The Cross-Border Founder

I want to sell to customers abroad.

Brand concept, name & story

How do I actually check if a name is free to use - in India and internationally - before I fall in love with it? In India, run your shortlisted name through the government's own Trade Marks Public Search portal before you spend a rupee on a logo - it's free an... Beginner 3 resources →

Importing & global sourcing

What do I legally need in India to import goods, IEC, GST, anything else? An Import Export Code (IEC) from DGFT is non-negotiable, without it you cannot clear customs or get paid in foreign currency, and it's a one-time o... Beginner 3 resources → How do I estimate my true landed cost before I commit to an order? Landed cost is CIF value (product + insurance + freight) plus Basic Customs Duty, Social Welfare Surcharge, and IGST on top of that, not just what ... Intermediate 4 resources → Should I ship by air or sea, and how do I actually choose a freight forwarder? Air freight makes sense for your first small validation order or anything time-sensitive; sea freight (LCL/FCL) is dramatically cheaper per unit on... Intermediate 3 resources →

Product costing & COGS

How do I calculate my true landed cost per unit, including duty, freight and GST? Total landed cost = CIF value (product + insurance + freight) + Basic Customs Duty + Social Welfare Surcharge (10% of BCD) + IGST on the sum of all... Intermediate 3 resources → What import duty and GST will I actually pay bringing goods into India? Expect three layers on top of your CIF value: Basic Customs Duty (varies hugely by HS code), a 10% Social Welfare Surcharge on that duty, and IGST ... Intermediate 3 resources → My factory quote and my actual landed cost are miles apart, what am I missing? The usual gaps: freight and insurance (often quoted separately or not at all by the factory), customs duty and IGST (which the factory has no visib... Advanced 3 resources →

Payment gateways, COD & checkout

I'm shipping D2C orders internationally, how do I actually receive payments from customers outside India? Razorpay holds an RBI PA-CB (cross-border) licence and can take international cards plus UPI/domestic rails through one integration, with automated... Advanced 3 resources →

EPR & sustainability compliance

If I'm exporting to the EU, what sustainability and packaging rules do I need beyond India's EPR? India's CPCB EPR registration doesn't cover you once your product ships into the EU, the EU's Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation (applying fr... Advanced 3 resources →

Data privacy & the DPDP Act

I sell internationally, do I also need to worry about GDPR on top of DPDP? Yes, if you have even one EU customer, GDPR applies extraterritorially regardless of where your business is registered, and DPDP compliance doesn't... Advanced 3 resources →

Business insurance & risk

What about goods lost or damaged in transit or shipping, is that covered separately from warehouse insurance? Warehouse insurance doesn't automatically cover goods once they leave the warehouse, for that you need transit or marine cargo insurance (the 'mari... Advanced 3 resources →

Shipping, couriers & aggregators

How do I ship internationally from India without getting killed by customs and duties? Cross-border shipping is a different game entirely, you need to get HS codes, landed cost (product + duty + tax, shown upfront so customers aren't ... Advanced 4 resources →

Selling internationally: start here

I want to sell my brand internationally, where do I even begin? Don't 'go global', pick one market and one channel and run a real test. The cleanest first step for most Indian D2C brands is listing a hero SKU on... Beginner 4 resources → Should I start with a marketplace like Amazon Global, my own Shopify store, or both? For your first international market, a marketplace usually wins because it removes the two hardest problems at once, cross-border logistics and get... Beginner 4 resources → Which country should I target first, US, UK, or the UAE / Middle East? There's no universal answer, but a useful rule of thumb: the US has the biggest demand and the toughest competition, while the UAE and wider GCC ar... Beginner 4 resources → What paperwork and licenses do I actually need to export from India? The non-negotiable base is an IEC (Importer-Exporter Code) from DGFT, GST registration, and an AD Code registered with your bank at the port/courie... Beginner 4 resources → Do I need to register a company or entity in the destination country to sell there? Usually no, not to start. You can sell into most markets as an Indian exporter of record: list on Amazon Global Selling or ship cross-border from I... Intermediate 4 resources → How do duties, shipping and taxes change my pricing and the math of selling abroad? International shipping and duties can add 40-70% on top of your product cost, so the price a customer pays (the 'landed cost') is what makes or bre... Intermediate 4 resources → Is my category even viable for export, and how do brands like Vahdam, boAt and Wow test international before going all-in? Check viability before you fall in love with the idea: look at whether your category actually imports well into the target country (trade data, Ama... Intermediate 4 resources →

Amazon Global & marketplaces

How do I actually start selling on Amazon in the US, UK or UAE from India? Register on Seller Central for the destination marketplace, get your IEC and GST sorted, and list one hero SKU before you touch the rest of your ca... Beginner 4 resources → Amazon FBA vs self-ship (MFN) for global selling, which should I pick first? FBA (Fulfilled by Amazon) wins for most first-time exporters: Amazon stores inventory in-country, ships in 1-2 days, and handles returns and custom... Beginner 3 resources → What does Amazon's Propel accelerator actually give me, and is it worth applying? Propel is Amazon's own cohort program for Indian brands going global, past cohorts (Slurrp Farm, Solethreads, Perfora) got hands-on account managem... Intermediate 3 resources → Which Amazon marketplace should I list on first, US, UK, UAE or somewhere else? The US has the deepest demand but the most competition and ad costs; the UAE/GCC is the softest landing for Indian brands, shorter shipping lanes, ... Beginner 4 resources → How do reviews, pricing and returns even work when I have no local address or team abroad? FBA solves the physical side, Amazon's warehouse is your local address for storage, delivery and returns, but reviews and pricing are still yours t... Intermediate 3 resources → What do Indian sellers get wrong when they first go live on Amazon Global Selling? The biggest mistake is under-planning inventory, global demand spikes (Black Friday, Prime Day) can multiply your India-normal order volume many ti... Advanced 4 resources →

International D2C (Shopify Markets)

Should I run separate Shopify stores per country, or use Shopify Markets on one store? Use one store with Shopify Markets unless a single country is already generating serious, dedicated volume, separate stores mean separate SEO, sepa... Beginner 3 resources → How do I show local currency, language and payment methods without building N different websites? Shopify Markets handles this natively, set market-specific pricing, local payment methods and a translated storefront from one backend, no separate... Intermediate 3 resources → What's Shopify Markets Pro / Managed Markets, and do I actually need it as a smaller brand? Managed Markets is Shopify's 'we handle duties, taxes, customs and compliance for you' layer on top of Markets, it's built for brands that don't wa... Intermediate 3 resources → How did an Indian brand like Tilfi Banaras sell direct to 30+ countries from its own store? Tilfi built a genuinely differentiated, story-led product (Banarasi weaves) that doesn't need marketplace discovery, customers actively search it o... Intermediate 3 resources → How do I handle duties and taxes at checkout so international customers don't get a surprise bill? Turn on Shopify's Duties & Import Taxes (now available on every plan, not just Plus) to show and collect the landed cost at checkout, this is deliv... Intermediate 3 resources → What breaks first when a Shopify store scales from India-only to global, content, ops or economics? Usually economics, and it breaks quietly: a brand keeps India pricing logic, discovers international shipping and duties eat 40-70% of the order, a... Advanced 4 resources →

Export docs, IEC & compliance

What's the very first paperwork I need before I ship one export order out of India? Three things, non-negotiable: an IEC (Importer-Exporter Code) from DGFT, around Rs 500, usually issued within a few working days, active GST regist... Beginner 4 resources → What is an HS code and how do I find the right one for my product? An HS (Harmonized System) code is the universal 6-digit product classification customs authorities use worldwide; India's ITC-HS adds two more digi... Beginner 4 resources → What's the difference between RoDTEP and duty drawback, and do I need to apply for both? They're complementary, not competing, Duty Drawback refunds the customs duty you paid on imported inputs, while RoDTEP refunds embedded state and l... Intermediate 3 resources → What do DDP and DDU/DAP mean, and which should I choose at checkout? DDP (Delivered Duty Paid) means you collect and pay the destination duty upfront so the customer's price is all-in with zero surprises at the door;... Intermediate 3 resources → Do I need an LUT to avoid paying IGST upfront on export orders? Yes, file a Letter of Undertaking (LUT) on the GST portal, it's free, valid for a financial year, and lets you export goods and services without pa... Intermediate 3 resources → What compliance mistakes get first-time exporters' shipments stuck at customs? Wrong or vague HS codes are the number-one cause, customs holds the parcel to reclassify it, which can take weeks. Close behind: mismatched invoice... Advanced 4 resources →

International shipping & fulfillment

Should I self-ship each order internationally, use a courier aggregator like Shiprocket X, or hold stock abroad via FBA? For your first 50-100 international orders, use a cross-border courier aggregator (Shiprocket X, or similar), it handles customs paperwork per parc... Beginner 3 resources → What's a freight forwarder and when do I actually need one instead of a courier? A freight forwarder arranges bulk international transport, ocean or air cargo, customs brokerage, warehousing, for shipments too large or too frequ... Intermediate 3 resources → DDP or DDU, who should pay the customs duty, my brand or my customer? Choose DDP (Delivered Duty Paid) as your default, you collect the estimated duty at checkout and the customer never sees a surprise bill at deliver... Intermediate 3 resources → How do I estimate the real landed cost before I promise a delivery date and price? Landed cost equals product cost plus international freight plus destination duty (driven by your HS code) plus local VAT/sales tax, model all four ... Intermediate 3 resources → What's the actual shipping cost and timeline gap between India Post and modern cross-border couriers? India Post international parcels commonly take 15-20+ days and offer weak tracking; newer cross-border logistics players now deliver India-to-US in... Beginner 3 resources → How do I avoid customs delays and returned-to-sender shipments on international orders? Get the fundamentals right every time: accurate HS code, invoice value matching the declared customs value, complete recipient details (including a... Advanced 3 resources →

Cross-border payments & pricing

What's the cheapest, fastest way for an Indian exporter to actually receive USD/GBP payments? For B2B export invoices, export-focused platforms like Skydo now beat both PayPal and Payoneer on cost, flat fees and close to the mid-market FX ra... Beginner 2 resources → Payoneer vs Wise vs Razorpay/Skydo, which should I use to get paid by international customers? Payoneer is built for marketplace and freelance-platform payouts; Wise wins on low fees and true mid-market FX for general international transfers;... Intermediate 2 resources → Do I need an FIRC/FIRA for every international payment, and why does it matter? Yes, an FIRC (Foreign Inward Remittance Certificate) or FIRA is the bank-issued proof that a foreign payment actually landed in your account, and y... Intermediate 3 resources → How do I price the same product differently for the US, UK and UAE without looking inconsistent? Set market-specific pricing deliberately, Shopify Markets lets you define a distinct price per country rather than a flat currency conversion, and ... Intermediate 3 resources → What RBI/FEMA rules do I actually need to know as a D2C exporter accepting foreign payments? Every cross-border payment falls under FEMA, and each has to map to a lawful purpose code (export of goods, services, etc.) that your bank or payme... Advanced 3 resources → How much of my international sale actually gets eaten by FX markup, gateway fees and chargebacks? Between payment gateway fees (roughly 2-4% for card payments), FX conversion markup (anywhere from near-zero on mid-market platforms to 4%+ on PayP... Advanced 2 resources →

D2C investors & accelerators

Is Amazon's Propel accelerator or a similar marketplace program worth it for a small brand? Worth it if your growth strategy already runs partly through Amazon or you're actively planning export via Amazon Global Selling - Propel is an 8-w... Intermediate 3 resources →

Grants & government schemes

What is RoDTEP and how does it help if I export through Amazon Global or Shopify? RoDTEP refunds embedded central, state and local duties that never get credited anywhere else in your export chain - worth roughly 0.3% to 4.3% of ... Intermediate 4 resources → What other export incentive schemes exist besides RoDTEP for a D2C brand? Beyond RoDTEP, look at EPCG (duty-free import of capital goods used for export production), duty drawback schemes, and various state-level export p... Advanced 3 resources →