How I buy things on Amazon and other US websites from Nigeria

Posted by Felix Okoli on Monday April 6, 2015 at 18:57:18:

Global online shopping is what a growing number of Nigerians do nowadays thanks to the internet and the available of credit/debit cards.

It's actually easier to buy things online in Nigeria from local shopping websites as they will mostly accept your order and even go the extra mile of bringing the item to your home for free and still accept cash on delivery. Shopping on US websites is quite different as they mostly don't ship to Nigeria and normally prefer payments in advance especially for non US buyers.

One good news about Amazon.com is that they now accept credit/debit cards issued by Nigerian banks as long as they are powered by Visa or Mastercard but they don't still ship most items to Nigeria as they prefer delivering only to US addresses and they do this to protect their business.

How then does a Nigerian who might want to buy thigns on American websites like Amazon do it? Well, it's not so straightforward as you'd need to first of all get a US address

A US address will allow you to complete your shopping experience with US based websites like Amazon as they would require one so as to know where to send your ordered items to if they are physical goods.

I've bought a lot of things on Amazon using my US address but my US address is not exactly the complete package as what I really have is a US mail forwarding service. My US mail forwarding service provides me with a US address and international shipping service that will help receive my goods from Amazon and then forward it to my address in Nigeria using a fast courier service like DHL or Fedex.

The 3 basic things that I have are my Amazon buyer's account, a Nigerian issued Visa/Mastercard and a US mail forwarding service. With them, I can place orders on Amazon, pay in Naira for what I want and still be able to get the items finally sent to me in Nigeria without having to travel to the USA for shopping.

I've bought quite a lot of things on Amazon from Nigeria even without boarding an airplane and this has helped me avoid having to pay a flight ticket to the USA. If you consider the fact that a flight ticket from Lagos to New York costs about $800 in 2014 and there is the added stress of boarding and staying on a plane for many hours, I think you would be better off shopping online if you just know what you want and where to buy it.

It's not just computers, laptops and electronics that I've bought on Amazon with little or no buyer's remorse but I've also purchased clothes and shoes too. Buying clothes on Amazon can be a bit tricky and confusing for people who don't know their exact size and so it's normally better to know your size before placing an order for them on Amazon. I've bought jeans, trousers, shoes and shirts that were my exact size on Amazon and I didn't need to test the clothes before buying them.

If you can shop on US websites like Amazon from Nigeria, you could open a whole new door of opportunities for yourself and have access to high quality products that are made in the USA whenever you want them.

Shopping on Amazon with my US address has helped me get US made products almost as soon as they hit US retail stores. If you want them and can afford to pay for it, it's your's for the taking.

Just get a US mail forwarding service and shop on Amazon.