How to Shop on Amazon from Jamaica
For online shopping from Jamaica, Amazon is the most popular for a reason. It has the most selection with over 12 million items, but more relevant to us in Jamaica, it has less hangups about our geolocation, our credit cards, etc. A lot of other websites, like Michael’s, can’t even be accessed from Jamaica. Others make it difficult to use a Miami shipping address because the site has already tagged you as being from Jamaica. Then finally, many sites will not accept cards with Jamaican billing addresses. All of which is just unnecessary hassle for good Jamaican people who have good money to spend. However, even though it is most convenient, there are still some things to consider when shopping from Jamaica.
Ships from Amazon vs Ships from Vendor
When shopping from Jamaica, always be mindful of who the item is being shipped from. If the item “Ships from” the vendor this means that Amazon is not the one handling the inventory and delivery of the item, and buying from third party sources comes with its issues.
Shipping time
Since you are depending on that vendor to fill your order, the item may take longer to ship. This is because we can never know how efficient a shipping process a vendor has. It may be not automated and so it may rely on staff to see and process the order manually.
Shipping cost
When ordering directly from a third-party vendor it most likely won’t have an option for free shipping and it often costs more to ship. This can be because most vendors do not do the volume of business that Amazon does and therefore do not enjoy the same volume pricing on shipping. Sometimes Jamaican shoppers feel that some vendors offer low item prices to attract us to their item, then they over charge on shipping to make up the difference.
Correct item
Most importantly, ship from vendor is less of a guarantee that what you bought is what will be actually get packed and shipped. Many a Jamaican shopper has been burnt by this. And since we’re in Jamaica it becomes twice the hassle and effort to ship it back for them to correct it.
Disputes
Should you not get the correct item that you thought you ordered, the vendor is now the one handling the dispute. Needless to say, Amazon is far more likely to simply process the exchange without a lot of fuss or questions, and you are more likely to get what you wanted. Far too often when shoppers buy items that ship from the vendor, the wrong item gets sent. Many Jamaican shoppers feel scammed by this, as if the seller never had that correct item in the first place and just wanted to falsely offload some similar items.
It may be best to just stick with Ships from Amazon. It’s better for speed of shipping, cost of shipping and returns.
Ships from Amazon + Sold by Amazon is even better
Sold by Amazon usually results in the fastest processing and shipping. You’ll almost always get your item early. This is because it means that they sell so many items from that brand that they have made the effort to become an official distributor of that brand, and not just an ecommerce facilitator. This increases the smooth execution of the entire sale. The brand’s items are stocked at their most efficient and centrally located warehouses, with their best shipping processes.
Free Shipping vs Paid Shipping
If using Sold by Amazon, free shipping is usually just as fast as the paid shipping. This is because items in stock ship fairly efficiently. It may show a faster date for the paid shipping but usually that is just by a day or so. Often when you receive the email notifying you that the item has been shipped, it is due to arrive earlier than stated.
Most of us shop and send items to U.S. mailing addresses in Miami. Amazon processes millions of these orders destined to the Caribbean and Latin America. Therefore, the processes of moving items to Miami mail addresses are very efficient. So don’t feel pressured to pay for faster shipping. Our U.S. mailbox providers don’t ship to Jamaica everyday anyway, so getting there 2 days earlier may not make that much of a difference.
All of that said, if you have an urgent need for the item and don’t want to risk it, by all means pay for the shipping. For example, if you want to make sure you catch the next ship to Jamaica or if you are not sending it to your mailbox but rather trying to catch someone who is flying to Jamaica.
2-day shipping with Amazon Prime
Some of you may wonder about free 2-day shipping with Amazon Prime for $14.99 per month. Yes Prime gives you free 2-day shipping (if you consider a monthly charge as free) along with membership to their video streaming service.
Unfortunately unless you have a VPN to hide you geolocation then you won’t benefit from the included video streaming service. If you shop with them a lot and prefer guaranteed 2-day delivery then maybe it is still worth it without the streaming service. After all, the typical shipping cost without Prime is usually $7.99. So that’s an average of just 2 items bought per month to make Prime totally worth it.
No Sales Tax with Mailpac/Aeropost
Speaking of mailbox providers, there is a very interesting benefit when using Mailpac…. no sales tax!
At the time of writing, if you are shopping on Amazon with the Mailpac Miami address of 1 Aeropost Way, then you do not get charged the Florida sales tax of 6%. If there are other providers that provide this Florida tax free option, then please let us know.
Conclusion
Amazon is the most popular ecommerce website for shopping online from Jamaica because it simply works best for us. Anything you want you can most likely find. They don’t block our geolocation. They accept our debit and credit cards. They accept our United States shipping address with our Jamaican billing address. Their shipments are fast and efficient, and Jamaican customs tends not to hold onto their packages. They are more accommodating with our exchanges and returns. So happy shopping and remember to look for Sold by or at least Ships from Amazon.