How I buy clothes on US websites from Nigeria

Posted on Thursday November 5, 2015 at 17:8:59:

I've purchased quite a number of clothes from US merchants through their websites from Nigeria. Some of them allow me to pay with my Naira card while some prefer I pay with a US Paypal account. Some block my Nigerian IP while some allow me to visit their website from Nigeria. I've purchased clothes mostly from Amazon and a few from other stores.

Things you need to consider
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- Size: You need to know your clothing size so that you don't end up buying clothes that are too big or too small. It's normally best to buy clothes from brands you already know and you can compare with existing US made clothes you already have before buying them.

- Fabric: I've come to know that it's best buying clothes that are loose, light and airy rather than thick and dark due to the hot condition in Nigeria. Buying winter or cold friendly clothes on US websites may leave you with a bad experience when you wear it in Nigeria. The weather is hotter in Nigeria most of the year round and so it's good to buy clothes that would make you cooler rather than hotter. It should be friendly to friendly to the hot weather we have in Nigeria. Personally, I like cotton fabrics and so I go for 60% to 100% cotton content when buying clothes.

- Price: Pricing also matters when it comes to buying clothes. You should stick to buying the ones that are okay for your budget while also considering the increased cost of getting it to Nigeria such as international shipping and custom duties. It may be cheap in the USA and become more costly by the time it gets to Nigeria and there is also the exchange rate factor. You can decide to stick to a budget of say $10 to $20 rather than $80 to $100 per cloth.

How I buy my clothes on Amazon
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Since Amazon doesn't ship clothes directly to Nigeria yet, I make use of a US shipping agent who provide me with a US address and warehouse I can use to receive my clothes after ordering for them,

I place my orders on Amazon after selecting the clothes I want, adding them to my cart and checking out.

I would make a payment using my Nigerian bank issued Visa or Mastercard and get billed in Naira for the equivalent dollar value calculated by Amazon currency converter.

Amazon delivers my clothes to my US address within a few days and I can track it using their internal tracking system.

I make a shipment request by logging into my US shipping account and my package gets shipped to Nigeria using DHL, Fedex or UPS. I also have to pay for the shipping cost which depends on the shipping weight of the clothes I purchased.

I'm able to track my package until it arrives Nigeria and if there are any custom duties payable, I have to pay it and for clothes, I have to say that it's a bit on the high side. Expect to spend an extra 30 to 40% of custom duty and so you should plan for it.

Comments
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It's probably much cheaper to buy clothes directly from sellers in Nigeria if you are into retail buying but if you are buying in bulk or want to spend a lot of money shopping for clothes(e.g. > N100k), you can save money when you buy them directly from US websites like Amazon, MyHabit or BestBuy. However, if there are clothes you want to buy but don't readily find them in Nigeria, then it's probably ok to buy them straight from Amazon because they are most likely going to have it.

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