NIPOST introduces N500 handling charge

KoliTech

Posted by Felix Okoli on Thursday July 3, 2014 at 9:49:49:

For people who love to shop on Chinese websites like Aliexpress or other global websites that normally ship to Nigeria through the postal mail, this may be bad news because it would ultimately increase their online shopping costs.

It's official! The Nigerian Postal Service a.k.a. NIPOST has recently introduced a flat handling charge for small parcels received from abroad. The receiver of the parcel would have to pay at least N500 before he collects his package. You would see the notice placed at a visible spot and close to the package collection center.

I recently went to the NIPOST office to collect a package I ordered for on Aliexpress.com. It was basically a 50,000maH power bank charger and if you are in Nigeria, you'd agree that one needs this stuff in a country where power supply is still insufficient. So, I found it for cheap on Aliexpress and it was priced at just $18 and this included the shipping to Nigeria. I chose to use postal mail shipping since it was the cheapest although it took about 30 days to get to me. I later got a notification from NIPOST to come for collection.

When I arrived NIPOST, I had to stay in line due to the fact that some other people there were also waiting for their package. We soon started discussing about the new handling charge and from our discussion, we resolved that the Nigerian factor has again come to play in NIPOST and one Oga at the Top was actually collecting and embezzling this money they are now collecting. I also got to know that most of us bought our items from Aliexpress.com and so it now seems that NIPOST is getting a lot of parcels lately, especially from China and so, might have just introduced these fees just to make money which may never get into the account of government. We could be wrong.

I was a bit surprised that a person has to pay money just to collect a parcel the sender has already sent and paid postage fees for. I remember the good old days when I used to use NIPOST and those were the days when we used to write letters to our parents from boarding school or to friends and we had to make use of postal mail services. Then you'd had to first write a letter, place it in an envelope and then go to the Post office to buy a Postal stamp so that the letter will be sent through NIPOST anywhere in Nigeria. With NIPOST, one could also send a letter to anywhere in the world but unlike online e-mail services which are delivered in seconds, it took a much longer time. It just seems that NIPOST is just looking for newer avenues to start making more money since people no longer patronized their once popular postal mail system for sending letters as they used to and stamps are becoming less attractive.

Anyway, I wasn't sure if I was going to have to pay the fee but I decided to pay it just to save my time and as long I'm also issued an official receipt for it. When it reached my turn, the guy confirmed that I would also have to pay the N500 flat handling charge on my single parcel weighing just less than 0.5kg. Well, I didn't mind paying since it would still save me money unlike if I were to have bought the item from most of these local online shopping websites we now have in Nigeria. A 50,000mah Power bank in the Nigerian market costs about N15,000 while If I were to use this Aliexpress to Nipost method, it would save me about N8,000.

After making the N500 handling charge payment to the NIPOST staff, he issued a receipt and also gave me my parcel. We tried to complain to the management of NIPOST but after asking the staff there who the Oga at the top was, nobody was willing to show us his office and no one was really willing to provide us with answers why we have to pay a fee to collect a parcel at NIPOST when the sender has already paid fees.

With this new system of increasing charges when using NIPOST for receiving items, it seems customers of NIPOST may just have to consider the new N500 handling charge as part of the costs associated with collecting a parcel and for Aliexpress shoppers who use NIPOST, they just have to include the additional cost to their online shopping costs. I also heard that the N500 was just for smaller packages but that the costs would increase for larger packages since other things such as custom charges would be included.

I guess one would have to consider the profitability of using NIPOST in the future when next one decides to receive a parcel in Nigeria. One would alos have to consider the time delay it took in getting the parcel through them. If both variables are favourable, then it would be wise to continue using NIPOST to receive parcels in Nigeria from Aliexpress. Other options would have to be using courier services like DHL and Fedex since they deliver faster. There is also the option of shopping on Amazon rather than Aliexpress if it would make better sense.

Comments:

Re: NIPOST introduces N500 handling charge Reply by Gabriel on Tuesday July 8, 2014 at 4:55:56:

Hi Felix, am Gabriel and I really want you to know that I appreciate the work u've been doing. Your page has been quite informative. Please am a rookie @ shopping online and would be obliged if you could render me a couple of info. I intend to shop from Aliexpress but don't know which bank card they accept. I.e MasterCard, Visa, etc and also, do they have preference for a particular bank visacard like Amazon & eBay do. Which did you use in buying your power bank. Thanks for your time.

Re: NIPOST introduces N500 handling charge Reply by Felix Okoli on Tuesday July 8, 2014 at 8:17:7:

The thing about Aliexpress.com is that for now, they only accept Visa and Mastercard which are funded in US dollars so don't try using your Naira card on the website. I normally make use of prepaid USD Visa card which I got from Zenith bank - The Zenith Visa prepaid card. Other Nigerian banks too have their own USD Visa and Mastercard. You can use the one that is prepaid or the one that is linked to a USD domiciliary account. Another cool website where you can shop online that ships to Nigeria is Miniinthebox They accept both credit/debit cards and Paypal payments from Nigeria.

Re: NIPOST introduces N500 handling charge Reply by dunni on Tuesday August 26, 2014 at 17:11:51:

Hi Felix, thanks for the info. I really appreciate it. Pls if i get a box, will i still pay 500naira?

Re: NIPOST introduces N500 handling charge Reply by Felix Okoli on Tuesday August 26, 2014 at 17:11:51:

Depends on the size of the box. The least fee is N500 and you'd get a receipt. It seems you can also negotiate your price down without having to collect a receipt.

Re: NIPOST introduces N500 handling charge Reply by elvis on Sunday September 7, 2014 at 17:0:2:

first off, aliexpress is just like my shopping home. so as for all payments, you can use any of your bank card issued to you in nigeria. for as long as the word MASTER CARD, AND VISA IS BOLDLY WRITTEN ON IT. be it issued by any bank in nigeria. but be very careful of fedility bank cards, i repeat be ware of using fidelity bank cards, you dont want to end up filling forms, submitting mails, calling their customer care service and waiting 7 to 90 days in order to get your money back in case of refunds from the merchant. as for the 500 naira fee, to me its all a scam, because even just yesterday i went to the NIPOST in benin where i always receive my packages, they dont charge me one kobo. even self na their biro i take dey write my information any time i come. and it takes me just 15 days most of the time self, na 10 days to get packages from aliexpress to benin with china post. it gets to lagos in just 9 days and to benin in 10 depends. but it has never exceeded 15 days ever unless maybe the seller shipped it wrongly i.e did not register your package while shipping. so as for the 500 naira that is just a way of those staffs working there in lagos to extort money from people. and i also have a friend who collected her package and she lamented she doesnt have 500 naira, and she was given her package free of charge. if truly say na their oga talk am, why dem do am for her for free when she disagreed to pay? if you want to shop online, first things first. is the website a credible one? i mean not the type where they'll only be interested in having your credit card information cos whenever you pay for anything online your full credit card information is drawn, and accessed by who so ever/escrow you are paying to in order for them to be able to deduct the actual amount from it as authorized by your bank. so be careful about that. thirdly look carefully, read carefully, understand carefully before you make any purchase. sizes, product names, etc. a product is never true, if its too good to be true. so to those who wish to claim their package from NIPOST in lagos and you are being charged 500 for it i suggest you disagree and confirm the credibility..

Re: NIPOST introduces N500 handling charge Reply by very anonymous on Friday October 24, 2014 at 15:59:48:

i think this is just crap. i went to collect my package today and i was fed with bull that i have to pay 500 naira before i collect my parcel. they called it handling charge...
for how long are we going to let these people feed-off of our sweat??? i asked alot of questions and asked who ordered that directive and i was told "the boss" i asked to see "the boss" funny enough, here, i was directed to the boss. he says things have changed and that they need to buy fuel in the buses, and bus dey break down and na money dem dey take fix am! i asked how they have been catering for all that since and he says from their pocket and im like why the change and he compares nipost with payment of tax. that once upon a time, Nigerians wernt paying tax but it is being enforced now... (biko wetin be my kosain with tax) imagine hin come tell me say make i no worry make i collect the package without payment but next time i go pay oo... pls we have to stop this new thiefry!

Re: NIPOST introduces N500 handling charge Reply by Patriotic Nigeria on Friday October 31, 2014 at 12:49:23:

Nigerians need to be enlighten about the definition of handling charge in quote from the freedictionary "handling charge - the cost of handling (especially the cost of packaging and mailing an order)" lets keep it so simple, what has this charge got to do with receiving a package. They have not done the packaging or mailed it either. Their only duty is to deliver it.

They tried this nonsense on me and I was not having it. No citizen of this country should support or encourage this nonsense. It just a way to make money off people. It is basically an illegal charge that goes into the pocket of corrupt civilians.

However that been said if you are the type that don't care about the future of Nigeria and believe that nothing good will ever come from this country then please pay the money because I know its just change and majority of the citizens of this country are so impatient.

My 2kobo of advice.

Re: NIPOST introduces N500 handling charge Reply by Umar M. on Saturday February 21, 2015 at 11:46:24:

I went to Yola post office recently to collect a small parcel containing a Micro SIM Adaptor (worth NGN 400) I purchased at Aliexpress and the NIPOST staff there told me that there is a circular from "above" that every NIPOST customer must henceforth pay NGN500 per parcel at the point of collection for items bought online.

I explain to them that this was a personal and not a commercial item hence even Nigeria Customs Service did not place any import duty on it. I also explained that I had already paid AliExpress shipping and handling fees for the product and that the product was not even worth up to NGN500. The staff insisted that they were only following orders.

I know that ANYTHING GOES in this country but a situation where public establishments exploit the citizenry at will, is really taking it too far.

I had written to Consumer Protection Agency and I also sent an email to Nigerian Ombudsman about similar issues of exploitation of members of the general public by some unscrupulous establishments but they did not even acknowledge receipt of my mail talk less of acting on it. I've concluded that they are too busy carving out their own share of what remains of the National cake.

I weep for my Country.

Re: NIPOST introduces N500 handling charge Reply by Felix Okoli on Saturday February 21, 2015 at 11:46:24:

Sorry. Considering the cost of collecting packages at NIPOST nowadays, I don't advise anyone who buys things on Aliexpress to buy something worth less than N500 or something that won't be profitable to you. It would have been better if you bought about 10 units of such items because you still pay a flat fee of N500 if the total weight it less than 2kg.

Re: NIPOST introduces N500 handling charge Reply by jonyuppy on Sunday February 22, 2015 at 19:14:29:

funny enough mine is actually a phone and nipost is requesting 6,500 from me.. thanks for the info here cause this people are full of crap n bullshit. God deliver us but heaven knows i will not pay that price but i need an advise friends, if i disagree to pay that fee do they/or can they cease and not release my package? am confused,if anyone willing to assist i will be much grateful ...

Re: NIPOST introduces N500 handling charge Reply by Felix Okoli on Sunday February 22, 2015 at 19:14:29:

Why are they asking N6500 from you? I'm sure it's not a handling charge since they only charge a flat fee of N500 per package under 2kg. Perhaps it's for the custom duty but I doubt. If the custom duty was N6500, then the phone must have cost more than N100k which I doubt. Just ask them to tell you exactly what the fee is for because I just collected a Morotola phone from NIPOST last week and the only fee I paid is the N500 handling charge. If my phone was N6500 and they ask me to pay another N6500 to collect it, I would just leave the phone for them.

Re: NIPOST introduces N500 handling charge Reply by Taiwo on Thursday March 12, 2015 at 19:34:46:

i run a business and the exchange rate does not help things plus id have to pay a shipping fee and now include some peoples greedy fee of N500 THAT IS IMPOSSIBLE plus my profit ...i just received a parcel today was asked to pay and i refused and threatened to sue for damages hindering my business from moving thereby putting me at a loss and unlawful extortion because i am also a lawyer.people should stand up for what's right.
what stupid handling fee,i am bringing in close to a hundred items so should i now pay N500 for every item.abject nonsense....for those who turn a blind eye..Nigeria is how it is because many turned a blind eye..be wise

Re: NIPOST introduces N500 handling charge Reply by aanushegz on Thursday March 26, 2015 at 21:56:51:

I'll soon be receiving a parcel(package) from USA via usps and it weighs 12lb I think that's 5.44 in kg. I've been tracking the package and realized I'll collect it a nipost, I live in Lagos alagbado precisely..... The package contains basketball stuff and it's a 12*14*10 box..... I'm afraid I'll be told to pay more than 5k cuz a friend told me that..... Any help!!

Re: NIPOST introduces N500 handling charge Reply by Patience Emaikwu on Saturday May 9, 2015 at 20:25:31:

Pls wil u pay d #500 charge if the item is transferd withing Nigeria? Thanks

Re: NIPOST introduces N500 handling charge Reply by Felix Okoli on Saturday May 9, 2015 at 20:25:31:

If it's a parcel that can't be delivered to your home, I think you'll still have to pay because it's a "handling" fee meaning you pay them for handling it for you.

Re: NIPOST introduces N500 handling charge Reply by Sam on Wednesday July 29, 2015 at 4:52:41:

I shop a lot online because of its convenience but when the item gets to me, I normally pay at different prices without receipts unless the item was shipped through EMS, which is faster.

My worry is that if the money they collect is appropriate why is the official receipt not being issued. It seems as if we are walking from front to back when we are making payment to government agency without receipt.

This is a huge some of money being made by NIPOST daily. Should we resist and report to law enforcement, take it court or what is really the complexity around this whole thing. Could any NIPOST official educate and clarify the Nigeria people on this ?

Shop online in Nigeria