Lemme be honest. I went into ordering my first package with Shypmate with a grain of salt. Although my friends recommended Shypmate that high, I still felt hesitant. You’ll get an item delivered from the US to Ghana in 5-10 days? What’s the guarantee it’ll be delivered? What if the traveler runs away with my 10$ package (stupid thinking, right)?
You likely would have had similar reasoning (if you’re a Ghanaian), and you’re right to. Whenever entering new waters, it feels a bit weird, and when we aren’t used to a process, it can feel vague and spooky.
I remember my Xperia Z2 was purchased on Tuesday from a shop in the UK, and the following week Monday, the package was on my desk in the office. This is a story from Cape Town.
The entire process was handled by Orange. The guys were good. Items are UK prices, UK quality, and delivered at lightning speed! When I moved to Ghana, I asked if Orange could do something similar for Ghana.
I could gently ask Orange because I had shopped with them some 3 times, even replacing an SBH80 Sony headset of mine when it broke.
Obviously, Orange doesn’t operate in Ghana, and that wasn’t gonna happen.
Amazon doesn’t ship to Ghana, although some believe they do. I’m yet to come across a shop on Amazon that ships to Ghana. And even if a shop does, how am I gonna collect my item: At the airport? DHL? Fedex? How long will it take?
All valid questions, but without any concrete answers, I never tried shopping online to be delivered to Ghana.
Enter Shypmate
I heard about Shypmate from the Ghana Developer Group some time ago. Went to their website, nice et all, but I guess the services didn’t tickle me as something I could make use of.
Fast forward to a week ago, and I needed to purchase a long range router. Ubiquiti has some great routers in this category. Finding the specific model I want was easy.
However, getting the model at a reasonable and affordable price was another. Oh, and where would I get this device?
I could go to Accra, ask around till I get a router shop. Or I could search online for stores in Accra? Well I tried that, didn’t work out pretty well.
Tonaton? Naa, didn’t get the model I wanted. All I could find was the NSM2 instead. I wanted the NSM5. Surprisingly, the NSM2 cost 600 Cedis. A lower model that expensive?
Now, I knew what I want, the price, and fortunately had a means to get this package delivered to me in 5 to 10 days. A great win-win.
Total Cost of Shypment?
The combined total cost amounted to $92.52. This involved:
So below, I do a quick unboxing of receiving my first ever package from Shypmate, nicely parceled!
Visit Shypmate website to learn how to get an item delivered from the US to you in 5-10 days. It worked for me! It was fast. Sometimes local prices are extremely expensive, even on Tonaton.
In my case, the cost of the item I wanted, combined even with the shipping cost was some 150 Cedis still less than any I could find in Ghana for the specific model!
Now I can easily recommend Shypmate to others, and I hope to use their services more often this year and beyond.
I understand I had some credit to spare in the above transaction, and eventually the cost to ship down items will be higher, but I think I’m okay buying my device in the US and having to wait just about 10 days to have it in Ghana.
I could ask around, go looking for something in Accra, do research online or whatnot. Or, I can just order online, and Shypmate will give to me in max of 10 days. I think I’ll pick the latter for peace of mind’s sake.
This package was delivered to Koforidua. It doesn’t get better than that.
Thank you, Shypmate
