How Reliable is Amazon Shipping to Cities in South Africa?
Amazon, based in Seattle, Washington, is a multinational technology firm that is known mostly for providing e-commerce services. How Reliable is Amazon Shipping is one question a lot of people have on their mind.
Like any other offline business, scammers have made people doubt the reliability of this online platform, and citizens cannot help but wonder, how reliable is Amazon shipping to South Africa? Here, we will help you understand how shopping online via Amazon works.
Why Buy from Amazon?
Amazon allows you to buy specific products that you want that aren’t sold by merchants in South Africa. This is done affordablely, for the most part, so you don’t have to compromise on your buying needs.
This is particularly true with electronics. Many of the products are cheaper than buying locally, even with shipping costs and import fees included.
How to Buy from Amazon in South Africa
Amazon is the largest online store in the world. They have what seems like an endless range of products. Thanks to the internet, we are all global customers and we see products from all over the world.
You might see something that you want that can only be bought overseas. Below will explain to you how to buy from Amazon in South Africa:
Create an Account:
1. To create an Amazon account, start by heading to the Amazon website by clicking on the link below.
2. Once you are on the Amazon website, to the right near the top there is a tab that says Hello. Sign in. Move your mouse over it and when you do, you will get a dropdown menu that says Start Here.
3. Click on Start Here and you will see the page to create your account. Enter your name, email address, and choose a password. Your account is now created. You can now purchase from Amazon.
How to Place an Order on Amazon
1. Go to Amazon.com to place an order
2. Browse through the storefront to find the items that you want to buy. If you are looking for a specific product, search for it in the search field near the top of the screen.
3. Add all the products you want by clicking Add To Cart near the right end of the screen.
4. When you are done shopping, click on “proceed to checkout” and input your address.
At this point, the company will calculate all your fees and import duties and have all your items delivered to your address.
You can buy from Amazon on any smart device, including smartphones and tablets. But the easiest way to buy is on the desktop as you can see the many different menus more easily and zoom in on products.
Cost of Shipping
You pay for shipping to the Aramex address, which is usually free. Then you pay Aramex to ship to South Africa. If you are a frequent buyer and are wondering if you can bundle products together, you can.
To be able to do that you have to join Aramex’s flex membership program which costs R1500 per year. You can stack orders from multiple places to have them delivered in one go to save costs.
For more information on flex membership, you can read about it on Aramex’s website here.
How to Pay
Buying on Amazon is a straightforward process but there are some limitations that you need to know about when you are buying from South Africa.
Paying with Debit / Credit Card: Paying with a card is the most common option. The process is straightforward and no different from paying with your card in South Africa.
Simply go to the checkout area and underpayment details you will need to input your debit card details and your address.
Payoneer: If you do not want to use your debit or credit card for safety reasons, you can use a Payoneer account. Payoneer allows you to make and receive payments from overseas.
The great thing about Payoneer is that it is the official payment partner for Amazon. People who make money through Amazon’s Associate Program can only get paid through Payoneer if they want a digital payment.
Amazon Gift Cards: Another way to pay for a product on Amazon is through gift cards. It can be a gift card that was given to you and comes with a code. You can also buy gift cards on Amazon through the website.
Ways to Shipping to South Africa from Amazon
When buying on Amazon you have the choice to ship through postal or courier. Couriers are companies like Aramex and DHL. They do not go through the post office and parcels usually fly through customs without any delays.
They will then deliver the package to your door. Aramex is a company that Amazon deals with within South Africa. Dealing with any other company will likely cost you a lot more, at around R400 at the minimum.
The USPS option is postal so it goes to the post office. If you ship through them, they should send you a note to pick up your parcel at the post office that is associated with the delivery address.
Avoid Post Office Shipping
South Africa’s postal service has a bad reputation and there are a lot of risks with shipping via postal. The best option is to ship products through a courier.
It will cost more but you have the peace of mind of knowing that you will receive your purchase and in a reasonable time.
With postal, the package can make it to South Africa fairly easily. Once your package arrives in SA, you will receive a new tracking number.
The problem is that stuff can be stuck in customs for two to three weeks, although it’s not unusual for a parcel to take two months to reach you.
Then reports of packages taking two years to reach the recipient. There are even when you buy and there are delays, it is not the company that you are paying for the shipping, but rather with customs where the issues lie.
All companies that ship through postal are at the mercy of customs and you can have a 2-3 month wait in the worst-case scenario. If the site offers up a courier fee that is between R400 and R500 you should go with that.
Courier Shipping with Amazon
Aramex is a company that has partnered with Amazon to fulfill orders in South Africa. The way it works is that Aramex has addressed all over the world that you can ship to. They ship to the place that is closest to the vendor from whom you are buying.
From there the product gets shipped to you, wherever you are in the world. So when you are buying on Amazon and you use Aramex for shipping, just use Aramex as if it was your address.
Aramex will know from the address that the parcel belongs to you and will notify you by email when they get it.
1. So to summarize, the steps are as follows:
2. Place an order on the desired site with the address that Aramex provides.
3. When the order arrives, Aramex will notify you and you must then pay.
Once you have paid, Aramex will ship the package to you and all you have to do then is wait for it to arrive at your door.
How Fast and Reliable Is Amazon Shipping to South Africa?
According to the company’s site on shipping times to Africa, the standard time to ship items to SA is 10 to 14 business days. For expedited shipping, it may take approximately 8 to 16 business days to receive your product.
The other option is priority shipping which takes 2 to 7 working days, and you pay more for your goods to arrive faster. Note that this period may be extended due to various circumstances.
Buying with peace of mind is all you need to do when buying from Amazon in South Africa. Please follow the steps above so that you won’t have any problems with purchases and shipping.
