[imagesource: AP Photo / Rich Pedroncelli]

When I order online, I want instant gratification.

I can handle a few days of waiting but when things run into the weeks I start getting antsy.

Don’t lie, you’re exactly the same and social media is full of people unleashing on companies who have exceeded the stated delivery time.

Takealot dominates the South African market but globally it’s Amazon all the way.

US customers can sign up for Amazon Prime and get same-day delivery, but South Africans ordering from Amazon are often in for a much longer wait.

According to the site’s Help page, standard shipping (which starts from $10) can take “as fast as 18 days”, and priority shipping, which starts from $40, “as fast as six days”.

Both of those are business days, so with standard shipping, you could be looking at somewhere closer to a month.

Yes, you can strike it lucky and regular customers will tell you that delivery time is often far shorter than those provided by Amazon guidelines. But those are the guidelines so no use in moaning when that’s how long it takes.

This doesn’t take into consideration that some vendors selling their goods on Amazon do not ship to South Africa.

COVID-19 has made it a lot tougher to ask your friend in the US who’s visiting soon to pop your order in their luggage. You’re also cutting into their valuable luggage allowance.

Exceed it by a kilogram and next thing you’re forced to sacrifice an organ before you’re allowed to board.

Thankfully, there are companies that set you up with an international shipping address, and handle all of the hassles of getting your Amazon purchase to you.

Online Business SA has a few tips:

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 reasonable time. With postal, the package can make it to South Africa fairly easily. Once your package arrives in SA, you will get 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. There are even reports of packages taking two years to reach the recipient…

All companies that ship through postal are at the mercy of customs and you can have a 2-3 month wait in the worse case scenario.

No thank you to anything and everything customs related.

That’s why South Africans are making use of Postbox Courier when the need arises.

Signing up is free, the entire process is very simple, and you can also get a quick free quote on what shipping will cost before you pull the trigger.

Once your order arrives at your international shipping address, you’re looking at three to five working days and it’s at your front door.

VAT duties, customs, and all the other hassles taken care of.

Ain’t nobody got time for that in 2022.

[source:obsa]