country: some take them sealed and labelled, some refuse them outright, and perfumes and aerosols do not fly at all. Check the prohibited-items page for your customer’s country first; there are seller pages on food and pickles, sarees and handloom, ayurvedic products and jewellery.

3. Price the shipping before you quote

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.

For an exact figure, put the weight and destination into the calculator. Then decide who pays: on the simple route your customer can pay the shipping themselves through a link we email them, so you never advance it — see can my customer pay the shipping.

4. Pack it, and describe it properly

Pack as if it will be handled several times, because it will. Put your bill for the order inside the parcel. Describe the contents in plain words: “Cotton saree, 1 piece” clears; “apparel” invites a look.

5. Book it, and send it to us

Book the shipment in your business account and add a pre-alert, so we know the parcel is yours and can flag anything that will not fly before it travels. Then get it to our warehouse in Kerala: anywhere in Kerala we can collect it, and from the rest of India you send it by any domestic courier.

6. We weigh it, and it ships when the shipping is paid

We weigh and photograph the parcel on arrival and send the price. On the simple route your customer gets the payment link; on the registered route you pay. As soon as it is paid it ships, and the tracking emails reach your customer in your name.

7. Duty, at your customer’s end

By default your customer settles any import duty or tax with their own customs on arrival. Some lanes go duty paid, with the duty in our price. Tell your customer which before they order, so nobody is surprised at the door. More on who pays customs duty.

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.

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.