My Amazon shopping experience: October 2015

Posted on Wednesday October 7, 2015 at 9:4:32:

I recently make use of my US shipping account to receive and forward goods I ordered for on Amazon. As you might already know, my US shipping account give me a US shipping address to use for shopping on Amazon in order to receive goods I want to buy on Amazon that they don't offer direct deliveries to Nigeria yet.

What I bought this time was basically some facial and body creams from Clinique as well as a rare car color paint and it was all for a close friend that requested it and paid me in advance. I was able to estimate the total cost in advance and only placed the order on Amazon after I was sure how much everything was going to cost.

I also purchased some cotton shirts from Van Heusen as well as some Polo shirts from US Polo Assn. and Gildan but I did not include them in this shipment because I know that it's going to cost some custom duty and don't want custom to charge me the same high rate on these creams as they do on clothes. Yes, duties on clothes are now really high and one could pay as much as 40% on the cost of clothe you import to Nigeria to the Nigerian customs. So, I just wanted to import the body creams and lotions separately. My US Premium membership account allows me to delay shipment for my other warehoused packages for up to 30 days for free.

The total cost of the items I purchased for this recently shipped batch was $162.44 or NGN36,062.26 and I received an SMS alert from my bank after my card was charged and got to know that the exchange rate used was N222 for 1 USD.

Items I purchased and shipped
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Clinique Pore Refining Solutions Correcting Serum, 1.7 Ounce. cost: $77.34

Dupli-Color BTY1610 Desert Sand Mica Toyota Exact-Match Automotive Paint - 8 oz. Aerosol. Cost: $8.35

Samsonite Luggage Tectonic Backpack, Black/Red, One Size. Cost $56

Clinique Acne Solutions 3 Steps Clear Skin System All Skin Types System *Full Size Kit*. Cost $78.99

Clinique Even Better Skin Tone Correcting Lotion SPF 20 (Combination Oily to Oily) - 50ml/1.7oz. Cost $55.39

I purchased the items on Amazon and had them shipped to my US address. They all arrived within a week but at different times because they were sold by different sellers. Each time I received an item at my US address, I received an email notification that I had a package and was able to log into my account to see what the package is and also confirm from my Amazon account on the status of the order.

When I received all the items, I was able to request for international shipping to my address in Nigeria and afterwards, my bank account was charged and I knew that they've forwarded my package to DHL which is my preferred shipping partner. I was able to track my package online at DHL using the tracking number my US shipper gave me and the item was on the way.

I'm expecting it to arrive in 4 working days or less and hope that I don't have to pay custom duty on it because this is the first time I'm importing cosmetic products. If they are any duty to pay, DHL will inform me by email or a letter after my package arrives Nigeria and I'd also see that my package was delayed on their tracking website.

The items I am importing have a shipping weight of 8.31 lbs or 3.8 kg and I was billed a total of $162.44 or NGN36,062.26 as international shipping costs to get it to Nigeria. The purchase cost I incurred to get it from Amazon was $225.06 or N47,000 and so the total acquisition cost I've spent for now excluding any custom duty is about N84,000 which is not that bad given that the items cost more in Nigeria and are very scarce.

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