Best things to send home to Ghana: gifts that travel well
What to send or bring family in Ghana from the USA or UK, what is worth the shipping, what to leave behind, and how to get it there on time.
By the Landed team · · 5 min read
The best things to send home to Ghana are small, valuable and hard to find genuine there: phones and earbuds, perfume and skincare, sneakers and good clothes, baby clothes, and quality bedding and cookware. The worst are heavy, cheap or fragile things, food, anything that only runs on American power, and used fridges or air conditioners, which Ghana bans.
That rule of thumb, value for its size, is what decides whether a gift is worth the cost of getting it there.
What makes a good thing to send
Before you buy, ask four questions:
- Is it worth its size? Shipping is charged by weight or by the space a box takes up. A pair of sneakers or a phone costs little to move compared with what it is worth. A case of bottled water or a cheap plastic chair costs more to ship than to buy in Accra.
- Do you want to be sure it is genuine? Brand-name perfume, skincare, electronics and baby clothes are where buying abroad pays most: bought from the brand's own store or a major US retailer, you know exactly what you are getting.
- Will it work on Ghana's power? The USA runs on 120 volts and Ghana on 230 volts. Phone, laptop and earbud chargers usually accept both and only need a plug adapter. Hair dryers, kitchen gadgets and power tools made for the USA often do not.
- Is it allowed in? Weapons, counterfeit goods and used fridges, freezers and air conditioners are banned. Food, medicine and cosmetics in large amounts need a permit. Our guide to what you cannot ship to Ghana has the full list.
Gifts that travel well
Phones, earbuds and laptops
An iPhone, Samsung Galaxy, AirPods, a smartwatch or a laptop is the classic gift from abroad, and it is small enough to ship cheaply. Buy it unlocked, so it works on any Ghana network. Recent iPhones sold in the USA have no SIM tray and work only with an eSIM, so check that the person's network can give them one. A power bank is a welcome extra for dumsor, but loose lithium batteries face strict airline rules, so pack it inside a box of other things or let the shipper decide how it travels.
Perfume, skincare and hair care
Perfume, body sprays and American skincare make a gift feel special, and buying from the brand's own store means no doubts about whether it is real. Perfume is a flammable liquid and body sprays are aerosols, and the US Federal Aviation Administration regulates both as hazardous materials when they fly, so they often travel by sea or need special handling. Order these early.
Sneakers, clothes, watches and bags
Shoes, jeans, handbags and watches are light, hard to break and easy to pack. Check sizes before you buy, because US and UK sizes differ from each other, and buy one size up for children who will grow into them.
Baby and kids' clothes
Baby clothes, school shoes and kids' clothing from American stores are good value and pack small. Buy a few sizes ahead: by the time a box arrives by sea, a baby may have outgrown the size you ordered.
Bedding, towels and cookware
Good duvet sets, towels, non-stick pans and cookware sets last for years and are a gift a whole household uses. They are bulky for their weight, so they suit sea freight rather than air.
Gift ideas by person
- For a mother or mother-in-law: perfume, a handbag, a cookware set, good bedding, a smartwatch.
- For a father or husband: a watch, sneakers, a power bank, a quality shirt, earbuds.
- For a wife or sister: perfume, skincare, a handbag, a phone upgrade.
- For children: clothes in the next size up, school shoes, a tablet.
- For a student: a laptop, a power bank, a rechargeable fan, bedding.
- For the whole house: a new fridge or air conditioner, a solar setup, or a generator.
What to leave behind
- Used fridges, freezers and air conditioners. Banned under a regulation called L.I. 1932 and seized at the port.
- Appliances made only for 120 volts. Unless the label says "100 to 240V", they need a heavy step-down transformer or they burn out.
- Food. Packaged food usually arrives, but homemade and fresh food is risky and rarely worth the freight.
- Cheap, heavy things that cost less in Ghana than the freight to send them.
- Cash. Bank notes sent as goods need a Bank of Ghana licence. Send money by a licensed transfer service instead.
If you are flying home
Bringing gifts in your luggage works for a few items. Ghana Customs lets you bring in your own clothes and personal effects free of duty, but new goods for other people are dutiable, and electrical goods only count as your own if you have used them for at least six months. Spare lithium batteries and power banks must go in your carry-on bag, never checked luggage, and are limited to 100 watt hours each. Luggage allowances run out fast, which is why many people now buy online and have the gift delivered instead.
Christmas: order early
Shipping takes weeks, not days. As of 2 November 2026, our orders from the USA take about 25 days by air and 45 to 90 days by sea. For Christmas 2026, the last day to order by air is Friday 20 November at 6pm, and sea is already too late. For Valentine's Day, order by air by Friday 15 January or by sea by Friday 6 November.
Buy it abroad, deliver it at home
Landed buys the gift from a US store, ships it, clears customs and holds it at our Accra showroom for your family to collect. You pay one all-in price agreed before you pay: the item, shipping, duty and clearing, and our service. When you ask for a price, tell us the order is for family. We message them on WhatsApp the day it lands, and they can come themselves or send their own driver with the order number.
- Shop phones and earbuds, perfume and skincare, clothes and sneakers, kids' clothes and bedding and cookware.
- Found the gift on Amazon, Walmart or another US store? Paste the link and get a price.
- See what other families are ordering on trending in Ghana.
