Questions and answers

Create a free account with Google, Apple, Facebook, a WhatsApp code or your email. You get your Buy2Africa number and your shopping addresses in the USA, in Germany (for all EU stores) and in Dubai at once. There is no membership fee.

Copy the address exactly as it shows in My addresses. Use the name you registered with, and put your Buy2Africa number and country code in address line 2 (for example B2A 2100 UG). A parcel without your number can be late or lost, and we are not responsible for a parcel the store sends to a wrong or incomplete address.

No. Our address is a shipping address only. The billing address is the address of the card you pay with.

When a parcel arrives, the warehouse records it, weighs and measures it, and we send you an email or WhatsApp message. It then shows in My parcels. You can also report an expected parcel with its tracking number, so we match it faster.

Yes. Photos are a paid extra. You can order them when you report an expected parcel, or after it arrives. Photos show the outside and what we can see. They are not a test that the item works.

Send us the carrier's proof of delivery within 10 days of the delivery date. We check with the warehouse. After 10 days we cannot trace the parcel (Terms and conditions, section 3.7).

We bill the higher of the real weight and the size weight (length x width x height in cm divided by 6000), with a minimum of 1 kg per package, rounded up to the next 100 g above it. To Uganda the price per kg is all-in up to Kampala: air freight, fuel, Uganda duty, VAT and clearing. We add a processing fee for each package that arrives at the warehouse. Phones, laptops and some other items have a fixed price. See Rates and fees.

No. Every price before arrival is an estimate. The final price is set when the parcel arrives in the destination country and we weigh and measure it again. Check the details you enter in the Price calculator, because the estimate uses them.

Tell us within 48 hours of the invoice. We check the weight and the size again. After 48 hours the invoice is final.

Each package is received, scanned, weighed, stored and handled one by one. So every package is billed at least 1 kg.

No. Each package is received and billed on its own. To save money, ask the store to send your items in one box.

Sometimes. We publish new prices at least 7 days before they apply. Check Rates and fees before you buy and before you approve a shipment.

By the methods shown on your invoice (for example mobile money or card). Upload the proof of payment if we ask for it. All amounts are in US dollars. Amounts in shillings use our rate of the day.

When a parcel arrives, we may ask for a deposit of up to 50% of the estimate before it can join the next shipment. The rest is due on the final invoice, before you collect the parcel. Pay each invoice within 7 days. A deposit paid after a shipment closes moves the parcel to the next shipment.

Storage is free for 7 days from arrival, at the warehouse abroad and at our office in Uganda. Then it costs USD 1 per kg per day at the warehouse abroad (USD 2 for a parcel above 23 kg), and USD 2 per kg per day in Uganda. Approve and collect your parcels in time.

We hold the parcel and storage fees run after the free days. After 21 days and our reminders, an unpaid or uncollected parcel is treated as abandoned and we may sell or dispose of it (Terms and conditions, sections 11 and 12).

No. We clear our shipments in bulk and pay the duty and taxes for the whole shipment, so there is no separate customs receipt for each parcel. Your invoice shows what you paid us.

To Uganda we fly usually once a week. Shipping takes 14 to 21 days from the day your parcel joins a shipment. The times for each route are on Rates and fees. They are estimates, not promises: flights, customs checks and holidays can cause delays.

When you approved it, the deposit is paid (if asked), its item type can fly and the invoice is checked. Our team then gives the go-ahead and the parcel goes on the next shipment.

Open My parcels, or use Track a package with your tracking number. We also message you when the parcel arrives at the warehouse, leaves, and is ready in Kampala.

Only while the parcel is still at the origin warehouse and not packed into a shipment. After it leaves, you cannot cancel it and the price is not refunded.

Yes, but only before the parcel leaves the origin warehouse. You give us the return label from the store (or pay the postage) and our handling fee. We cannot return items from Uganda.

Collect at our office, ask a person you authorise to collect with your release code and ID, or choose delivery to your door. If a delivery fails because nobody is there, the parcel comes back to the office and a second delivery costs a new fee.

Yes. To Uganda our price is all-in up to Kampala: duty, VAT, levies and clearing are included. You do not pay at pickup. If customs changes the value or applies a penalty, you pay the difference.

From the USA we also ship to other African countries. There, you are the importer and you pay duty and local fees on arrival.

Customs needs the true value of every parcel, and insurance needs the invoice. Upload it in My parcels before you approve the shipment. A parcel without an invoice may not ship.

Weapons, explosives, drugs, counterfeit goods, cash, flammable or pressurised items, loose batteries and power banks, and more. Batteries inside a phone or laptop are fine. See the full Prohibited Items List in the Shipping guide. If you are not sure, ask us before you buy.

We may refuse it, return it to the sender at your cost, give it to the authorities or destroy it, without compensation.

Some can fly, some cannot, and they may cost more. If a check shows special goods, we may change the category and the invoice. Ask us first.

We still pay up to USD 15 per parcel (or the item cost if the parcel lost weight while it was with us, with the seller's proof of delivery), if you report it at collection and we can check it (see How do I make a claim).

Insurance costs 3.8% of the value on the store invoice, with a minimum of USD 15 per shipment. It covers breakage and loss while the parcel is with us, up to the invoice value. An item worth USD 200 or more must be insured. For a cheaper item it is ticked by default, and you can untick it. You cannot add insurance after the shipment leaves.

Brand new items that you bought directly from the seller, and that the seller sent directly to our warehouse, with the store invoice and the order and delivery confirmation. Used, refurbished or resold items cannot be insured.

Only at collection or delivery. Open and check every parcel before you leave our office or the rider leaves. Then, in My account > Shipments, press I received it, all in order, or Report a problem (a broken item or a missing item). We cover only breakage and lost items. We answer within 30 days of a complete claim (Terms and conditions, section 17).

No. After the parcel leaves our office, or after you confirm that all is in order, we do not accept a claim. So please check everything before you go.

We can check a claim only if you ordered photos of the parcel at our warehouse, or you bought the item from a store or supplier and uploaded its invoice. Without photos and without a supplier invoice, we cannot check what happened, and we cannot pay the claim. Order photos when you report an expected parcel.

We tell you and you see it in My parcels. Before it ships, you can ask us to return it to the seller at your cost. Most sellers then refund or replace the item.

To release parcels to the right person, to settle claims and to prevent fraud. We keep ID copies only as long as we need them (see the Privacy policy).

We check parcels when, for example, the name does not match the account, there are many new high-value items of the same type, or a store, bank or carrier reports a problem. Send the documents we ask for within 48 hours to release it.

Call your bank at once and block the card. Then tell us, and we hold any parcel linked to that payment.

No. One account for each person or company. For a business account, contact us.

Open My account and edit your profile. Keep your phone and email current, because our reminders and storage time limits use them.