(Click here for my referral link to get 10% off shipping with Aquantuo. Good luck!)
Preamble
Some years ago, I wrote about successfully ordering from Shoptomydoor, a Nigerian door-to-door shipping service that appears to have gone defunct now. There was no official announcement, but their website has disappeared, so I assume that’s all she wrote. The actual experience buying from Shoptomydoor was great, but somehow I never really needed anything from the UK/US that I couldn’t get someone to bring, so I didn’t use them again.
Why I’m trying Aquantuo now
However, now that it’s June 2025 and the cedi to dollar exchange rate has improved vastly but meanwhile the Ghanaian retailers all refuse to reduce their prices, it’s time to take matters into my own hands again. I’ve heard a lot about Aquantuo, and it’s a Ghanaian company which should make things easier, so it’s time to give them a try.
As with Shoptomydoor, I will make regular updates until I have successfully received my items, or otherwise resolved things.
June 11th 2025
Made an account with Aquantuo, received my US address, bought a couple of things from Amazon which have been shipped. Aquantuo offers USA forwarding from a Delaware-based address, which means zero sales tax on US purchases, a huge saving compared to other shippers. Actually they support multiple shipping origins (USA, UK, China, Canada) with both air and sea freight options. I may need some stuff from the UK in the near future, especially electronics, but for now let’s start with the US.
Right away, I am seeing that the process on the Aquantuo website is less clear than with Shoptomydoor: with the latter, they clearly stated that they would receive the items and consolidate them, but Aquantuo makes it sound like they will send each one separately? Their online chat doesn’t work, but maybe I can reach them on Instagram, so I’ve sent a message, waiting for a reply.
June 12th 2025
Spent about an hour entering information about the various packages into my Aquantuo dashboard. Had to include the price, tracking number and name for each of 12 packages, and initially I thought I had to create a separate Order for each one, but eventually it clicked that I had to create one order and keep clicking “Add Item” to add all the items to a single order, even if they are coming from different vendors (I didn’t have to do that with Shoptomydoor because everything was shipped from Amazon itself).
I blame my confusion with the process on Aquantuo’s website for not giving clear step-by-step directions on placing an order. There are guides about it on YouTube, but I shouldn’t have to rely on YouTube for that information. After, there’s no guarantee the videos are up to date or even accurate I’m not even sure I have done it correctly, but you let’s wait and see.
They’ve given an estimate for how much shipping will cost, but it is not final yet. There’s also a “Payment pending” button on the dashboard that makes it seem like I have to pay immediately, but there’s no place to actually pay. So confusing. -_- Still, until I pay Aquantuo, I’m not on the hook for anything. I trust Amazon, so I know they will refund my packages if the service doesn’t work. Next update will be when my packages start arriving.
June 17th 2025
The packages have started arriving at Aquantuo’s warehouse.
Cutesy message, dunno if it was needed.
Yoo, the Aquantuo shipping service review continues. Next update will be when all the packages arrive and I pay and begin tracking their route to Accra.
June 26th 2025
I haven’t forgotten about this post oo, I am still waiting for all of my packages to arrive. Apparently there is one outstanding one, since 19kojohoho.
There was an issue earlier one where Aquantuo created a second order in addition to my first one, and that had to be resolved. I was trying to sort it over their website chat function and not making any headway with the first agent (AI?!) but eventually a human being (?!) got involved and it seems to be working out. You can tell the person is a Ghanaian as well from the number of “please”s in the text. “Please” is literally beaten into us as young students in Ghanaian schools. You don’t dare to address an adult without the Armor of a Hundred Different Pleases (+20 DEF).
Long story short, there’s no progress with Aquantuo shipping yet. The packages are enjoying ablotsii summer heat, me too I am also enjoying the rainy season in Accra. I’ll keep you guys posted about whatever happens next.
July 4th 2025
My order is still not ready for shipping oo, hmm! Aquantuo’s website claims that air deliveries to Accra are typically done in 10-14 working days, meanwhile it has been way longer than that and I am still waiting. I’m so, so, so glad I went with a small test order, so I’m not ripping my hair out waiting for them. Hmm, Ghana businesses, is this how you are? Anyway, we continue to wait.
July 15th 2025
Finally got the chance to pay for the items. It was a small order, around $130, and shipping also came to around $103 so I don’t know if I have really saved anything by ordering from abroad through Aquantuo’s shipping service versus finding someone selling the same things in Ghana. Technically Aquantuo has a price estimator site where you can enter the weight and dimensions of the parcel so you don’t get a nasty surprise, but in practice unless you are only ordering one thing and know its dimensions exactly, I don’t think that is too useful.
In any case, I am not really complaining because I would have struggled to find exactly what I needed in Accra, so it’s okay. In general, though, buying locally seems more appealing. I’d get the items way faster, and around the same price even after Ghanaian companies apply their crazy profits.
(BTW, let me plug my Aquantuo referral link for 10% off your first order, maybe next time it will be a little cheaper for me because $103 for a few books and products is a bit… someway bi.)
Back on topic, I’ve gone ahead and paid with mobile money. Aquantuo doesn’t seem very organized, so I have reservations about giving them my bank card numbers, etc. The process of payment was also confusing. Look at these instructions they gave me:
So I went to Telecel/Vodafone #110 and started looking for the “Generate Voucher” option. Don’t bother, it doesn’t exist. What you are supposed to do, heaven help you, is click “Submit” on this screen, then Aquantuo will send the payment request to your phone so you can enter your PIN on the phone and pay. Hmm, ɛyɛ asɛm oo.
Still, at long last I have paid, so I am hoping my items can finally, finally be shipped to me. It’s been over a month since this whole saga began, I shock sɛf (10-14 days shipping my 🍑). Further updates to follow as and when.
July 24th 2025
Finally received my package from Aquantuo! Not knowing it had arrived in Ghana dadaada and was chilling in their warehouse eating indomie and drinking kalyppo, and no one saw fit to call or email me to let me know. If I hadn’t messaged to ask, like it would have grown up and started a business kwraa without me ever hearing about it.
Well, at least the courier was polite and professional and didn’t get lost. I always feel like I won the lottery when encounter the rare polite deliveryman in the wild.
Unfortunately I’ve been too busy to open the package. In fact Aquantuo kept me waiting so long that I’ve even forgotten what I ordered. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: thank goodness I started with a test order! God willing I will go through it tomorrow and make sure everything is intact, then write my final thoughts and experiences about Aquantuo’s shipping, customer service, website (it’s hot garbage) etc.
Final thoughts
July 31st 2025
Okay, at long last the saga is (almost) over. One of my items is still missing. Aquantuo’s chat agent said it would arrive this week, but of course there has been no communication from them about it. Everything else arrived just fine and is in good condition. They do open all the packages and repack them smaller, so you are not paying for empty space. I’ve written enough about Aquantuo and their shipping service so far, so let me summarize with the good, the bad and the ugly.
The good
I got almost everything I ordered in great condition.
The price I paid was just about the same as what I did with Shoptomydoor some years ago. Expensive but not more than I’d expected. You can expect to pay about $100 for goods costing about the same, depending on the weight. Use the price estimator to get a rough idea.
Aquantuo claims to offer door-to-door delivery across Ghana (mainly Accra, Tema and Kumasi, I bet) and they did bring the stuff right to my gate without getting lost.
The courier was very polite and didn’t demand extra money for delivery, though I did tip him.
The bad
The agents online were not rude, but seemed very disconnected, with insincere apologies and no clear desire to make things better for the customer.
Their online dashboard/user interface is useless. Instructions for use are unclear and the information there is not updated for the user’s benefit. For example, even though I created an order, the workers there proceeded to create their own separate order so eventually I had two orders until a human being intervened and merged the two. This shouldn’t be happening.
They need better tutorials showing people to use their site. I mean ideally they should have a way more intuitive user interface, but failing that, there should be an up-to-date video or written tutorial showing everything step by step, especially the process to create an order and to pay. I shouldn’t have to rely on random YouTubers who weren’t even that helpful.
Furthermore, Aquantuo doesn’t seem to have shipping tracking so that I could follow the package and know when it had arrived in Accra. This was in stark contrast to Shoptomydoor where I tracked the package all the way from Houston to Ghana via Germany and Nigeria. They also didn’t notify me in any way when the package arrive until I asked via chat.
They also sent my package out for delivery without checking what time I would be home. Yes, I had told them they could deliver the next day and confirmed my address, but still you should call before the courier leaves to make sure I am available, especially since circumstances can change.
The ugly
I still haven’t received all my goods even after almost two months. I’m trying to put a positive spin on it by saying I received “almost everything,” but depending on which of your items goes missing, it could be a really big deal. People online claim that Aquantuo will refund you in that case, but usually it’s the item you want, not the money.
Despite Aquantuo’s claims of air shipping within 10-14 days, it took me about 7 weeks to get my items, and not all of them either. If that was the case, then they should have told me so I could use the 6-12 weeks sea freight option and save a ton of money.
Their online billing/payment system is garbage and requested payment from me that was less than what I actually owed. There was a point where I had to pay about $26 before they would deliver, but the Aquantuo system kept asking me for $12.01 instead.
In the end I had to go OFF-PLATFORM(!!) which is very dangerous, and make the payment to their mobile money number directly (!) and send them a screenshot before they would authorize delivery. Ei, is it my fault that your system wouldn’t let me pay the correct amount? Allowing agents to let customers pay money to random numbers is risky for both the customer and the company and doesn’t exactly inspire trust.
Summary
After all this plenty-plenty talking, most likely you just want the facts: is Aquantuo legit, and should I use them to ship things to Africa? And the answer is yes, they are legit. They’re not scammers, you will get your stuff eventually. But the process is stressful and expensive and can take way longer than you had anticipated. Be prepared to follow up with them constantly throughout the process and not rely on their useless dashboard.
Ready to Ship?
Use my Aquantuo referral link to save 10% on your first order. Good luck (you’ll need it)!