Why? I have had one order seized in over three years.
If you are a nervous Nellie, perhaps this isn’t the place for you.
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My interest is in maximizing health and longevity, and this place is for me. Your reply is unnecessarily derogatory.
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He is a bit of a carmudgeon, but you’ll (mostly, eventually) get used to it 
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Though, curmudgeon, not carmudgeon, is more appropriate for an old codger like me.
And, no, I don’t like sheep. I like the adventurous. 
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“I hope you are right for your sake.”
Then don’t be so condescending.
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Not for the amounts that people typically order for their own use. Customs just sends you a letter and then destroys it.
See details here: Importing Rapamycin to Save Money (2)
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Thanks. That’s good to know.
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I’m not attaching myself too much to any of these rules, as things change so often and so randomly that by the time I’m ready to order from India in November, things may well change again. The tariffs on India are likely a matter of negotiations, so who knows. It’s chaos. Cost of doing business will go up, but on the flip side you can still enjoy and rely on laws that this administration is not going to change: laws of physics, and right now I’m swinging in my hammock, confident the law of gravity will still apply at least until sundown when I’ll move indoor.
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Might want to get in some extra orders from India to clear customs before the Aug 27 deadline.
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Meh, just for the heck of it, I decided to go ahead and throw in a rash of orders to top off my med stash to last till 2030 - put them in today, we’ll see if they get in before 08/29. I’m speculating that you actually have a few days more, because the 08/29 applies not to when it reaches your doorstep, but rather to when it clears customs. So it may clear customs on 08/28, but not get to you until, say, 09/05.
But yeah, these are likely the last days you can still order from abroad without fees and possible complications. I’m less worried about the extra cost, and more concerned that this may mean more packages being opened, FDA scrutiny, delays and seizures. So I’m chancing some last minute orders despite the heat. We’ll see how it goes.
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To add to @amuser’s post:
If you have been following, Trump flip-flops on the amount of tariffs and when they will be applied. It’s only going to be at the last minute when customs pushes the button to interpret the meaning of Trump’s tariffs.
For six months after August 29, shipments will face a specific tariff of $80 to $200 per package, based on the country of origin’s tariff rate. Though an article in India Today says a 25% tariff begins on August 1st.
I will become a guinea pig. I just placed an order today that will be shipped by India Post.
Since I typically save anywhere between 100% and 1000% (in the case of sildenafil or tadalafil), I can live with a 25% tariff. If it is between $80 and $200, that means I will be ordering larger amounts for the next six months. There is no possibility that customs can inspect the contents of every package. That would bring the system to a total halt.
I have looked at various sites and asked several AIs for the actual tariffs to be applied to shipments from India. Some AIs have slightly different interpretations, and many of their references are just journalistic opinion pieces.
The most optimistic is from Gemini Pro:
New Tariff Structure for Postal Shipments
Under the new regulations, goods shipped from India to the U.S. through the postal system will be subject to one of two new tariff schemes for an initial six-month period:
Ad Valorem Duty: This tariff will be calculated as a percentage of the declared value of the shipment. The specific rate will be equivalent to the effective tariff rate of the package’s country of origin. Given the newly imposed 25% tariff on Indian goods, this is the likely rate that will be applied.
Specific Tariff: Alternatively, a specific, fixed tariff ranging from $80 to $200 may be applied, depending on the tariff rate of the country of origin.
I don’t know the actual implications of this, and neither does Trump. We will just have to wait and see.
As it stands, it looks like the worst-case scenario will be an 80% tariff for the next six months after August 29.
“Shipments routed through the international postal system (i.e., India Post in partnership with USPS) are treated differently from those shipped via private carriers such as FedEx, DHL, or UPS”
For international postal parcels from India (and globally), there are now two tariff scenarios:
Or, goods will face an “ad valorem duty” calculated at the same tariff rate applied to that country’s exports—a percentage of the declared value of the goods (for India, now set at 25%)
The way I read it, packages sent from India through the postal system will face only a 25% ad valorem tax. But, for sure, it is going to delay shipments.
“Customs handling: Although the postal channel is less administratively burdensome than commercial courier services, all parcels will now need to clear customs duties, lengthening the process and potentially increasing paperwork.”
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Yes, and we’ve already been seeing this with peptide imports from China. Things used to get passed right through, but now they go into inspection, yet they arrive unopened. The “inspection” is usually that of documentation rather than goods. Still, it is adding days to weeks for things to come through sometimes. Only sometimes. And it seems to vary depending on the port of entry. Chicago is horrible, Miami is fast, Los Angeles is all over the place.
It’s also clear that enforcement goes in waves where they do targeted crackdowns for a while and then focus on something else. We’ve seen reports of this on the news and sometimes on this forum.
Shipments from China are now always handled by customs brokers who are employing tricks to get things through. These are sometimes discussed a little bit by the Chinese sources over DM when orders seem to be delayed. Basically, logistics companies know how to work the system. If success rates do end up dropping so much that customers get discouraged from ordering, our Indian friends may have to get more sophisticated. I’m sure they will adapt.
Somehow, packages will keep coming through. If we look at the daily lists of seized items that the CBP publishes and compare it to how many parcels get processed, it’s clear that flooding the zone will continue to work. The CBP warehouses are only so large. They can’t let a backlog pile up forever.
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Ha, ha, well that makes two of us. I already placed two orders today with two different vendors, and placed an inquiry with a third who has not gotten back to me as yet. If the third seller contacts me soon, that will be three vendors with three orders. Depending on who sends me the order first with photo and tracking number, I’ll place one more order with them, which should still make it before the deadline. That’ll be four orders. This weekend I’m buying a second fridge for my meds in the basement. If all these come in, I’m set till 2030.
Of course the joke will be that with all these orders from all over the US piling up in India, there will be severe delays, and all will be slammed by tariffs, seizures and chaos when they finally ship sometime in October🤣…
UPDATE: 08/03/25 - and as promised, I would place another identical order with whoever of the three vendors shipped their package first with photo and tracking number… well, it was Jagdish, just emailed me the info and I placed an identical order with him again. So now I have FOUR packages from India coming my way - we’ll see if they make it before 08/29/25. Exciting times!
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Question for the group.
Ezetimibe is dirt cheap through good rx, but I ordered Brillo EZ instead of just bempedoic acid from India because one pill vs two seemed like a better idea. It turns out it’s a fairly large pill, so I’m wondering if I’m better off just getting BA.
My question is, for those of you who have tried both, is just bempedoic acid a lot smaller than Brillo ez? I assume it is.
Also, on bempodoic acid, which brands do you prefer. My Brillo EZ is Sun Pharma
Thank you!
You are the BEST! From here, they look fairly identical, right?
The Brillo is significantly smaller, ~the same length but with a smaller diameter.
My Brillo is from Sun Pharma. Zetaheal is from Healing Pharma. I have no complaints.
Top to bottom
Brillo EZ, 180/10 mg
Brillo, 180 mg
Zetiheal Ezetimibe, 10 mg
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I don’t have my calipers handy, but I’d say the combo pill is 30% thicker. Torrent brand.
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