UPDATED! My Experience With ShippyMe Overseas Shipping Services

UPDATE November 27, 2014: Beware of ShippyMe – Circuit Atlantic

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Amazon by default doesn’t ship goods to certain countries and Nigeria is one of such. Thus we have to rely on small shipping companies to purchase goods from overseas. In the past I used Circuit Atlantic to get my BlackBerry PlayBook but after they launched ShippyMe I decided to give it a try as it seemed like a cheaper option.

NOTE: ShippyMe and Circuit Atlantic are operated by the same people. The major difference is that Circuit Atlantic helps purchase the goods on your behalf while ShippyMe lets you shop on your own and then ship the goods to their US Headquarters from where the goods are then shipped to Nigeria

ShippyMe in my opinion is cheaper than Circuit Atlantic

How ShippyMe Works

In a nut shell, you go to their site and sign up for a free account after which you will be given a personal mailing address where you can ship all your goods. Personally I only shopped Amazon as they had no issues with my UBA AfriCard and they were offering free shipping

TIP: When shopping Amazon from Nigeria, DO NOT checkout in Naira. Checkout in Dollars. Amazon’s exchange rate is kinda steep. Also choose to consolidate your Amazon purchases in one package if they are from different retailers. This way you pay less though the goods may take a while before they ship.

Once you’ve placed your orders, simply go back to ShippyMe site and book a shipment listing all the items that you’re expecting. As soon as your packages arrive ShippyMe, you’ll be alerted via email and based on your shipping options, you’ll be given a quote which has to be paid before your goods are shipped out to Nigeria. You can even preview the goods via your account. The picture above is that which ShippyMe uploaded to my account when they received my order

Expect to receive email alerts from ShippyMe when the following happen:

1. When your goods arrive ShippyMe HQ
2. When your goods undergo processing for delivery to Nigeria
3. When your goods are sent to the Courier
4. When your goods depart the US for Nigeria
5. When your goods arrive Nigeria and are undergoing clearance by Customs
6. When your goods are been processed for delivery to you
7. When your goods are ready for pickup … if you chose office pickup option

My first order came into Nigeria within 7 days but due to issues with Customs/NAHCO been on strike, I got my goods over 3 weeks late BUT the last order sailed through smoothly within 7 days (including weekend)

One peculiar thing with ShippyMe though is that they claim the more your ship, the less you pay.

Refer to http://www.shippyme.com/faq/

3. What are your shipping costs?

Our shipping costs start at $5.5 per pound (lbs) and goes to as low as $4.00 per pound. The more you ship, the lower the per unit weight cost. This variation is done automatically by our system.

My first order weighed just 0.45kg and I was charged $40.04 in shipping and handling fees as you can see below

But my next order was almost triple the first order at 1.27kg and I only paid $51.89

Boy was I delighted.

To reduce your shipping cost, you must use the Consolidation and Strip My Package features.

ShippyMe Issue(s)

My only problem with ShippyMe though is that they don’t accept online bank transfers. I’m so allergic to queuing up in banking halls. I just wish they’d look into this and implement that asap ‘cause sometimes debit card payments don’t go through on their site. #BlameItOnOurYeyeBanks

Compared to shipping goods in via the likes of DHL, ShippyMe is a cheap delight.

I’m looking forward to my next order using their services once I’m done researching what I want to buy next. Hopefully they will never disappoint me.

Have you ever done business with ShippyMe? What was your experience like? Do please let us know in the comment form below. Thanks

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