Chatteling Learning Path

[Ankesh]

There are quite a few products that do awesome in India. The problem is, I don't have the resources and the know-how to get them past customs over here.

Example: the iphone 5 thats going to be releasing next week. If it releases for $550 or $600 retail in USA, then in India - it will sell for Rs45000+... about ~$800 or more. And selling them requires no effort.

Laptops that sell for $300 and $400 during Thanks Giving weekend will sell in India for Rs60,000 or ~$1100.

But here is the rub: you can't buy and sell more than 1 iphone or 1 laptop. Because in India, you are exempt for only Rs25,000 worth of goods before you have to pay customs duty of 35-45% for electronics.

There are a few folks who do it on a larger scale, but they have contacts in customs offices and can get things through without paying duty - or at least paying duty on every item. Bribing is rampant in India. But I don't plan to get involved with things like that.

Can't think of products that can get through without customs issue... most non-electronic products are manufactured and available cheaper in India. (For eg: college textbooks that sell for $120 in USA cost ~$20 in India.)

But I'll keep my eyes open.

Fun profitable story: a friends uncle used to buy 2nd hand cranes from all over the world and import it to India. And then rented it out to construction companies for a couple of years before selling them. Made a lot of money. So I'm pretty sure that there are a lot of opportunities. Just not opportunities where I have the skills or the know-how to complete the deal.