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Ship laptops to India, or stop needing to.

Sending a MacBook from the US to an employee in Bengaluru sounds simple until customs holds it for three weeks and bills 40% of its value in duties. This page covers both answers: how to ship equipment to India properly when you must, and how we make the question disappear by procuring devices locally at cost inside the same five-day onboarding that employs your hire.

Customs can hold a shipped MacBook for weeks and add 40% in duty. Here is how to ship right, and how local procurement skips it all.

Speak to sales EOR vs entity, in detail

G2 4.8 / 5 on G2, from companies employing teams in India through us.

Teams building in India. First hire to full team.

Shipping from abroad versus procuring in India.

The same laptop reaches the same desk either way. The route decides the cost, the delay and who spends their week on it.

Ship from abroad

Procure via Versatile

Duty and taxes
Roughly 40% of declared value on import
Local GST, already in the sticker price
Transit time
One to four weeks, customs willing
One to three days from Indian suppliers
Paperwork
Import docs, KYC, courier brokerage
A purchase order we raise for you
Warranty
US warranty, often invalid in India
Indian warranty, serviceable locally
Failure handling
Ship it back across customs again
Local service centre or swap
Your time spent
Hours per device per incident
Approving one line on an invoice

Ship from abroad
Duty and taxes Roughly 40% of declared value on import
Transit time One to four weeks, customs willing
Paperwork Import docs, KYC, courier brokerage
Warranty US warranty, often invalid in India
Failure handling Ship it back across customs again
Your time spent Hours per device per incident

Procure via Versatile
Duty and taxes Local GST, already in the sticker price
Transit time One to three days from Indian suppliers
Paperwork A purchase order we raise for you
Warranty Indian warranty, serviceable locally
Failure handling Local service centre or swap
Your time spent Approving one line on an invoice
Day 1
Hire signs; you approve the device spec
Day 2
We raise the local purchase at cost
Day 3
Device configured to your security baseline
Day 4
Delivered to the employee's address
Day 5
Onboarding completes, access provisioned
Exit day
Device recovered, wiped and redeployed

The landed cost of one shipped laptop, itemised.

A $2,000 laptop shipped from the US does not cost $2,000 in India. Duty, IGST, courier brokerage, insurance and the occasional demurrage fee stack on top, before you price the two to four weeks your new hire spent without a machine.

The same model bought in India carries local taxes in its sticker price, arrives in days, and holds a warranty an Indian service centre will honour.

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Illustrative landed cost of a $2,000 laptop shipped to India Cumulative cost as import charges stack on the base price
$2,000 Device
$2,760 Plus duty and IGST
$2,900 Plus courier and brokerage
$3,020 Plus insurance and delays
Illustration for a $2,000 declared-value laptop. Actual duty depends on classification, declared value and state of import; delays vary by port and paperwork.
Who absorbs the friction per route
Self-shipped through customs Your ops team, per device
Procured locally through us Nobody; it is a line item

The hidden cost of shipping is not the duty, it is your ops lead spending a week per device arguing with a customs broker. Equipment is one line in the total cost picture; see the rest with the EOR versus entity calculator for your planned India team.

Equipment inside the employment relationship.

Devices are an employment problem wearing a logistics costume. Solved at the employer layer, they stop being either.

You run

  • The device spec and security baseline
  • Software, MDM and access policy
  • Refresh cycles and upgrade budgets

We handle

  • Local procurement at invoice cost
  • Configuration and delivery to the hire
  • Asset records tied to employment
  • Recovery and wipe at exit

You run
  • Set the spec
  • Own the MDM
  • Approve budgets
  • Decide refreshes

We handle
  • Buy locally
  • Configure devices
  • Deliver in days
  • Track the assets
  • Recover at exit
  • Wipe and redeploy

When something happens in India, it is ours.
Device standards and policy Yours, written once
Procurement and asset custody Versatile, at cost
The hardware itself Yours on the books

A named compliance manager owns your account. Not a queue, not a chatbot, one person who already knows your headcount and your last filing.

Account managerMedian first reply 4 to 6 hours
Recruitment coordinatorBrief to shortlist 9 days
Finance associateFilings on time 8 / 8

Equipment rides the onboarding rail

Because we already employ the hire, the laptop is a task inside the same five-day onboarding, not a separate logistics project. Day one arrives with the machine already at the desk.

At cost means at cost

Devices are billed at the supplier invoice price with no procurement margin. You see the actual quote before we buy, and the invoice matches it after.

Exits do not strand hardware

When someone leaves, device recovery is part of the exit checklist we run, alongside full and final settlement. Machines come back, get wiped to your standard and go to the next hire.

Shipping advice when you truly need it

Prototype hardware or specialised rigs sometimes must cross the border. For those cases we will point you at the right courier terms and what to declare, honestly including when a local buy still beats the import.

Equipment rides the onboarding rail

Because we already employ the hire, the laptop is a task inside the same five-day onboarding, not a separate logistics project. Day one arrives with the machine already at the desk.

One process, one timeline, one accountable party.

At cost means at cost

Devices are billed at the supplier invoice price with no procurement margin. You see the actual quote before we buy, and the invoice matches it after.

Procurement without a markup habit.

Exits do not strand hardware

When someone leaves, device recovery is part of the exit checklist we run, alongside full and final settlement. Machines come back, get wiped to your standard and go to the next hire.

Asset recovery works because the employer runs it.

Moving someone across

Equipment when the team transfers to your entity.

If your team later moves onto your own Indian entity, the asset register moves with it. Devices, their histories and their assignments transfer as a clean list.

Device assignments Kept
Asset records and history Kept
MDM and security posture Continuous
Re-procurement needed 0 days

The laptops never notice the employer changed.

Supporting evidence

The employer holding the asset register.

Equipment custody sits with Foo Falcon Technologies Pvt Ltd, our MCA-registered Bengaluru company operating since 2022. Purchase invoices and asset registers are open to you at any time.

  • Incorporation
  • GST
  • EPFO code
  • ESIC
  • Shops and Establishments
  • PAN and TAN
  • Udyam MSME
What we verify
  • Incorporation Ministry of Corporate Affairs
  • GST Goods and Services Tax
  • EPFO code Employees Provident Fund Organisation
  • ESIC Ministry of Labour and Employment
  • Shops and Establishments Government of Karnataka
  • PAN and TAN Income Tax Department
  • Udyam MSME Government of India

Every device traceable from purchase to desk to return.

200

hires equipped and onboarded in our largest wave

33

companies whose India operations we run monthly

5 days

from offer to a working, equipped employee

G2 4.8 / 5 on G2, from companies employing teams in India through us.

G2 4.8 / 5 on G2, from companies employing through us.

Teams that stopped fighting Indian customs.

Operators on retiring the laptop-shipping spreadsheet and folding equipment into employment.

Video
Bharath Rasoi KS Rajeshwari Founder, Bharath Rasoi
Video
Open Theatre Anand Raj Founder, Open Theatre
Abid Hassan Verified client
Sensibull
“They moved fast and took the whole compliance side off my plate. For a founder making an early India hire, that is exactly what you want.”
Abid Hassan Founder and CEO, Sensibull
Via G2
Moonshot
“Every option was either 'set up your own entity' or a platform that quotes a great price then hits you with add-ons. Versatile was the one that actually made it simple. First payroll ran on time. No scramble.”
Angad S. Co-Founder, Moonshot
Via G2
Digital Marketing Agency
“Contracts, PF, ESI, TDS and payroll all in one place. Invoicing in USD meant zero exchange rate surprises. The compliance rigour is genuinely reassuring.”
Vedant T. Founder, Digital Marketing Agency
Via G2
Design Studio
“Setting up in a new country can get messy fast, but their India EOR made onboarding feel easy. The team is responsive, clear, and great to work with.”
Setu C. Studio Owner, Design Studio
Via G2
US Startup
“We used Versatile to hire our first employee in India after months of putting it off because the compliance side seemed like a mess. They walked us through it and now we don't think about it.”
Verified US Founder First-time Founder, US Startup
Via G2
Mid-Market Tech Co.
“Versatile consistently delivered work that was both strategically sharp and execution-ready. Their turnaround times are impressive, and they think about problems the way an in-house team would.”
Shivani K. Senior Manager, Tech TA
Via G2
Growth-stage Startup
“Their team was highly responsive, professional, and easy to work with. They made a complex process feel simple.”
Mukul S. Core Team, Growth-stage Startup

Case studies.

Largest food delivery app in India, decacorn View case study The world's largest professional network, part of Microsoft View case study Legacy US software company, publishing platforms View case study

What equipment handling costs. Mostly nothing.

Procurement is included in the employment relationship. Devices bill at invoice cost; our fee stays the same two numbers.

Recruitment

If we also find the hire
12% of annual CTC

12% junior and mid, 15% senior, leadership by scope, invoiced at day 90. Equipment support included either way.

Ask about equipment
  • Nine-day shortlists
  • Salary benchmarking
  • Screening and coordination
  • Offer support
  • Day-90 invoicing
  • Free replacement search
  • Onboarding with device ready
  • Asset assignment on day one
  • Nine-day shortlists
  • Salary benchmarking
  • Screening and coordination
  • Offer support
Plus four more inclusions
  • Day-90 invoicing
  • Free replacement search
  • Onboarding with device ready
  • Asset assignment on day one

Devices are procured for any hire we employ, sourced by us or by you.

Employer of Record

Employment with equipment inside
$149 /employee/mo

$129 past twenty heads. Devices billed at supplier invoice with zero markup; salaries and statutory at actuals.

Price my setup
  • Employment and payroll
  • Statutory filings
  • Local device procurement
  • Configuration and delivery
  • Asset register upkeep
  • Insurance administration
  • Exit device recovery
  • Wipe and redeploy service
  • Employment and payroll
  • Statutory filings
  • Local device procurement
  • Configuration and delivery
Plus four more inclusions
  • Asset register upkeep
  • Insurance administration
  • Exit device recovery
  • Wipe and redeploy service

Procurement, custody and recovery ride inside the fee.

Past twenty equipped heads

$149 $129 /employee/mo

The employment fee steps down at twenty-one heads; device procurement stays at cost at every size.

Inside the monthly fee

  • Payroll and payslips
  • Statutory compliance
  • Device procurement at cost
  • Asset tracking
  • Insurance admin
  • Leave management
  • Exit and recovery process
  • Named account manager

Volume pricing

$149 $129 /employee/mo

From head twenty-one, $129 monthly per head.

Inside the monthly fee

  • Payroll and payslips
  • Statutory compliance
  • Device procurement at cost
  • Asset tracking
  • Insurance admin
  • Leave management
  • Exit and recovery process
  • Named account manager

Salaries plus statutory employer add-ons are billed at cost. To see equipment in the context of the full per-head cost, open the EOR versus entity calculator for your team size.

Laptops to India, the practical questions.

Everything ops teams ask about equipping Indian employees.

Can we just ship our standard company laptop to India?

You can, but budget roughly 40% of declared value in duty and taxes, one to four weeks of transit and customs time, and courier brokerage paperwork including the recipient's KYC. For standard models the identical machine bought in India is almost always cheaper and faster.

How does duty on imported laptops actually work?

Imported electronics attract customs duty plus IGST assessed on declared value. Personal-use exemptions do not apply to company shipments, undervaluing declarations is a compliance risk, and clearance can add days to weeks depending on the port and paperwork.

What is the local procurement alternative?

Tell us the spec and we buy the device from an Indian supplier at invoice cost, configure it to your baseline, and deliver it during the five-day onboarding. Indian pricing includes GST, the warranty is locally serviceable, and no customs process exists at all.

Do employees ever use their own machines?

Some clients allow it with an MDM enrolment and a stipend, and we can administer that policy. Most move to company-owned devices by the fifth hire because security posture and exit recovery get simpler when the employer controls the hardware.

What happens to the laptop when someone resigns?

Device recovery is a standard step in the exit process we run as employer, alongside notice management and final settlement. The machine is returned, wiped to your standard and either redeployed to the next hire or held in inventory.

Can you handle monitors, phones and other kit?

Yes. Anything an Indian supplier stocks, from monitors to headsets to phones, goes through the same at-cost purchase order and joins the same asset register. Specialised imports remain possible when local stock genuinely does not exist.

Whose balance sheet do the devices sit on?

Yours. We buy at cost on your approval and bill it straight through, holding custody as your employer of record in India. If you later open an entity, the asset register transfers with the team.

Longer reading: Equipping remote employees in India · Build a team in India from scratch · EOR India, the full guide

Tell us where you are on the decision.

A role you want to hire, a team you want moved, or just the two routes to compare. A named person replies in 4 to 6 hours.

A named person replies in 4 to 6 hours, not an autoresponder.

We use these details to respond to your enquiry.

A named person replies in 4 to 6 hours, not an autoresponder. We use these details to respond to your enquiry.

What the first call covers

30 minutes

A cost comparison for your headcount, on your numbers, both routes.

  • A written cost breakdown
  • Entity documents before the call
  • PF, ESI, TDS, termination law
  • No follow-up sequence
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