A personal shopper in India, for people who live abroad

Most things you miss from India were never going to appear in an Indian grocery store where you live. They come from one shop, in one city, and nobody exports them.

BazaarBuddy is a person in India who goes and buys them. We shop in Pune and Mumbai, photograph what is actually on the shelf that day, and ship it to your door. If you know exactly what you want and it sits in another Indian city, we can arrange pickup there too.

Missing India markets? Let us take you there.

What people actually ask us for

Not categories — specific things. A few real examples, at the shops' own prices:

Item	Shop	Price
Khawa Poli (2 pcs)	Athavale's, Pune	₹80
Mango Burfi	Chitale Bandhu	₹235
Special Motichur Ladoo, desi ghee	Athavale's	₹150
Ghungroo	Pune musical instrument shop	₹700–₹2,600
Cotton long kurti	Nazakat, Lucknowi chikankari	₹1,450

We do not mark up the goods. What the shop charges is what appears on your quotation — the same price your cousin would pay standing at the counter.

This is not a catalogue with a checkout button

There is a website, and you can browse it. But the actual service is a conversation.

Most of the shops we buy from have no website and no export arrangement. There is no "add to cart" for a Pune sweet shop's khawa poli. And what a box costs to send depends on what ends up in it — its size, how it packs, what you combined — which is not something a checkout page can work out honestly.

So we do it the way it actually works: you tell us what you want, we go and look, and we quote you a real number before you commit to anything. That is the trade. It is slower than Amazon and it gets you things Amazon has never heard of.

What that looks like in practice:

You describe it, we identify it. A photo, a shop name, or "the one my mother used to buy" is enough to start.
We go and look. If it isn't there, you hear that — rather than waiting on an order that was never going to arrive.
You see the real thing before you pay. Photographs of the actual item, not a stock picture.
Made to order is normal. A saree stitched to your measurements, sweets boxed fresh the week they ship.

Everything travels in one box

Five separate parcels from five shops cost far more than one box holding the same things — each parcel carries its own base charge, its own customs entry, and its own wasted space. We hold your items at our Pune address until your list is complete, then pack them together.

That includes things we didn't buy. Ordered something online in India yourself? Send it to our address and it travels with the rest. Something sitting at a relative's house? We can collect it.

US customs applies to every shipment now. The old low-value exemption was suspended, so duty is charged regardless of how small the parcel is — which is another reason one box beats five. Duty runs roughly 10% to 50% depending on the item, and is billed to you directly by the courier, separately from us. How the costs break down →

Where we shop

Pune and Mumbai for personal shopping — someone physically goes. Anywhere else in India by arrangement, when you can tell us the exact item and shop.

And where we ship

Most boxes go to the US and the UK, which is where most people who ask us happen to live. It isn't a restriction — if you're somewhere else, say so when you send your list and we'll work out what it takes to get it to you. Import charges are set by your country, and we tell you what to expect before you commit.

Browse what we already stock

Chitale Bandhu — Pune sweets and bakarwadi
Athavale's — traditional Maharashtrian sweets and farsan
Nazakat — Lucknowi chikankari
Indian musical instruments
Indian sports gear
All brands and shops →

Let us take you there.