What is actually worth shipping to India, and what should I sell or donate?

Ship the things you cannot replace or buy again: photo albums, family art, collectibles, and custom-made, antique or genuinely high-quality furniture. Selling those recovers a fraction of what you paid. Consider high-value new electronics and appliances only if they run on Indian voltage or with a step-down converter. Sell the old televisions, microwaves and standard appliances, because the old models have little resale value and standard appliances such as washing machines, refrigerators and dryers are available in India, and sell or donate low-cost bulky furniture: it is charged by the space it occupies, and it may not fit an Indian home layout. On clothing, be selective rather than sending a whole wardrobe, because much of it will not suit the climate.

How do I choose between a full container and a shared container?

It comes down to volume, and the volume is measured by a survey rather than guessed. A full container load (FCL) is loaded at your home and suits a whole household, with the choice between a 20-foot and a 40-foot unit; a 20-foot container holds roughly 950 cubic feet and a 40-foot about 2,000. If you are keeping fewer furniture pieces and mainly sending boxes, a less-than-container load (LCL) or shared container is more economical, and you pay for the cubic feet you occupy. There is also a baggage service for two to six boxes. Getting the volume estimate right early matters, because the most common mistake is picking a method and then discovering the volume has grown past it.

How long does shipping household goods from the US to India take?

Door to door, a full container is realistically 60 to 75 days: about five to seven days to get the container on board at origin, roughly 34 to 52 days of sailing depending on the port and whether your destination is a coastal city or an inland dry port, then four to seven days of clearance and delivery. A shared container is slower, because the shipment is consolidated at origin and separated again at destination: figure on about 90 days, and allow another two to four weeks if customs or the ports are slow. Air freight is the fastest option and is normally used for documents and essential items that are needed immediately.

Who qualifies for Transfer of Residence, and what does it save?

Under the Baggage Rules, 2026 (Notification 14/2026-Customs (N.T.), in force since 2 February 2026) the duty-free allowance on transfer of residence depends on how long you lived abroad. For a resident or a person of Indian origin, three to twelve months abroad allows personal and household articles up to ₹1.5 lakh in aggregate value. A minimum stay of one year during the preceding two years allows up to ₹3 lakh, if you have not used the concession in the preceding three years. Two years or more allows up to ₹7.5 lakh, on three conditions: two years abroad immediately before you return, total stays in India on short visits in the two preceding years of six months or less, and no use of the concession in the preceding three years. Appliances from a list of 30 items count inside the cap, not more than one unit of each. Madhusudan describes the top tier as an Indian passport (or a foreign passport with an OCI card), two years abroad, fewer than 180 days of visits in the last two calendar years and one claim in three years; the OCI part is his experience, so confirm it with customs. Foreigners with a valid non-tourist visa are covered by a separate appendix. Read the official notification (PDF) and the PIB release summarising the three caps.

Is my original passport really required for customs clearance?

Yes, and it is a customs requirement rather than a choice made by the moving company. Customs wants to verify your residence abroad and your departures, so they normally need the passport covering the period, and they expect a passport with at least three years of remaining validity; if yours is more recent than your stay, an older passport may also be asked for. You can attend the port yourself and complete the inspection in person, and where that is not possible the passport has to be couriered, which is why shippers are careful about how the documents are sent and returned.

What does shipping insurance cover, and what does it not?

It depends on who packed. On packed-by-owner shipments, insurers generally cover the individual loss of a box and a total loss, but not damage to items inside a box you packed. Where professionals packed the shipment, all-risk cover applies to individual item damage, individual item loss and total loss. All-risk still means external damage: a television that arrives with an intact box and casing that will not switch on is not automatically covered, so high-value electronics can be insured against electrical and mechanical failure for an additional premium. How you declare value matters as well. If you give one combined figure for a sofa set, the insurer averages that figure across the pieces and pays against a repair estimate below roughly half the average value, or against a written statement that the item cannot be repaired. Deductibles apply.

What happens if I have not completed two years abroad?

The ₹7.5 lakh tier is then not available as of right, but the 2026 rules do not leave you at zero: with a minimum stay of one year during the preceding two years the cap is ₹3 lakh, and for three to twelve months abroad it is ₹1.5 lakh. A shortfall of up to two months in the two-year stay can be condoned by a Deputy or Assistant Commissioner of Customs when the early return is due to terminal leave, vacation or other special circumstances recorded in writing. For a family that moved abroad about eighteen months ago, Madhusudan advises meeting the Assistant Commissioner of Customs at the port of arrival and asking for condonation; he calls the result a mini transfer of residence, with an allowance of about ₹3.5 or ₹4 lakh instead of ₹7.5 lakh. Treat that as his experience and confirm the figure with customs for your case. Goods outside the allowance are charged baggage duty, which CBIC's passenger guide gives as 38.5% of value (35% basic customs duty plus a 10% surcharge on it).

Podcast

Moving Back to India: What Should You Ship — and What Should You Leave

Ship the whole house or twelve boxes? In this conversation, Madhusudan, who heads sales at SFL Worldwide, walks through what is actually worth sending, what families should sell or donate, when a full container beats a shared one, real door-to-door timelines, ballpark costs, how to compare quotes without getting caught by destination charges, who qualifies for Transfer of Residence, what insurance pays for and what it does not, and the mistakes he sees families repeat.

Avinash

Published 1 Oct 202616 min read52 min watchUpdated 16 Oct 2026

In this story

1. The question that decides your shipping bill
2. What is worth shipping, and what to sell or donate
3. Air, sea, full container or shared container
4. How long it actually takes, door to door
5. What it costs: boxes, shared load, full container
6. Comparing quotes: the lines that appear later
7. Transfer of Residence: who qualifies and what it saves
8. Documents: passport, OCI and work permits
9. What you cannot put in a container
10. When to start: the three-stage timeline
11. Packing: boxes, materials and what to leave to professionals
12. Insurance: what all-risk covers, and what it does not
13. The mistakes families make
14. If you cannot meet the two-year rule

Moving Logistics | US → India

Moving Back to India: What Should You Ship — and What Should You Leave

Ship the whole house, or almost nothing? Madhusudan, who heads sales at SFL Worldwide, has loaded thousands of households into containers for families returning to India. In this conversation he explains what is genuinely worth sending, when a full container beats a shared one, what door-to-door shipping really takes, how much it costs, how to compare quotes without being caught by destination charges, who qualifies for Transfer of Residence, what the original passport requirement means in practice, what insurance pays for and what it does not, and the mistakes families repeat.

Desi Return in conversation with SFL Worldwide Published: October 1, 2026 | Last updated: October 1, 2026

What to Ship FCL vs LCL Real Timelines Ballpark Costs Transfer of Residence Insurance

1. The question that decides your shipping bill

The question is never really whether to take everything. It is which parts of a household are worth the freight. Sea freight is priced on the volume your goods occupy, not on what they are worth, and that single fact drives almost every expensive decision in a move.

Madhusudan heads sales at SFL Worldwide, a moving company that handles household shipments into India. His starting point is that the choice belongs to the family, but the arithmetic does not lie: bulky, low-value items consume the most container space, and the same money that ships them can carry the things that actually cannot be replaced.

What follows is his account of the process, from deciding what goes in the container to what happens at an Indian port when the container arrives.

2. What is worth shipping, and what to sell or donate

Start with the items that are irreplaceable rather than valuable. Sentimental and emotional possessions come first: family photo albums, art, collectibles, artefacts, and furniture that was custom-made or genuinely high quality. Even when a family is ready to sell, that furniture rarely fetches what it cost, so shipping it is usually the better decision.

Then comes the category families get wrong most often. Outdated televisions, microwaves and older electronics have little resale value, and standard appliances such as washing machines, refrigerators and dryers are readily available in India. Shipping them buys nothing except freight for the space they occupy. The same logic applies to low-cost, heavy furniture that will not fit an Indian home layout.

There is an honest detail in the conversation worth repeating. Discounting bulky low-value furniture is against the moving company's own commercial interest, because that volume is what it charges for. He advises it anyway, and says so directly, because the family ends up better served.

What does travel well: personal belongings such as books, photo albums, paintings, artefacts and collectibles; selectively chosen clothing and ethnic wear collected over the years; and, in almost every shipment he handles, the children's things. E-bikes, bicycles and toys are among the most common items families refuse to leave behind, because the children are attached to them.

Electronics are worth a second look before they are packed. Appliances only make sense if they can run on Indian voltage, or with a step-down converter, and that check has to happen before the container is loaded rather than after it is unpacked. If you are weighing individual items against what they cost to replace, our guide to shipping household goods to India covers the same ground from the family's side, and one NRI's own shipping experience shows how the list changes in practice.

3. Air, sea, full container or shared container

There are more options than most families realise, and the right one follows the volume rather than the other way around.

Air freight is for what you need immediately at destination, including documents and essential household items. SFL's advice is to keep it to roughly four to ten boxes and send everything else by sea.
Full container load (FCL) suits a whole household. The container is packed at your residence, loaded there, and moved directly to the port. Furniture and boxes travel in the same container.
Shared container or less-than-container load (LCL) is for families keeping only a few furniture pieces alongside boxes. The shipment is picked up, brought to a warehouse, consolidated with others, and separated again at destination. A typical LCL shipment might be a couple of mattresses, living room furniture, one or two televisions, kitchen utensils and boxes.
Baggage services exist for people who are not relocating but still need to send things: typically two to six boxes, moving by sea.

Container size is decided by a survey, not an estimate over the phone. That survey can be virtual or in person, and it determines whether a 20-foot or a 40-foot container fits. A 20-foot container holds roughly 950 cubic feet of goods and a 40-foot container about 2,000. A family in a villa or a three- or four-bedroom house can look like a 40-foot job, but once they decide which items are must-go and leave the rest behind, a 20-foot container may be enough.

One clarification that saves argument: a 40-foot container does not cost double a 20-foot. His ballpark is another $3,000 to $4,500 on top, which covers the added freight and the extra material and labour for the larger volume.

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4. How long it actually takes, door to door

Transit time is where expectations and reality diverge most, usually because families count the sailing time and forget everything on either side of it.

For a full container, the sequence runs like this. It is packed at the residence and moved straight to the port, which takes about five to seven days to get it onto the scheduled vessel. Then the ocean leg begins: port to port, the sailing time is typically 36 to 42 days depending on the route, with a New York to Nhava Sheva shipment running about 34 to 38 days. If the final destination is inland, the container is carried by rail from the port to an inland container depot, which stretches the ocean-and-inland leg to roughly 48 to 52 days. Clearance and delivery at the destination take another four to seven days.

Add it up and the honest figure is 60 to 75 days door to door for a full container, allowing for port congestion or a slow customs examination.

A shared container is slower by design. Your goods are collected and taken to a warehouse first, and consolidation at origin takes about two to four weeks before the container is loaded. After the same ocean transit, the shipment has to be cleared, separated from the other consignments, moved to a destination warehouse and then scheduled for delivery. The typical commitment is about 90 days, and delays at customs or a congested port can add another two to four weeks.

Which is why the planning advice later in this article is measured in months rather than weeks: a shipment that starts late cannot be hurried at the other end.

5. What it costs: boxes, shared load, full container

The figures below are the shipper's own ballpark ranges from this conversation, and freight rates move, so treat them as a planning frame rather than a quote.

Boxes: roughly $110 to $125 per box for one or two boxes, less per box for three to five, and around $90 to $95 per box once you are sending more than ten. Box pricing is slab-based, so consolidating a shipment usually lowers the per-box rate.
Shared container (LCL): approximately $9 to $11 per cubic foot, which includes packing material and labour, local transport within the US, warehouse handling, loading, ocean freight, clearance, documentation, final delivery, unloading, unpacking, basic furniture assembly and debris removal. You are charged for the space your shipment occupies.
Full container (FCL): a 20-foot container with complete door-to-door service runs about $8,000 to $9,500 depending on where in the US you are shipping from. A 40-foot container adds roughly $3,000 to $4,500 rather than doubling the cost.

There are legitimate ways to reduce the number. If you pack your own boxes, packing material and labour charges come off, leaving pickup and transport. If you deliver the shipment to the warehouse yourself, and collect it from the warehouse at the other end, the corresponding transport charges come off too. What no mover can quote away is duty and government charges at the destination, because those are decided at the port.

If you want the shipping handled end to end rather than assembled yourself, our shipping service arranges quotes and partners for returning families, and the wider picture of what the move costs belongs with your overall return plan.

6. Comparing quotes: the lines that appear later

The single most useful piece of advice in this conversation is not to compare totals. Two quotes for the same 300 cubic feet can differ by several hundred dollars and still be the same value, because the cheaper one leaves out the work that happens at the other end.

Take a shared-load quote of $3,000 against a competitor's $2,400 to $2,800. The gap may be the destination services: unloading, unpacking, assembling basic furniture, placing items in rooms and clearing debris, along with destination terminal handling and shipping line charges. Read both scopes line by line, at origin and at destination, before treating a lower number as a better price.

Two other cost lines deserve to be understood rather than feared. Port authority charges and customs duty cannot be fixed in advance or included in a quote, because they are payable to government agencies and are determined only after clearance and inspection, depending on whether your Transfer of Residence concession applies and to which items. The other, less predictable line is a customs examination: authorities may decide to pull a container for intensive or extensive examination, either at origin or at destination, and that cost cannot be anticipated by anyone. Reputable moving companies explain all of this up front, which is a better test of a partner than the headline figure.

7. Transfer of Residence: who qualifies and what it saves

Customs duty on a returning family's household goods is decided mostly by one thing: which transfer-of-residence allowance you fall under. It is also the thing families are least prepared for. Madhusudan says they prepare every other aspect of the move well in advance and are simply not aware of the eligibility criteria.

The rules are the Baggage Rules, 2026, notified on 1 February 2026 as Notification 14/2026-Customs (N.T.) and in force from 2 February. For a resident or a person of Indian origin returning on transfer of residence, Appendix I sets three tiers by time abroad. Read them in the official notification (PDF) or in the PIB release that summarises the caps.

Three to twelve months abroad: personal and household articles up to ₹1.5 lakh in aggregate value.
A minimum stay of one year during the preceding two years: up to ₹3 lakh, if you have not used the concession in the preceding three years.
Two years or more: up to ₹7.5 lakh, if you stayed abroad two years immediately before arrival, your total stay in India on short visits during the two preceding years does not exceed six months, and you have not used the concession in the preceding three years.

Madhusudan's version of the top tier is two years abroad (not necessarily in one country: a year in Singapore followed by the US and Canada still accumulates), fewer than 180 days of visits in the last two calendar years, and one claim in three years. Customs verifies the visits from every arrival and departure endorsement in the passport, not from memory. The rules allow relaxations: a shortfall of up to two months in the stay abroad can be condoned by a Deputy or Assistant Commissioner of Customs for terminal leave, vacation or other special circumstances, and a Principal Commissioner or Commissioner can condone short visits above six months in special circumstances. The three-year condition has no relaxation.

What counts inside the cap is used personal and household articles plus a list of 30 items in Annexure II, not more than one unit of each: television, home theatre system, air-conditioner, microwave oven, washing machine, gas cooking range, desktop computer, laptop or notepad, refrigerator, dishwasher, deep freezer, vacuum cleaner, dryer, piano or guitar, tablet, projector and more. The unit count is where families get caught. Madhusudan names one television, one home theatre unit, one monitor and one laptop as coming in without duty; a second or third television does not ride along free, and he says it is charged duty on its depreciated value. The notification also lists a television among the articles outside the ordinary ₹75,000 baggage allowance, so it comes in only under transfer of residence.

Outside the allowance, baggage duty applies. CBIC's passenger guide gives it as 38.5% of the value of the goods: 35% basic customs duty plus a 10% surcharge on that duty. Madhusudan says customers who are not eligible pay it on the depreciated value of everything they ship. Applied across a full household, that is why the eligibility conversation belongs at the start of planning. Customs decides each case, so ask your shipper or the port's customs office which tier applies to you before you book.

8. Documents: passport, OCI and work permits

Madhusudan says that for a foreign passport holder relocating to India, an OCI card is the normal requirement for the Transfer of Residence route. (The notification covers foreigners on a valid non-tourist visa who work in India or transfer their residence to India separately, in Appendix II, with its own conditions.) There is a workable exception: someone arriving on an intra-company transfer with a work permit and a letter from the employer covering the assignment can also avail the concession, even without OCI, because the requirement is tied to the nature of the move rather than the passport alone.

The document that generates the most anxiety is the original passport, and the answer is that it is a genuine requirement of the customs authority, which needs to verify the period abroad and the departures from India. In practice customs expects a passport with at least three years of validity remaining, and where a passport is newer than the stay, an older passport may also be requested. Families who live far from the port can attend in person to complete the inspection, and where that is impossible the documents have to be sent, which is why shippers are careful about how they are transported and returned.

If your paperwork situation is unusual, it is worth mapping it before the container sails, alongside the wider return checklist.

9. What you cannot put in a container

Shipping lines and customs both restrict what can travel, and packing a restricted item can hold up an entire shipment. The list that comes up most often:

Flammable liquids and aerosols, including body sprays, and any hazardous household liquids beyond very small sealed quantities.
Fuels and fuel systems: gasoline, butane and compressed gas cylinders such as scuba tanks, and internal combustion engines, where fuel has to be drained and battery cables disconnected.
Valuables: gold, silver, diamonds, platinum, jewellery and currency are restricted or prohibited in a shipment.
Other prohibited goods: drones, firearms and air guns, liquor, and prohibited drugs.
Maps or globes of India with incorrect boundaries, which are restricted unless the borders are correctly depicted.

The practical timing point is that this list has to be checked before packing, because the penalty is not a fine but a delayed or inspected shipment.

10. When to start: the three-stage timeline

The advice is to begin three to six months before the move, and to avoid leaving anything to the last fortnight, because containers and crews are booked, not summoned. The sequence looks like this.

Three to six months out: research moving companies, understand your shipping options, look at the customs requirements at the destination, and work out what your budget can accommodate. This is when the question of full or shared container should be settled.
Two to three months out: ask for estimates. Quoting earlier than this is often pointless, because ocean freight, materials, labour and fuel can all move, so an estimate taken much in advance may not hold. This is also the stage for comparing scopes properly, the way described above.
One to two months out: confirm the date, sign the contract, and start the sorting exercise at home: segregating must-go items from what will be left behind, sold or donated. Packing materials for any self-packing should be ordered now.

The reason for the long runway is not bureaucracy. If you leave it late, the container you need may not be available, and the crew may not be either.

11. Packing: boxes, materials and what to leave to professionals

Self-packing is a legitimate way to save money, and there are rules that make it work. Pack non-fragile items yourself: clothing, shoes, toys, books and kitchen utensils. Leave fragile items, electronics and furniture to professional packers, who have the materials and the technique for it.

Box choice is not a detail. Use double-walled, heavy-duty boxes, and match the box to the contents: a large heavy-duty box around 24 by 18 by 18 inches for clothing, shoes, toys and kitchen items; a medium box of about 18 by 18 by 16 inches for china and glassware; and a smaller heavy-duty box of roughly 12 by 12 by 16 inches for books, which are heavy for their size. For glassware, the materials matter as much as the box: newsprint, bubble wrap and packing peanuts, with proper separation between items.

If the move is more than a shipping exercise and the house itself still needs to be sorted, our guide to sorting things out before leaving the US covers the wider sequence, and one family's return story shows how the packing list looked in practice.

12. Insurance: what all-risk covers, and what it does not

Insurance is offered on every shipment and understood by very few families, and most of the confusion comes down to who packed the boxes.

On a packed-by-owner shipment, cover generally extends to the individual loss of a box and to a total loss in a catastrophic event, but not to damage or individual item loss inside a box you packed yourself. Where professionals packed the shipment, all-risk insurance applies, covering individual item damage, individual item loss and total loss of the shipment.

Even all-risk has a boundary worth knowing: it is insurance against external damage. A television can arrive with an intact box, an undamaged casing and no picture, and that is not automatically a claim. Insurers offer electrical and mechanical coverage for high-value items at an additional premium, which is what covers failure that is not visible from outside.

How you declare value decides what you get paid. Give one combined figure for a three-piece sofa set and the insurer averages it across the pieces; a claim then moves against a repair estimate below roughly half of that averaged value, or against a written assessment that the item cannot be repaired. Minimum deductibles apply on top. Itemising your high-value possessions, with photographs and sensible values, is the difference between an insurance policy and a policy that pays.

13. The mistakes families make

He is candid that these mistakes rarely come from carelessness. Families are under pressure, and government policy can force a move suddenly. Even so, the same errors recur.

Not planning when the move is already certain. Families often know they are going back and still start late, which is where most of the downstream problems begin.
Not working out the volume against the budget. A household with a few thousand dollars of budget discovers, on packing day, that the oversized volume takes the cost well past it, and that furniture should have been discarded months earlier.
Choosing the wrong shipping method. A shared load looked right on paper, but after packing and pickup the volume had grown. Had the family chosen a full container from the start, the mover could have confirmed the booking and placed it at the residence.
Not knowing Indian customs requirements. Duty is paid at the destination because eligibility was never checked at the origin.
Assuming American appliances will work. Voltage and power fluctuations are real, and step-down converters have to be planned for, not discovered.
Leaving tax, financial planning, schools and housing until after arrival. These are the items that should have been handled in the same three to six month window as the shipment.

14. If you cannot meet the two-year rule

One situation comes up often enough to deserve its own section: a family that moved abroad only about eighteen months ago and now has to return, so the two-year stay behind the top allowance is not met.

The rules themselves already give such a family a lower tier: with a minimum stay of one year during the preceding two years, the duty-free cap is ₹3 lakh, provided the concession was not used in the preceding three years. The two-month relaxation covers only a shortfall of up to two months in the two-year stay; eighteen months is six months short. The Department of Revenue Transfer of Residence page sets out the same conditions and the same two-month relaxation.

Madhusudan's practical advice goes further. Meet the Assistant Commissioner of Customs at the port through which the shipment will arrive and ask for condonation. Where full Transfer of Residence is not granted, he says a reduced facility, which he calls a mini transfer of residence, is sometimes allowed: about ₹3.5 or ₹4 lakh instead of ₹7.5 lakh. That is close to the rules' own ₹3 lakh tier, so ask customs which figure applies to you.

It is worth saying plainly what this is: the tier follows from your dates, the condonation is a discretion rather than an entitlement, and the time to raise it is before the container is booked rather than after it lands.

If you are planning the return and the shipment together, the two are not separate projects. Our guide to return timing and the RNOR status tool handle the tax side of the same decision, and the transition packages sequence the logistics with the rest of the move.

Chapters

0:00 Shipping household goods back to India
1:14 What should you ship, and leave behind?
5:52 Air, sea, FCL or LCL: which option makes sense?
10:33 How long does shipping to India take?
13:54 How much does it cost to ship to India?
18:55 Comparing quotes, inclusions and extra charges
23:13 Transfer of residence and Indian customs
28:01 OCI, work permits and customs documents
30:42 Restricted and prohibited items
32:35 When should you start planning your shipment?
36:17 Desi Return shipping support
36:49 Packing tips and choosing the right boxes
39:53 Shipping insurance explained
44:22 Common shipping mistakes families make
49:02 What if you don't meet the two-year rule?

Transcript

Auto-generated captions, lightly cleaned

0:00 The customers who are not eligible for the transfer of residence, they would pay the duty at 38.5% at a depreciated cost for all the items they ship. They may have a budget of say few thousand, but because of the oversized volume where the the budget it goes beyond the budget, then it'll be a big surprise. If you ask me whether it covers for any damage or loss. So no, it it doesn't cover. It is a mandate mandatory requirement of the customs authorities because they want to have the original passport. The container can be pulled for intensive extensive customs examinations somewhere between $8,000 to $9,500. So that means you know 90 to 120 days would be the realistic door to door transit time for LCL or a shed container. The ideal timeline for to

0:45 plan the shipping 3 to 6 months before it's better to avoid the last minute because you may not get the container, the crew may not be available. >> People are comparing codes from multiple shipping companies, right? So what are the things that they need to watch out because some cost could be hidden cost something that they might not expect. Hello everyone. Today's topic is expert talk and we have Mr. Madusan with us to talk about shipping logistics

1:15 especially when families are relocating from abroad to India. We want to dive in. What do you need to ship? What are the options? What should you look after? Lot of questions about customs, the rules that got changed and when should you start planning. So with that said, Mr. Maludan is heads the sales at SFL worldwide and I'm really excited to have him here who can dive give more insights into these topics and really excited to have you with us today and let's dive in. >> Thank you Amin thank you so much it's good to have this session you know so that you know we can create an awareness and where the moving community can have

2:01 all the I mean information and they can plan much better. Yes, that's fantastic. So let's start with u you know from your experience working with so many families who are relocating permanently or temporarily back to India how do these families decide or what would be your advice what to ship what not to ship and how should they think about it >> okay see again it is we leave the choice to the customers because you know they know better but still you know when this questions arises always you know we give some tips you know so that you know they and plan. always you know this questions comes you know frequently asked questions when the customers okay though they do they wanted to ship everything you know the entire household and again looking at

Read the full transcript (72 more sections)

2:46 the cost factor. So but again by and large we give them a tip like you know any sentimental emotional and replace irreplaceable furniturees like antique furniture or custommade furniture or highquality furniture which you know they we normally you know we do recommend because even if they wanted to sell it it's not worth it because you know they're not going to get the money for what they have paid. So we tell them you know to ship it if they are affordable if if it is comes within the budget and any high value electronic appliances new and again comp compatible with Indian voltage which can work with step down converters and all that. Then personal belongings like books, photo albums, arts, collectibles and paintings

3:32 and artifacts and of course clothes. they can be choosy okay what they wanted to take it what they wanted to leave behind. Yeah, >> especially again designer wear winter gear because some of these winter gear because again our climate in India may not suit but again they can just have it if at all you know if they're going on any trip or something you know this winter gear will be healthy I mean will help then again collection of saris and ethnic wear which they have been collecting over the period of time. So these are worth shipping and if at all if they wanted to sell you know anything you know which they have been using it for years they can send all sell all these old electronic items TVs, microwaves and then because they're all

4:17 outdated models and it has no resale value. So all these you know they can just you know they can sell it over and any other standard appliances like you know washing machines, refrigerators see all these are dryers you know all these are available in India so all these items you know they can sell it and any furniture low value but bulky. >> Yeah. So where you know it increase the cost of their shipping though I we are in business we don't you know encourage I mean rather it is not good for us but again when it comes to the transparency when it comes to the proper advice a good advice so we suggest you know the where they can leave or sell the low cost bulky furniturees and heavy furniturees which cannot fit into their

5:04 Indian home layouts so that they can sell and Again some of these customers you know they do also you know they can decide okay what to donate what you know they can u do sort of a assortment you know before they decide what they move. So some of these items like you know everyday wear especially the bulky low furniturees IKEA type IKEA type furniturees whatever you know they feel that okay it is not going to be useful for us in India rather you know we donate it. So those items you know they can donate it in there itself and they can have the mustgo items and prepared for the shipping. >> Got it. so from your experience right I know this is you know a framework

5:49 on what to ship what not to ship. Are there some specific goods that are like

5:54 you know more available or quality is better in US and so people are like leaning towards bringing them? Do you see any pattern like okay maybe like the scooters that they use in community like bikes, toys I mean any of those things that you see as a pattern that families tries to bring back to India. >> Yes. we have seen many of the families you know especially the children because they got used to it so they don't want to leave that behind and again now we in India also we see you know a lot many people the kids especially you know they bring these bikes I mean talking about ebikes you know all these you know the toys and all that you know I mean it is we do see in every shipment you know all these are the common items you know which

6:39 everybody wants to ship and everybody is bringing it most of most of I mean those who are shipping with a full container with full household goods. Yes, this is part of their shipping items. >> Okay, got it. So now let's talk about the shipping options that families have because someone might be only shipping few boxes, someone might be shipping a lot lot more. So what are the options they have? What are the pros and cons? Maybe a rough pricing so that the people have a good understanding when they were planning what to choose when they're moving back to India. See you have multiple options you know you have the air option the C option in the C option also you have multiple options like you know just shipping some boxes just shipping

7:24 some furniture and some boxes and you know so these sort of options because air fry normally we suggest because they do ask questions so can we take some of the furniture some of these because they don't know when you look at the cost perspective ive where the airfight will be more. So in such cases you know we tell them okay whatever is essential and mandatory or where you require that urgently at destination. So you carry all those like you know some of the documents some of the households which they require it. So all those you know we suggest maybe you know four four to 10 boxes. So where you know we suggest them and take it by air and rest of all the furniturees and everything you know they can go with the sea fry the sea

8:09 option and again you have in that sea option as I said okay if somebody wants to move two bedroom or threebedroom the entire house so we recommend we recommend them to go with the full container load option and some customers okay no mother we are not moving the entire house household goods because some of the customers they do have all these furniturees is there back at home in India. So we do we don't want to you know just take it and dump it rather we go with a very selective few furniture items. So what are the options? So we call it as LCL less than a container load. Earlier I said okay if they are moving the full house entire house go for a container and if they have less furniture and some boxes we give them option of LCL less than a

8:55 container load or you can call it as a shed container because we I mean there are when I say shared container it is not that they are sharing with someone because we consolidate the shipments here in US. So like these customers okay they may have say 100 cubic feet or 200 cubic feet. Okay in other words okay they have say couple of mattresses some living room furniturees one or two TVs or some other household and like kitchen utensils and some boxes. So they may not require a full container. So you know they can choose this option LCL that is the shed container. Likewise you know there are customers you know with similar volumes or less volume or little more volume. So all this will be consolidated and loaded in the groupage or a shared container. So and people

9:42 okay still you know they prefer going with a C option considering the freight cost between air fry and sea fright. Hey what are my options if I wanted to ship because I'm not moving to India but I have some boxes to be shipped. Yes. So we call it as a baggage and where they can ship two or three or even maximum up to six boxes. So that also will go on a safe ride. So these are the options you know they do have for and again also always you know there'll be a frequently asked question. So when the customers say hey this is my thing you know the list of items. So what are the best options you know for me. So then again we give all this okay we tell them you know just okay aent delivery essential items go with the air fry and

10:27 if you have if you want to move with the entire household good go with a a container there. But again when you say

10:34 container some of them even you know when they wanted to move full house but again there are they restrict themselves you know okay this is all old bulky furniture we wanted to leave behind and maybe we may buy some new furniturees or some furniturees you know which is sentimentally attached or emotionally attached. So my kids they have been using it we have been using it. So all this you know comes so then again we determine the volume though they live in a villa or a three-bedroom or a fourbedroom house where looking at all the items they may require a 40 ft container but restricting it and limiting themsel or they decide okay this is a mustgo item so rest of it you know I'm not taking it so we give them

11:20 you know a 20 ft container so some people okay they wanted to move the entire house with all the furniturees and they may add some new furniturees again we determine the volume by doing a virtual survey or visual survey and we determine the container size and we give them we recommend okay what is the container size they should use so you have 20 ft and a 40 ft container >> yeah so let's talk a little bit on the timing right in terms of how long does the shipments take for example FCL versus I mean understand with the air it's very quick you know they're taking the stuff with themselves but roughly like how long does it take for a full container versus an LC LC just so that people are aware of it. See else okay full container it is packed at the customer's

12:05 residence we place the container directly we load the container move the container directly to the port and it takes about say 5 days to 7 days at the origin you know for the container to be on board on the schedule vessel which sails from the US port then the transit time normally typically the transit time between port to port it'll be between 42 days or 36 days depends on the port. Okay, for example, okay, if you're talking about a customer moving from New Jersey, so New York will be the port of loading and moving to Pune or Mumbai. So where the the port of discharge will be Nawasha in Mumbai. So the sailing time it is about 34 days to 38 days or somebody's moving to Gurong

12:50 or Delhi or in north. So again you know these containers it the port of discharge will be Nawasha and Mumbai or in Mundra and Gujarat and from there it'll connect on rail and when you consider the port to port I'm talking about from the origin port till the final destination that is in Delhi there is a inland container dep depot where we call it as ICT dry ports. So to reach there it'll take about 48 days to 52 days. Then clearance and delivery typically it takes about 4 days to max 7 days. So overall if you look at it so we say 60 to 75 days considering some delays due to port congestions in the

13:36 trans shshipment port or any delays in customs 60 to 75 days for the FCL would be the realistic time or transit time I'm talking about doortodoor >> LCL options here unlike you know what I explained about FCL so LCL options we pack pick up bring it to our warehouse

13:57 And we do the consolidation and this process takes about two to four weeks max at the origin. So we talk about say 30 days at the origin. Then we load the container. So similar transit times between port to port. >> Yeah. >> Then again once it reaches the destination port, this container would go for the customs clearance and where all the shipments would be offloaded at the port. do the customs clearance you know then segregate the shipments bring it to a warehouse and again we schedule the deliveries to the respective destination locations so this would take by and large we do provide this in 90 days time and if there are any delays in customs or port congestions or something like that so maybe we can consider another two to

14:42 four weeks so that means you know 90 to 120 days would be the realistic door-to-door transit time for LCL or the shed container >> got Right. Now let's talk about the cost like maybe you can give like a rough cost for you know shipping by box or shipping by cubic feet however you want to structure that and then you know for a full container what are the you know range just to give an so that people have an idea and see what is their budget and you know how to think about it. >> Sure. see again the people who are shipping only boxes say one or two boxes I mean I'm just giving you a ballpark ranges. I'm not giving you the accurate. >> so approximately I mean I would say between $110 to $125 a box.

15:27 >> Yeah. >> If they shipping more boxes, you know, three to five boxes probably, you know, $10 could be reduced. And if they have more than 10 boxes, it could be around between $90 to $95 a box, which includes of everything. And of course there are variables which they got to pay at the destination because some of the charges like port charges or customs duty if at all if there is any that would be determined at the destination port and the customer would be paying at actuals and for LCL again depends on the volume the size of the shipment. when they say okay some boxes and some furniture so we determine the volume because every single furniture or every single item it has it dimensions and we determine the volume in cubic

16:13 feet or cubic meter. So and whatever the space is occupies in the container for that only they will be charged. So this again depends on the volume. Say if a customer is shipping say 150 cubic feet. Say in a 20 ft container it has a space of 950 cubic feet and a 40 ft container it has a space of 2,000 cubic feet. Now all this shed I mean the LCL shipment the shed container shipments say customer will be having say 150 or 200 or 300 or 400 cubic feet. So it I would say approximately you know they can have a you know the ballpark range would be between $9 to $11 a cubic feet that includes your of packing packing material labor transportation locally within US then bringing it to the warehouse warehouse handling sequencing

16:59 labeling then loading of the container then and again ocean fry transportation from port of I mean the origin to the destination port then clearance documentation Then again local transportation from the port to the customer's residence with complete unloading unpacking assembly of basic furnitureures placing the items in the respective rooms then removal of debris. So all this you know it includes in the cost and customer they do have some questions. Hey, if I do packing of my boxes, is that something you know which we can do it and or we will do packing of all the furniturees and everything because we know a bit. So again with the help of

17:45 our friends you know we do pack everything you can just do the pickup. So in that case there will not be any packing or material charges rather you know just the pickup that is a labor and transportation. So in that way where the prices come down a bit and some customers they do ask okay we will bring it to your warehouse we will drop it off and similarly after the clearance where the shipment will be will it be in your warehouse okay we will pick it up from the warehouse. So these sort of options will determine the price I see. So but again if somebody is taking a LC I mean a full container 20 ft with complete services again depends on the geographical locations in US okay somebody's moving from San Francisco Pacific or somebody's moving from

18:30 Seattle coming to Bangalore we would say somewhere between $8,000 to $9,500 again depends on you know whether they require complete packing or partial packing and all that but if they I'm just giving you the ballpark range for a a full move with complete doortodoor services between, you know, 9,000 to 9,000 or $8,000 to $9,500 for a 20 ft. And when customers they move a 40

18:57 ft, some people they ask whether it's going to be double. No, absolutely not. So maybe another $3,000 to $4,500 for a 40 ft where they got to pay additional that is for the freight and for the volume increase for the material and labor. >> Got it. So these are the price ranges and of course I told you about the baggage shipments where you know they can ship even one box so where we have the charges you know based on the slabs one or two boxes three to five boxes like that. >> So yeah >> no that's very helpful thank you very much for that. So let's take a scenario because people are comparing quotes from multiple shipping companies right so what are the things that they need to watch out because some cost could be hidden cost something that they might not expect it some you know so what are

19:44 the things that they need to make sure that they're comparing apples to apples when they're looking at the pricing and making a decision >> absolutely I mean it's a very valid question you have asked see yes see by and large the people because they do not know what are the scope of services included and excluded it and most of the customers okay where they do not know you know what is Apple versus Apple comparison they they know about it but again you talk about hidden charges or any other charges here what they have to look at is just not to go only with the numbers you know say okay I'm giving you a quote say for 300 cubic feet say some number say $3,000 >> there is the other movers will be

20:30 giving somewhere between say $2,400 or $2,800 and just the number again they also say doortodoor they also say all these are included everything but they have to look at they have to go through the every scope of services what is there in the inclusions either at the origin and at the destination because we have seen when okay when a customer when normally we do not insist the customers you know to send the competitor's code but we ask them so what is that you're looking at I mean what is that it's mentioned in the code then they say okay hey you know destination services doortodoor they said okay the delivery is done

21:16 at the residence only with unloading so here we are giving a code with a complete door-to-d dooror services which includes unloading unpacking assembling of furniturees then placing the items and removal of debris So this is one and also we include the destination terminal handling charges, shipping line charges all those would be included and whereas in the the other estimate this would not I mean it would not have shown and where because of that customers feel okay this quote is lower than yours but they I mean where when they do the apple versus apple comparison they find oh okay right it makes sense okay why so u yeah but most of the reputed moving companies is they explain all the charges. They

22:01 explain what is included, what is not included, what are the things you know which the customer can expect. because they don't want I mean I'm talking about the companies prof professional companies and reputed companies they wanted to explain everything to the customer and prepare them for the worst scenario in the sense even if there is going to be additional charges okay what is what is those variables are so they explain everything properly and and as I said this charges you know some of these charges we cannot include even if the customer want us to include we cannot include it because these charges are payable to the government agencies like port authorities. >> Yeah, >> these charges will be determined only after the clearance and customs duty again you know after the inspection or

22:46 after the the clearance where the customs they will determine what is dutable what is not and whether the customer is availing the transfer of residence where they get the exemptions for most of the items and concessions and some of them they are not. So again these are the variables this would be determined at the destination port customs. So apart from that there are no other hidden factor because there is no hidden charges as such but certain

23:14 things you know beyond our control the container can be pulled for intensive extensive customs examinations by the government agencies either at origin or at destination. So those charges we cannot speculate of whether this container because it is at the discretion of the authorities whether to pull the container for intensive work or extensive examination. So these charges it's it's a surprise for everybody. Got it. That's helpful. So let's talk about the customs which is a big one for a lot of people. So people might have heard about this term called transfer of residence. What documentation is required? let's I think explain these details so that people have a good awareness of what what these

23:59 are. yeah again it's a very valid question. See customs duties exemptions and cons concessions would be based on the transfer of residence eligibility and again say customers they do discuss about every single aspect of the move. Okay. they prepare well in advance. Everything is done but one vital or critical thing is you know which they do not you know they are not aware of about the eligibility criteria. So as a moving company we do ask I mean questions

24:44 as per the import baggage regulations in India. So we know okay what is the baggage rules for you know the transfer of residence and who is eligible. So for the first eligibility there should be an Indian national holding an Indian passport or foreign passport with OCI O citizen of India card. So that is the first requirement. Second requirement minimum they have to be I mean they should be residing out of India a minimum of 2 years. Okay. Not necessarily they have to be living outside India in one country. They can there say some customers they live in Singapore for say a year then they migrate or relocate to US or Canada or Australia anywhere anywhere. So but

25:30 overall you know it should be more than two years then when they are returning to India you know before they could return so because after once they reach whichever country you know they take they make few trips. So those few trips the customs will look at it in the last two calendar years. How many trips the customer has made or the passenger has made into India and the duration of a stay which they will determine very accurately very meticulously because every arrival and departure endorsements they go through it and as long as it is less than 180 days so which they look at it. So as long as it is less than 180 days. Yes. So that is another eligibility and

26:16 transfer of residence duty exemptions and cons concessions. Government of India they do provide to all customers but once in 3 years a customer say for example now we are in 2026 September. Somebody has moved to India say in the year of 2024 and came back immediately. Now they have availed the transfer of residence couple of years ago and now they are moving again. So they do ask am I eligible? No they are not because they have to complete the three calendar years for them to avail again. So what are the duties and exemptions they get? So once when I say okay they are eligible for the complete transfer of residence all the used household goods all used household goods it can be clothes shoes

27:03 books bags kitchen utensils used appliances furnitureures everything you know would be exempted from duty and now from last year as per the government of India notification which now they have relaxed a customer shipping one TV one home theater one monitor one laptop all these are exempted from duty >> so earlier it wasn't there so they would be paying for everything so these are the things you know which I mean we do ask the customers see when we do the video survey or visual survey so we identify okay what are the potential a customer may have say three TVs so when I say okay the duty is exempt for TV that is only for the first TV for the second and the third they will charge

27:49 okay the TVs might be used but they will charge charge at the depreciated cost but they will charge the duty. So these are the concerns you know they get when they move on a transfer of residence. The customers who are not eligible for the transfer of residence they would pay

28:02 the duty at 38.5% at a depreciated cost for all the items they ship. Got it? >> So there you know they got to be careful. So we make all customers be aware about this because if you don't tell them if you don't guide them so what happens is they have decided to move everything since they are not aware of the situation about the transfer of residence eligibility they end up in paying >> so we don't we want to avoid this ifs and but scenario so we tell them so what happens is they decide okay fine it's okay I don't mind paying the duty because I need the items oh hey it's good that you have told me about this so that you know we will leave behind these items. We don't want to pay unnecessary duty. So these are the things you know where we discuss and where the customer we make them be aware. >> Got it. I know you mentioned about

28:50 a foreign nation with an OCI card or an Indian you know passport holder right? So if it's a foreign passport holder who shipping and who doesn't have an OCI, what are the options available? or is it very restricted? Because I have seen quite a few families who hasn't taken OCI card because they're moving with a visa or something. so is there an option for them or is OCI a mandatory? See OCI is mandatory for the Indian national but again Indian and again you know he holds a the foreign passport but he's not moving

29:35 to India he's not relocating but intra company transfer right so they are moving to India for work and where the company gives them a work permit or something like that so still you know Not necessarily. It has to be in India. Even for the foreign nationals, British I mean anybody you know British coming to India to work. So they have a work permit endorsed by the local embassy of India over there and the company issues a letter for a say a couple of years contract. >> Yes, they do also can avail the transfer of residence. >> Got it. Okay. Cool. I know this is a common question from lot of people like even someone who shipping an LCL that they have to provide their original passport. you know maybe they are not close to the port of entry they have to

30:20 mail the documents and people have this concern of shipping or mailing their original passport is that mandatory what are the options that people have you know from a clearance of these shipped items which is you're right it is a mandate mandatory requirement of the customs authorities because they want

30:43 to have the original passport A customer say for example a customer has issued a passport he has multiple passports in the sense okay one passport issued recently and the the old one they wanted to have the passport which has minimum 3 years validity if the passport is less than 3 years so they may insist on the the old passport also so why they require it because as I said earlier to check on the transfer of residence eligibility and all the endorsements you know arrivals and departures so for that reason only. Yes, if the customer is willing to come to the port, if they are close by, they can come, they can complete the inspection or the customs clearance process, they can show the passport and they can take it and they can the customers who can't come where you know they have to send

31:30 the passports again we suggest them okay which corer you know they have to because for the safety of the documents because it's all valid documents. So and again once the inspection is completed we career them the passport back in a safe manner but the requirement is mandatory by the customs authorities. >> Got it. And then are there any items that are prohibited from shipment or any items that causes issues during custom clearance? Yeah, it's a it's a it's a again see all these questions are valid and it is u see yes there are prohibited items which the customer you know they should be aware of before they could pack there are items like any flammable

32:17 items like you know it can be their the body sprays or any liquids. So all these you know maybe limited quantity. Yeah, >> very limited quantity. The new ones sealed packed well, not exposed. So, very limited quantity. But by and large, you know, there are as per the dangerous

32:35 goods where the shipping line where they do not they I mean they recommend, you know, not to have these items packed. So where it is are restricted as I said you know highly flammable materials such as gasoline but bhain and all that and any internal combustion engines fuel you know that has to be drained and the battery cables has to be disconnected any scuba compressed gas cylinders all those you know to be avoided then gold silver diamond platinum jewelry any currency are prohibited or restricted and drone own firearms, air guns, liquor, prohibited drugs is also restricted or prohibited and as well as the India

33:21 globe map because of the due to wrong boundaries and the borders of P and other international borders where the government has brought in this notification that India globe also you know is restricted unless it has a clear boundaries otherwise it is not allowed into India. Got it. So when is the best time for u you know families to start looking into what they want to ship getting the codes and be prepared so that they are not rushing in the last minute. What would you suggest? See the ideal timeline for to plan their shipping 3 to 6 months before. So where

34:06 they can start researching the moving companies and discuss with them about the shipping options understand the customs requirements at the destination country even then again depends on the budget. Okay what is that you know they can within the budget what can be accommodated. So all this you know they can prepare. So 3 to 6 months before it is a good planning. Then once they are done they again whichever moving company they are in touch with they can ask for the estimates because even if 3 to 6 months earlier even if they have taken the estimate that probably may not be valid because there are charges like ocean freight and all might have gone up or increased. So some of the materials or

34:52 labor whatever the you know the fuel search charge or something like that you know where they'll it'll be on increase. So it's good to ask the estimates at least you know 2 to 3 months before they're moving then then again where they can ask okay I'm the options with they can share you know so I'm going with a full pack and pickup so give me an estimate the comprehensive estimate inclusive of everything. So then whatever the documentation is required so all that you know they can confirm and they can be prepared and one or two months before the moving so finalize the date the confirmed date for pack and move. So this is the planning where first I said you know three to six months search the you know searching the moving companies and

35:39 having the shipping options whether to go with a full container or a less than a container shed container then depends on the budget in a way they can plan then the two to three months ask for the estimates from the moving companies then do the comparison of the estimates Apple was Apple comparison which u based on their options or preferred options or whatever the options they wanted to move with with full packing or partial packing. So all that you know they can do that then finally you know one or two months before they can confirm the date with the moving company sign the contract and start at their home you know

36:18 decluttering and selling donating all those you know items which they wanted to leave behind and have the mustgo items properly you know placed I mean where they can segregate and they can do all this you know exercise one or two months before and then again what if at all if they are doing any self-packing like boxes for their personal belongings or if they wanted to have the help from the friend

36:49 and where they wanted to pack everything so they can order all the materials and everything. So then fix the date is fixed and good to go. >> Got it. >> It's better to avoid the last minute. >> Yeah. >> Because you may not get the container, the crew may not be available. So all this you know we can avoid. So better planning is 3 to 6 months then two to three months for the rates and one or two months before or one month before they can fix the date. Got >> it. >> So this will help them you know to have a hassle-free shipping experience. >> By the way if you're planning to ship your household belongings back to India, we can help with that too. We have partnered with few shipping companies. You can submit your inquiry here on this

37:34 page and we have our partners who will reach out and provide a quote and you can decide with whom you want to move forward and get these household belongings shipped back to India. Yeah. So let's talk about the packing that you mentioned right what are some good practices or suggestions because they have to label them they have to pack in certain way or the boxes that they can use any suggestions you know when customers are packing themselves or the professional packers that are available maybe you can you know give some insights there. >> Sure. normally I mean we do suggest to go with

38:20 the licensed and certified packers or moving companies and if at all if they are doing packing always you know we recommend I mean we suggest only to go with the non-fragile items packing like you know clothes the personal like you know documents non-fragile items like you know clothes toys books shoes some kitchen appliances or kitchen utensils. So all this you know they can pack and leave all the fragile items all the electronic items and all the furniturees you know for the you know the professional packers to do what and again when they are doing the packing of boxes we also recommend them you know because they do not know

39:06 so what box to choose and from where they got to buy because you know there are many moving boxes available in US so always we recommend them to go with the doublewalled or heavy duty boxes and we tell them okay these are the dimensions available. Okay, we tell them say 24 in x 18 in x by 18 in large heavy duty box where you can pack your clothes, shoes, toys, then kitchen utensils, appliances. Okay, still you know they wanted to go and pack the china glassware and all that. We suggest to pack in the medium or dish pack box which comes in the dimensions of 18 by 18 by 16. And if they have more of books we tell them to pack in the small box

39:52 heavy duty again 12x 12 x 16. So these

39:55 dimensions you know we do provide because one you know it it'll the heavy duty box it'll help them to have the shipment you know packed securely safely and again considering the the handlings and all that. So it's better to have these again also we provide the packing tips as well and again when they're packing China glassware items okay how to pack okay we tell them what are the materials are to be used so we tell them you know to pack with use the newsprint paper bubble peanuts all those you know we tell them we guide them okay with the tips okay how to pack >> got it so now let's talk about the

40:41 insurance. this is another thing that's you know typically offered but you know what does it cover what it doesn't cover and you know typical cost for these insurance when shipping the items. See insurance there are multiple options again there again the multiple options in the sense a customer pack boxes so we call it as PBO so packed by owner so pack by owner shipments all the insurance companies they do provide the insurance for individual loss of boxes and for the total loss >> and now if you ask me whether it covers for any damage or loss so no it It doesn't cover because all packed by

41:27 owner shipments worldwide all the insurance companies they do not provide for any individual damage to the items or individual loss of items they do not provide but they do provide for individual loss of box and for the total loss under any catastrophic situations and customers opting for the full packing where you know they can go for the all risk insurance where it covers for any individual damage to the items. individual loss of items and for the entire shipment loss. I'm just saying how the insurance work. Yes. Okay. Now coming back to the insurance for as said okay for all risk insurance there again the customer also should be aware though they have all risk insurance

42:12 where I said okay it covers for individual damage individual loss of items and for the entire shipment loss total loss they all this coverage it is for the external damage so for example a customer is having a TV insurance all coverage is there that is for the external damage. Now what happens okay after when it was packed at the origin it was checked it was in a good condition and after reaching India when they wanted to install it they found though there is no external damage to the TV box or the TV everything is intact but it is not working. So where you know there is a issue with the electrical and mechanical. So now for when we look at

42:58 the inventory when we do the survey itself we ask the customers so what is the value so any high value so then there are insurance company has options you know to go for electrical and mechanical full coverage >> where by paying additional premium and these high value items like TVs and all that where they'll have a full coverage so even there is no external damage but due to this you know electrical and mechanical where the customer can claim the full insurance by paying a a small portion of premium in additional premium where they can avail this there again high value furniturees. let's let me give you one small situation or an example. A customer is having a a living room furniture, a

43:44 three-seater, two-seater or a single seater or a sectional sofas now and they give a value say let's assume say $4,000 for the entire sofa set but they have not given a a value for a three-seater separately or a two-seater or a single-seater but they've given a combined value consolidated value and now one sofa is damaged. So let's assume the two-seater love seat is damaged. They have a value of say $4,000 for the entire sofa set. The insurance company since they have given a combined value of all these three I mean this living room furniture I mean the sofa set they

44:23 will average out the value. So $4,000 divided by three piece. So whatever the value now again there again there is a catch. Will they give say $4,000 divided by three? said let's assume say 1,200 or,300 will they give a claim? No, they don't. They'll ask you to submit the repair estimate. If the repair repair estimate has to be less than 50% of the cost. So now when they determine the average price of the furniture, three pieces, say 4,000 divided by three, the three pieces. So 1,200 and 50% off is $600. >> Yeah. the repair estimate should be less than $600 then they give a claim. >> Okay. >> And if the furniture is cannot be

45:10 repaired then whoever the third party or handyman or furniture company who come for the survey you know to for the repair they have to give a in their letter stating that this furniture cannot be repaired. So in such case the insurance company will give a claim for that amount. Got it. Yep. So and again there are minimum deductibles and all that but yes there are insurance options and we explain what are the options for the high value items and all that to all customers where they can go for it. >> Yeah. So from your experience working with so many families moving back to India or moving across continents shipping household items. what are

45:57 some of the common mistakes or lessons learned so that people can plan better or things that they can avoid you know from others experiences. These are real world experiences. I mean this is you know from your own >> okay >> you know time that you spend with several families. in my experience okay these mistakes do happen okay they because you know of the priorities because of the pressure stress what they go through because again the government policies make them you know to move suddenly so these mistakes do happen nobody wants to have nobody wants to do a mistake and regret it or having a stressful but normally what people the mistakes where happens not planning when they

46:42 know that they going to move to India so they don't plan well. So where you know the planning is required so they don't plan early. >> Yeah. >> Then they don't based on the budget because you know they they have to know what is the shipping cost and what is the volume of shipment or size of the shipment they're going to carry because you know they need to sort out all those and they have to decide what is that the mandatory items the mustgo items. So all the you know they have to do it you know well planned and they have to do it early. So where they don't do it so underestimating the volume of their belongings. So what will happen is the movers goes there they'll pack everything and they come back they may have a budget of say a few thousand but

47:27 because of the oversized volume where the the budget it it goes beyond the budget then it'll be a big surprise. So then they realize okay they have made a mistake they should have discarded this furnitureures at you know earlier. So again choosing the wrong shipping method you know instead of going with a full container they would have opted for a less than a container. Now what happens is after packing and pickup the volume is increased but instead of go if they have taken the container so where the container booking you know the mover could have confirmed the container booking and place the container directly at the residence but now afterwards since the planning was not done randomly okay fine all this to be packed. So finally what happens the volume increase or they have chosen a

48:13 container but after some you know at the day of packing volume if if they look at it because you know some of the furniturees they've sold but they did not plan it earlier so somebody came okay fine I'm paying this okay they sold the furniture and now they have booked the container so all this you know they have to decide much in advance then again about the not knowing about the Indian customs requirement or regulations So that again you know after coming to India they end up paying the duties because they were not aware. So these are it should have all this you know the preparation should have been done at the origin. Then assuming everything you know whatever they bought in US will work in India. Then again the compatibility and the power

48:59 fluctuations you know where they need to be aware of and they just need to bring

49:03 what can work in India and again they should ask okay how you know they can install it and how it can work in India so that you know somebody can guide them okay fine you need to have some step down converters and all that you know for this so without knowing that I mean they assume that all this will work >> so this and again about the tax and financial planning they don't do after coming over you know they realize okay all these things you know should I have planned earlier so these are the things then forgetting about the children's education and the family needs so then again the the the house where they're going to live so all this you know they all this should have been done 3 to 6 months in advance even much earlier so all this you know these

49:49 are the things you know the mistakes commonly happens >> it's not that they want they do but I mean but sometimes it happens because of their pressure or priorities sometimes you know they miss out so these are the common mistakes we have seen and common things you know which happens now thanks a lot is there anything that we haven't covered that you want to bring up that would be valuable for families who are considering moving their household items back to India >> a passenger say they moved to US just about say one and a half years back and where they have to return. They are not eligible for the transfer of residence you know where you know the minimum of 2 years. What they can do is you know we suggest them to go and meet the assistant

50:36 commissioner of customs in India whichever the port the shipment is coming to and ask for condonement. So where the assistant commissioner can consider and giving them the transfer of residence if not full transfer of residence and there is a another terminology they call mini transfer of residence instead of giving 7.5 lakhs allowance probably they may give for 3.5 or four lakhs. So these sort of a things you know where it is possible but I'm I'm just giving you this option because you know >> it is it is workable it can it can be done. So yeah, thanks a lot Mr. Madusan for you know comprehensive you know details about what someone should think about when they're shipping

51:22 their household items. Lot of good nuggets, insights, how much it would cost, what's the timeline, restricted items and so on, even the customs. so folks if you have further questions please drop your topics that you want to bring us in the comments below so we can do a follow-up session based on the feedback that we have received. So once again thanks a lot Mr. Mulan for being with us. >> Thank you Abi. Thank you so much and it's a pleasure connecting here.

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Podcast

Moving Back to India: What Should You Ship — and What Should You Leave

Avinash

Published 1 Oct 202616 min read52 min watchUpdated 16 Oct 2026

In this story

1. The question that decides your shipping bill
2. What is worth shipping, and what to sell or donate
3. Air, sea, full container or shared container
4. How long it actually takes, door to door
5. What it costs: boxes, shared load, full container
6. Comparing quotes: the lines that appear later
7. Transfer of Residence: who qualifies and what it saves
8. Documents: passport, OCI and work permits
9. What you cannot put in a container
10. When to start: the three-stage timeline
11. Packing: boxes, materials and what to leave to professionals
12. Insurance: what all-risk covers, and what it does not
13. The mistakes families make
14. If you cannot meet the two-year rule

Moving Logistics | US → India

Moving Back to India: What Should You Ship — and What Should You Leave

Desi Return in conversation with SFL Worldwide Published: October 1, 2026 | Last updated: October 1, 2026

What to Ship FCL vs LCL Real Timelines Ballpark Costs Transfer of Residence Insurance

1. The question that decides your shipping bill

What follows is his account of the process, from deciding what goes in the container to what happens at an Indian port when the container arrives.

2. What is worth shipping, and what to sell or donate

3. Air, sea, full container or shared container

There are more options than most families realise, and the right one follows the volume rather than the other way around.

Air freight is for what you need immediately at destination, including documents and essential household items. SFL's advice is to keep it to roughly four to ten boxes and send everything else by sea.
Full container load (FCL) suits a whole household. The container is packed at your residence, loaded there, and moved directly to the port. Furniture and boxes travel in the same container.
Shared container or less-than-container load (LCL) is for families keeping only a few furniture pieces alongside boxes. The shipment is picked up, brought to a warehouse, consolidated with others, and separated again at destination. A typical LCL shipment might be a couple of mattresses, living room furniture, one or two televisions, kitchen utensils and boxes.
Baggage services exist for people who are not relocating but still need to send things: typically two to six boxes, moving by sea.

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4. How long it actually takes, door to door

Transit time is where expectations and reality diverge most, usually because families count the sailing time and forget everything on either side of it.

Add it up and the honest figure is 60 to 75 days door to door for a full container, allowing for port congestion or a slow customs examination.

Which is why the planning advice later in this article is measured in months rather than weeks: a shipment that starts late cannot be hurried at the other end.

5. What it costs: boxes, shared load, full container

The figures below are the shipper's own ballpark ranges from this conversation, and freight rates move, so treat them as a planning frame rather than a quote.

Boxes: roughly $110 to $125 per box for one or two boxes, less per box for three to five, and around $90 to $95 per box once you are sending more than ten. Box pricing is slab-based, so consolidating a shipment usually lowers the per-box rate.
Shared container (LCL): approximately $9 to $11 per cubic foot, which includes packing material and labour, local transport within the US, warehouse handling, loading, ocean freight, clearance, documentation, final delivery, unloading, unpacking, basic furniture assembly and debris removal. You are charged for the space your shipment occupies.
Full container (FCL): a 20-foot container with complete door-to-door service runs about $8,000 to $9,500 depending on where in the US you are shipping from. A 40-foot container adds roughly $3,000 to $4,500 rather than doubling the cost.

6. Comparing quotes: the lines that appear later

7. Transfer of Residence: who qualifies and what it saves

Three to twelve months abroad: personal and household articles up to ₹1.5 lakh in aggregate value.
A minimum stay of one year during the preceding two years: up to ₹3 lakh, if you have not used the concession in the preceding three years.
Two years or more: up to ₹7.5 lakh, if you stayed abroad two years immediately before arrival, your total stay in India on short visits during the two preceding years does not exceed six months, and you have not used the concession in the preceding three years.

8. Documents: passport, OCI and work permits

If your paperwork situation is unusual, it is worth mapping it before the container sails, alongside the wider return checklist.

9. What you cannot put in a container

Shipping lines and customs both restrict what can travel, and packing a restricted item can hold up an entire shipment. The list that comes up most often:

Flammable liquids and aerosols, including body sprays, and any hazardous household liquids beyond very small sealed quantities.
Fuels and fuel systems: gasoline, butane and compressed gas cylinders such as scuba tanks, and internal combustion engines, where fuel has to be drained and battery cables disconnected.
Valuables: gold, silver, diamonds, platinum, jewellery and currency are restricted or prohibited in a shipment.
Other prohibited goods: drones, firearms and air guns, liquor, and prohibited drugs.
Maps or globes of India with incorrect boundaries, which are restricted unless the borders are correctly depicted.

The practical timing point is that this list has to be checked before packing, because the penalty is not a fine but a delayed or inspected shipment.

10. When to start: the three-stage timeline

The advice is to begin three to six months before the move, and to avoid leaving anything to the last fortnight, because containers and crews are booked, not summoned. The sequence looks like this.

Three to six months out: research moving companies, understand your shipping options, look at the customs requirements at the destination, and work out what your budget can accommodate. This is when the question of full or shared container should be settled.
Two to three months out: ask for estimates. Quoting earlier than this is often pointless, because ocean freight, materials, labour and fuel can all move, so an estimate taken much in advance may not hold. This is also the stage for comparing scopes properly, the way described above.
One to two months out: confirm the date, sign the contract, and start the sorting exercise at home: segregating must-go items from what will be left behind, sold or donated. Packing materials for any self-packing should be ordered now.

The reason for the long runway is not bureaucracy. If you leave it late, the container you need may not be available, and the crew may not be either.

11. Packing: boxes, materials and what to leave to professionals

12. Insurance: what all-risk covers, and what it does not

Insurance is offered on every shipment and understood by very few families, and most of the confusion comes down to who packed the boxes.

13. The mistakes families make

He is candid that these mistakes rarely come from carelessness. Families are under pressure, and government policy can force a move suddenly. Even so, the same errors recur.

Not planning when the move is already certain. Families often know they are going back and still start late, which is where most of the downstream problems begin.
Not working out the volume against the budget. A household with a few thousand dollars of budget discovers, on packing day, that the oversized volume takes the cost well past it, and that furniture should have been discarded months earlier.
Choosing the wrong shipping method. A shared load looked right on paper, but after packing and pickup the volume had grown. Had the family chosen a full container from the start, the mover could have confirmed the booking and placed it at the residence.
Not knowing Indian customs requirements. Duty is paid at the destination because eligibility was never checked at the origin.
Assuming American appliances will work. Voltage and power fluctuations are real, and step-down converters have to be planned for, not discovered.
Leaving tax, financial planning, schools and housing until after arrival. These are the items that should have been handled in the same three to six month window as the shipment.

14. If you cannot meet the two-year rule

Chapters

0:00 Shipping household goods back to India
1:14 What should you ship, and leave behind?
5:52 Air, sea, FCL or LCL: which option makes sense?
10:33 How long does shipping to India take?
13:54 How much does it cost to ship to India?
18:55 Comparing quotes, inclusions and extra charges
23:13 Transfer of residence and Indian customs
28:01 OCI, work permits and customs documents
30:42 Restricted and prohibited items
32:35 When should you start planning your shipment?
36:17 Desi Return shipping support
36:49 Packing tips and choosing the right boxes
39:53 Shipping insurance explained
44:22 Common shipping mistakes families make
49:02 What if you don't meet the two-year rule?

Transcript

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Read the full transcript (72 more sections)

5:49 on what to ship what not to ship. Are there some specific goods that are like

10:27 if you have if you want to move with the entire household good go with a a container there. But again when you say

39:52 heavy duty again 12x 12 x 16. So these

48:59 fluctuations you know where they need to be aware of and they just need to bring

FAQ

Questions people ask

Shipping & customs

Vetted movers, customs paperwork, and a timeline that matches your landing date.

See how it works

1. The question that decides your shipping bill

2. What is worth shipping, and what to sell or donate

3. Air, sea, full container or shared container

4. How long it actually takes, door to door

5. What it costs: boxes, shared load, full container

6. Comparing quotes: the lines that appear later

7. Transfer of Residence: who qualifies and what it saves

8. Documents: passport, OCI and work permits

9. What you cannot put in a container

10. When to start: the three-stage timeline

11. Packing: boxes, materials and what to leave to professionals

12. Insurance: what all-risk covers, and what it does not

13. The mistakes families make

14. If you cannot meet the two-year rule

Chapters

Transcript

Questions people ask

Related guidance

Shipping Household Goods to India: Cost, Customs & What to Sell

For Returning NRIs: What I Learned (and Wish I Knew) About Shipping to India from Abroad

Shipping & customs

1. The question that decides your shipping bill

2. What is worth shipping, and what to sell or donate

3. Air, sea, full container or shared container

4. How long it actually takes, door to door

5. What it costs: boxes, shared load, full container

6. Comparing quotes: the lines that appear later

7. Transfer of Residence: who qualifies and what it saves

8. Documents: passport, OCI and work permits

9. What you cannot put in a container

10. When to start: the three-stage timeline

11. Packing: boxes, materials and what to leave to professionals

12. Insurance: what all-risk covers, and what it does not

13. The mistakes families make

14. If you cannot meet the two-year rule

Chapters

Transcript

Questions people ask

Related guidance

Shipping Household Goods to India: Cost, Customs & What to Sell

For Returning NRIs: What I Learned (and Wish I Knew) About Shipping to India from Abroad

Shipping & customs