Kaboutjie SA Mommy Blogs by Lynne Huysamen
When I tell people that I love to buy from Amazon in South Africa they usually look at me strangely and ask why when we are in South Africa and we have local stores to buy from. Actually there are many reasons why I love to buy from Amazon and if you have not bought from Amazon before you may be surprised at how smooth and efficient the process is buying from Amazon.
***Disclosure -The links in this post may contain affiliate links and I may receive a small commission if you make a purchase after clicking on a link.***
Amazon Has An Amazing Product Range
This is the biggest draw card for me. I love that I can find almost anything I want on Amazon. When I am shopping for things in South Africa I find that very often I can’t get all the items I am looking for from one store. When I search on Amazon I usually find everything I am looking for and a great variety of those items too!
If you just look at the fashion items available you will be hard pressed to come up with even a fraction of the variety in a store in South Africa.
I love that when I search for something I can usually find exactly what I am looking for which is an absolute pleasure.
Amazon Has Great Pricing
Even when you take the USD to ZAR exchange rate you will find that the products stocked there are often much better priced than you find in some of our stores in South Africa. Yes some of the items work out a little pricey but for the most part I find the items well priced.
When you add in the fact that you can find what you want and at a good price too there is just no comparison to our local stores.
Amazon Has Loads Of Product Reviews
This is for me a huge bonus. I don’t want to make my purchasing decisions based only on the product description that the store has put up. I want to be able to see what people are saying about the product – people that have actually purchased the product and left an honest review.
The Amazon website has loads of reviews and almost every product I am interested in has a number of reviews, both positive and negative which help me to make a decision about whether I am going to buy it or not.
Just go search for something on Amazon yourself and check out all the reviews!
Delivery Is Fast and Efficient
You would think that buying things from the USA would mean that you have to wait a long time for delivery but that is so not the case! Every time I buy something from Amazon I am surprised by my delivery that usually comes long before the estimated date they give me.
Every single time I have ordered from Amazon my delivery has arrived within one week which is about the same as what you can expect from many local stores.
Import Fees Are Included
While paying import fees is not fun I really love the way that they work it at Amazon. When you place your order they estimate how much import taxes you will need to pay and they include it in your bill and they take care of the import duties. There is a chance that they get the amount incorrect and then you may need to pay in an amount, however they usually over-estimate and pay the difference back to you.
Usually when you buy something from overseas you pay the store for the product and delivery, then it gets stuck at Customs and you have to then pay import taxes to get your item delivered to you.
I’m not a fan of waiting to find out how much import fees I’m going to need to pay, which makes the way that Amazon does it an absolute pleasure. I can see the estimated import fees in my account before I pay so there are no nasty surprises.
I’ve never had to pay in any extra for import fees after I’ve paid Amazon, they have always refunded the difference to me.
They Have An Affiliate Program
Yes I have to add this in, as a blogger I love to review the things that I purchase and add an affiliate link. This means that I can then make commission when someone buys that product on my recommendation.
It is an added bonus for me and something that I love about Amazon – they are one of the most trusted online stores in the world and it is not hard to make some money on the side promoting their products on my website.
There are some online stores in South Africa that offer affiliate programs but none that offer the range and trust that comes with Amazon.
Are There Any Cons To Buying From Amazon?
Yes, as with anything there are some cons and I have to share them with you here so you have the full picture.
Returning Products To Another Country
The biggest negative to buying from Amazon is that returning goods to another country is obviously not going to be convenient. I believe that their returns policy is quite good but I have never made use of their returns policy.
I have once bought a pair of shoes that were stunning but a little bit too tight, instead of returning them I gave them to a friend of mine because I could not be bothered with returning them to another country and paying the expense of the return.
If I received something that was faulty or not what I ordered then I would return the items and insist upon a refund but in the case of the above I just kept them.
I recommend that you pay very careful attention to their sizing and if you are not sure then rather contact the seller on Amazon to make sure you get it right before placing your order.
Some Items Don’t Ship To South Africa
Another con is that some of the items are not available for delivery to South Africa, which can get really annoying when I find something I really want and I can’t get it here. This has gotten better though, about 3 years ago I was getting very annoyed when almost everything I wanted was not available here but now most things can be shipped to South Africa.
Import Taxes Increase The Costs
One last con is that the import taxes at times can make the overall cost a bit high, although it does depend on the item. I bought a stunning pack of sports bras a while back and even with the delivery fees from USA and the import taxes they worked out much cheaper than buying any of the sports bras that I liked here.
I would love for Amazon to open an online store in South Africa, what a pleasure that would be!
We also buy many things from Amazon, especially their watches are extremely well priced. Their policy on import taxes say that if they underestimate the tax, they will pay the difference but will refund you if they overestimate it. Both my husband and I have returned items and Amazon even refunds you the courier fee as long as you use their couriers. We also had an instance of a dodgy supplier who maybe just didn’t have a good command of English who eventually refunded us when the product hadn’t arrived when they said it would.
Amazon is one of our go-to online retailers.
Thanks for adding that information on the returns Karen, it is great to get some feedback in that from someone in South Africa that has returned something!
I’ve always been hesitant of purchasing from amazon, but this has certainly changed my mind. Thank you as this was really informative and helpful
I have never used them before because I was not sure but these reviews really help.
And here I am sitting with Amazon vouchers that I didnt know what to do with them. Yipeeee Amazon here I come. I used to think that the buying and shipping process was very difficult. Thank you for clarifying things
Not at all Cynthia! If you have Amazon vouchers you must use them quick before they expire if you’ve been sitting on them for a while. I’ve bought a lot from Amazon over the years and they are fantastic.