How to buy from Amazon and ship to Nigeria

Posted by Felix Okoli on Wednesday November 5, 2014 at 13:46:15:

Would you like to buy things from Amazon USA and have it shipped to Nigeria? Well, it’s really possible but you should first of all know that Amazon.com doesn’t offer direct shipping to Nigeria for now except for a few things such as DVDs and books. For most of the other mainly good stuff like laptops, phones, clothes and shoes, Amazon only ships to local addresses within the USA.
How does one shop on Amazon in the first place if he were living in Nigeria? Well, one good thing is that Amazon doesn't reject Nigerian issued Visa or MasterCard cards and it doesn't really matter if it’s a Naira or Dollar card but as long as it has been enabled for online shopping, it can also be used to shop on Amazon.

One of the things I normally tell people who live in Nigeria but want to shop on US websites like Amazon is to get a US mail forwarding service. A US mail forwarding service will help them receive their ordered goods at a US address that Amazon will ship to without any restrictions.

To buy things on Amazon from Nigeria is quite easy, just get a USD or Naira Visa/MasterCard from your bank, register for an Amazon account, setup a US mail forwarding service and then buy all the things you want from Amazon and it will be shipped to Nigeria all within a few days. It takes about 2 days at least to get an item shipped from Amazon to your US address and at least another 3 working days to get to Lagos Nigeria through DHL or Fedex.

In the past, it used to be harder for Nigerian residents to buy things on Amazon since credit and debit cards powered by Visa or MasterCard weren’t available. Then, Nigerians who still wanted to shop on Amazon had to make use of virtual prepaid cards and had to pay a much higher exchange rate to get them. Later on, Visa and MasterCard came into Nigeria but yet weren’t automatically enabled for online shopping until banks gradually eased into their customer’s needs. Nowadays, the easiest way to get a n activate card that works on US websites like Amazon is to simply get a USD card. Naira cards might need additional requests at your bank before they are operational on global sites.

The first time I purchased something on Amazon, it was a DVD and it was shipped directly to Nigeria to my preferred shipping address and since then, I’ve bought a lot of things such as laptops, clothes, shoes and computer accessories but those ones were shipped to my US address. I’ve even successfully subscribed to Amazon prime and also bought some instant movies and Kindle apps which are still available to my account.

For buying tangible things on Amazon and having them shipped to my Nigerian address, I’ve mostly been able to do that because I have a US shipping agent that helps me to receive my goods, allows me to take pictures if I want, do a return or request for a final shipping to Nigeria and all I have to do is just pay for the final shipping cost to Nigeria. Shipping costs to Nigeria through DHL or Fedex will mostly depend on the weight of your package. Another thing that determines how much you are going to pay for international shipping to Nigeria will depend on the dimensional size of your package.

Do Nigerian cards work on Amazon? Well yes they do but I have to say that not all cards might be activated by default to work on Amazon and so might require you apply for it at your bank. Prepaid USD cards are activated by default since they are mostly meant to be used on USD websites for making payments. You can test if your card will work on Amazon by simply trying to do a small transaction on the website.

To test if your Visa or MasterCard is working on Amazon, one easy thing you can buy is a $10 Amazon gift card by email. Yes, if you are able to buy email gift cards on Amazon and send to yourself, then it means your card has been activated for shopping on Amazon. The good thing about buying Amazon gift cards is that they never expire and it can even be a cool way to save your money in foreign currency rather than the Naira. The only thing is that Amazon gift cards can only be redeemed by spending it on Amazon’s shopping website.

Things you will need to shop on Amazon and get it shipped to Nigeria
- Internet access
- Amazon buyer account
- Visa/MasterCard or Amazon Gift card
- A US mail forwarding account

I have to say that shopping on Amazon has allowed me have access to a lot of good stuffs and without having to travel to the USA. It has also helped me become a better online shopper. I now have some experience at how to buy the right size of jeans, clothes and shoes. I know how to buy the right car parts for my car and also have access to high quality electronic products. I recharge my power powers with a solar charge I bought from Amazon and have even replaced my Sony laptop screen with an LCD screen I‘ve bought from Nigeria. Some of the reasons I buy from Amazon rather than from Nigerian markets include: non availability of certain products in Nigeria, not wanting low quality products, saving money on new products and so on. If for instance you want to spend money on Christmas clothes in a boutique and your spending would top N100k, it would be better you just buy it from Amazon since it would save you money and you’ll also have access to a much wider variety of clothes and the right sizes you want.

Last time I bought something on Amazon and got it shipped to Nigeria, it costs me about $50 per kg but the rate tends to reduce per unit when I buy items in bulk e.g. 10kg would cost me about $240 on shipping rather than $500.

So, if you want to buy something on Amazon USA but live in Nigeria and yet want it delivered to you, it’s best you go get a US mail forwarding account to make the work easier. They will receive the items for you, ship it using an international courier service and you can track it online until it reaches Nigeria.