UPDATE (16th May, 2013) : Nexus 4 is now officially available in India for 25999Rs
Here’s a story of how I managed to get my brand new LG nexus 4 phone in India for just 21500 INR.
Are you one of those people who are impatient enough to wait for nexus 4 to arrive in India? I was , and this is how I managed to get Nexus 4 in Bangalore for a cheap price. The price is so cheap that even if I sell my used iPhone 4, I would be in profit.
The order
Nexus 4 stock is available in US Google play store. But the catch is that when you try to access it from a non US IP address, this is what you get :
Sorry! Devices on Google Play is not available in your country yet.
We’re working to bring devices to more countries as quickly as possible.
Please check back again soon.
What I then tried was to use a SOCKS proxy from http://www.hidemyass.com/proxy-list/.
But when I tried using a proxy, google detected it and blocked my request. But later I found that only some proxies are blocked and sometimes even Indian IP addresses are allowed. I did manage to access play store page with the help of my friend who has a server in the US.
After getting into the Play store page, you can order a phone using an International Debit / Credit card, but you will need to provide a US postal address. I would have to provide the address of a friend living in the US.
The experiment
Instead of choosing a friend in US, what I did was a very risky experiment. I used a package forwarding service called MyUS.com. It was a service which I had never heard of. Also there is a risk of losing my phone and also of the device getting stuck at India Customs. But I was really curious to try such a service out. I had some spare cash earned from the ads on this blog, so I decided to take the risk.
I instantly opened their website and started registration (10$ registration fee). Then they provided me with a virtual postal address. Any package delivered to this postal address was supposed to be automatically forwarded to your Indian address. They allowed me to choose the shipment service like Fedex or DHL in their preferences page.
I then used my brand new shiny US address on the play store site. During checkout the system showed estimated delivery 1-2 weeks. I ordered the 8GB variant which costs 299 $ plus local shipping. Which came to around 330 $. My debit card company charged me 18,750 INR. Two of my colleagues also ordered phones along with me. But they instead sent it to their friend in Texas.
After my order got confirmed, I could see 2 weeks sleepless gloomy nights hovering in front of my eyes. Every day I would spend some time to stare at the “My orders” page in Play store.
After countless hours spent on researching how to avoid customs duty, I decided that I upgrade to MyUS premium account (10$ more) so that I get full control on my package shipping. After upgrade I got more options in my shipping preferences and also a bigger discount on shipping.
Fast forward 4 more days , I open the play store page to see that the phone was already shipped. When I looked at the UPS tracking page it said that it had already reached Florida (thats where my virtual address was). The next day I got an email from MYUS that my package was received.
My 2 colleagues who had ordered along with me got their phones stolen in Texas. Apparently the UPS delivery guy left it “at the patio” and the recipient never got it. But google was kind enough to refund the money for them.
The customs trick
I went to myus preferences page and redeclared the value of my phone to 100$, and then the description of the phone to “HTC nexus one”. I also marked my package as a gift and “for personal use only”. I then declared 0$ insurance. I had read that Indian customs officials will add the insurance value to the declared value to arrive at the final price of the device. Thats why , 0$. The whole experiment was a risky one, so I didnt mind taking more small risks.
The guys at myus were very helpful and they assisted me through every step of the process. Their live chat feature is awesome. I then asked them to ship the package immediately.The device got shipped the same day through Fedex International priority post to my Indian address and I got charged around (35$) 2100 Rs for the shipment. The next few days were going to be spent on reloading fedex’s tracking page every hour.
Within 2 days of shipment, the package has arrived in Bangalore fedex (via Florida -> Minnesota->France->Dubai->Bangalore) office and then the package remained at customs for one day. I called up fedex customer care and they informed me that the customs official was on leave, and hence the delay. This was the biggest hurdle in the whole process since I had heard that customs officials open every package when they suspect that there are costly devices inside. But my experiment has worked. The device got cleared from customs and was out for delivery. A 100$ gift package marked for personal use doesn’t indeed attract customs… NICE !
The joy
The next day ( 4 working days since shipping from US) I received my brand new device. My experiment worked. I had received a brand nexus 4 device for a meagre 21.5 k Rs whereas the same phone on ebay.in was listed for more than 32k Rs, which added to my joy. Looking at the price, I had expected the hardware quality to be nothing special. But the build quality of the phoned turned out to be better than entire Samsung’s high end device lineup. The OS was so smooth ( jelly bean rocks) and my perception of iOS being faster than android changed forever. My iPhone 4 moved its location from my pocket to my backpack from then on. I was also thrilled at the fact that my phone will be eligible for official Android updates for atleast the next 4 updates, which was the main reason I bought my iPhone 4.
Since everything went well and I am thinking of ordering a few more nexus devices and sell it on ebay. Thanks for reading.
Checkout MYUS.com website here
Follow up article :
i got the 16 gb version for the same price,i used ppobox.com..
Cool.
Hey Runjesh. I just wanted to ask that how much time it took the playstore to ship 16 gig nexus 4 to ppobox’s warehouse because when i last checked it was mentioned that ‘ships when available’ and on the side it was written that ‘ships from google in 1-2 weeks’. So just wanted to inquire about the time of shipping. Also could you please tell me the tax and ppobox’s delivery charges. Thanks.
Did it worked with indian sims ,coz I also want it but I am confused if it will work in india
Yes. It works with indian sim. But if you have a regular sized sim, you will have to cut it to the size of micro sim. 3g works well too. Never tried 4G.
any issue with downloading of google playstore applicatiions in India ?
Nope. Everything works well. Btw, the play store apps are tied to your google account, and I have an indian one.
Thanks Kiran for this awesome article. I’m going to order 16 gig version..hope everything goes fine. Unfortunately nexus 4 does not support LTE(4G) but still such a low price for such a high end phone its amazing. Plus i guess fakenamegenerator.com could be used to create us play store id. I’m nt sure thought.
I’m sorry for again asking the question but please anyone of you reply coz i really want to order the 16 gig nexus 4 as soon as possible.’ I just wanted to ask that how much time it took the playstore to ship 16 gig nexus 4 to ppobox’s warehouse because when i last checked it was mentioned that ‘ships when available’ and on the side it was written that ‘ships from google in 1-2 weeks’. So just wanted to inquire about the time of shipping. Also could you please tell me the tax and ppobox’s delivery charges. Thanks.’
Please reply.
In my case, it took about 4-5 days for google to send the package to myus.com even though they mentioned 1-2 weeks. After I got a notification that google has sent it, it took around 20 – 30 hours for the package to reach the warehouse.
Well not only ppobox warehouse it could even be myus warehouse. Just the time i wanted to inquire.
My phone is there in US with a friend of mine. But he will be coming next month. So is there any economical option to get my phone to India? And with zero customs duty on Delhi airport?
You can use aramex.com
I appreciate your smartness and courage buddy.
Really helpful info you have shared..
How did you get charged only $35 for FedEx International Priority shipping when their site claims to charge $115??
MyUS has a tie up with FedEx.
wait…u bought for 21.5 K….but on ebay and amazon its listed 345 $ which rounds up to a little less than 20k. I’m not saying your method is bad but i am just curious isn’t buying it from ebay or amazon is better option..?? Just Asking…as i also want a N4
I had to pay shipping charges for fedex. Thats why it turned out to be costly.
Okay….so whats your suggestion regarding buying it from ebay or amazon…?? Should i go for it…??
Wch is bettr….buyin via ur way or buyin on amazon….
Like check http://www.amazon.com/Google-Nexus-Phone-8GB-Unlocked/dp/B00A9ZER46/ref=cm_cr_pr_product_top
Wht you suggest brother…??
hello there . this question is for the writer of the blog whom i assume is using the nexus fone and for any other person who uses the phone
the phone is NOW available in india thankfully BUT while researching (a lot of researching) i came to some links (mentioned in the end) that nexus 4 has a heating problem. it heats if we use google crome/google earth/games/3g/heavy calling . and temeprature of battery rises to 60 to 85 degrees and the phone auto powers off and when it heats it drains battery from 100 to 2% within minutes .
need user feedback if this is true or false …
dnt want to spoil hard earned money into a heated up smart fone
http://efytimes.com/e1/fullnews.asp?edid=100719
https://code.google.com/p/android/issues/detail?id=40334
regards
gaurav
Hi I bought Nexus 4 last year for 25000/- frm iBhejo ..
but now there is issue with the screen of the phone .. so i went to LG care here in delhi they said that phone is in warranty but can only be served in US ..
Can anybody plz guide me how can i send it to US for repair … what courier service to use .. how to contact LG Care there in US..