How to send a package to Ghana from the USA or UK
Posting a parcel or gift to Ghana: what USPS and Royal Mail need, what you cannot send, what family pays at the post office, and an easier way.
By the Landed team · · 5 min read
You can post a package to Ghana from the USA with USPS, from the UK with Royal Mail, or with an express courier from either. Every parcel needs a customs form that lists what is inside and what it is worth. Some popular gifts, such as perfume and spare batteries, cannot go by international post at all. When the parcel arrives, your family collects it from the post office and usually pays Ghana customs duty there, even on gifts.
Here is how to send one without it getting stuck, and what to do with the things the post will not take.
Can you send a package to Ghana by post?
Yes. From the USA, the US Postal Service's mailing rules for Ghana, as published in April 2025, list these services:
| USPS service | Weight limit to Ghana |
|---|---|
| Priority Mail Express International | 66 lbs |
| Priority Mail International | 66 lbs |
| First-Class Package International Service | 4 lbs |
Global Express Guaranteed is not available to Ghana. Flat-rate envelopes and small flat-rate boxes are limited to 4 lbs, and medium and large flat-rate boxes to 20 lbs.
From the UK, Royal Mail sends parcels to Ghana. Its Ghana page says each item needs a customs declaration, and that you must check Ghana's prohibited and restricted items before you send.
Express couriers also deliver to Ghana. The US Department of Commerce notes that many Ghanaians who buy from US websites have the goods sent to a US address first, and then on to Ghana by express courier.
How to send a parcel to Ghana from the USA
- Check every item is allowed. Read the next section before you pack. A single banned item can hold up the whole box.
- Pack it to survive handling. Use a strong box, fill the gaps, and seal any liquid in its own bag. USPS bans liquids that are not properly packaged.
- Fill in the customs form honestly. List each item, how many, and its value. For goods, USPS asks for a commercial invoice inside some services. If you buy the label online, the customs form is part of it.
- Put the right details on the label. USPS asks you to show the recipient's landline and mobile numbers, plus their digital address and email address if they have one.
- Send your family the tracking number. They will need it, and their ID, when they go to collect.
What you cannot post to Ghana
Banned for Ghana
USPS will not carry these to Ghana: guns and ammunition, offensive weapons, banknotes and coins, fish and meat that are not properly processed, liquids that are not properly packaged, live animals, narcotics, pornography, radioactive materials and biological samples.
Jewellery, gold, silver and precious stones may only go by insured Priority Mail International. Watches, jewellery and other valuables are not allowed in Priority Mail Express International to Ghana.
Banned to every country from the USA
USPS will not post these to any country, Ghana included:
- Perfume that contains alcohol. That is most perfume and cologne.
- Aerosols, such as spray deodorant and hair spray.
- Nail polish.
- Alcohol and cigarettes.
Phones, power banks and batteries
Lithium batteries can only be posted abroad when they are fitted in the device they power, such as a new phone or laptop. Loose batteries and power banks cannot be posted. USPS also refuses used, damaged or faulty devices with lithium batteries in international mail, so you cannot post your old phone to a relative.
Ghana has its own list of banned and restricted goods on top of the post office rules. Our guide to what you cannot ship to Ghana covers it.
Sending a parcel to Ghana from the UK
The same ideas apply from the UK: pack it well, complete the customs declaration item by item, and check Ghana's banned and restricted list first. Royal Mail's Ghana page is the place to check current services and rules before you buy postage.
Be careful with the same things that cause trouble from the USA: perfume, aerosols, nail polish, loose batteries and food. Our guide to the best things to send home to Ghana suggests gifts that travel well.
What your family pays when the parcel arrives
In Ghana, parcels from abroad are handled at the Accra Central, Accra North (Kwame Nkrumah Circle) and Tema post offices, and at regional post offices. The Ghana Revenue Authority describes the steps:
- A delivery note arrives in the recipient's post office box.
- Post office staff check the recipient's identity.
- The recipient opens the parcel for customs to examine.
- A customs officer at the counter works out the duty from what the item is. The postage you paid counts as the freight cost, and a 1% charge is added. Any insurance value is also counted.
- Your family pays at the Ghana Post counter and gets two receipts: one for the Ghana Post administrative charge and one for the customs duty.
Gifts are not free of duty. The GRA says postal articles attract customs duty in Ghana. Some goods also need a permit from a government agency before they can be cleared. A parcel not collected within three months is confiscated and auctioned.
How long does a package take to reach Ghana?
It depends on the service you pay for, so check the delivery estimate when you buy the label. Allow extra time at the Ghana end for the parcel to reach the post office and be cleared, and allow more in December, when post is busiest.
The easier way: buy in the USA, collect in Accra
If you are buying something new to post, there is a simpler route. Landed buys it from a US store, ships it, clears it through Ghana customs and holds it at our Accra showroom for your family. You pay one all-in price in cedis, agreed before you pay, covering the item, the shipping, the duty and clearing, and our service. There is no customs form for you to fill in and nothing for your family to pay at a counter.
- Paste the link from Amazon, Walmart, Target or any US store and get a price. Tell us the order is for family.
- Perfume and other liquids need special handling, so we tell you before you pay if something has to travel by sea or cannot travel at all.
- We send your family a WhatsApp message the day it lands. They can come themselves or send their own driver with the order number.
- 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.
If you live in the UK, we do not buy from UK shops, but you can order from US stores for family in Ghana in the same way.
Popular gifts sent this way are perfume and skincare, clothes and sneakers, phones and earbuds and kids' clothes. For how duty and shipping work in more detail, see our guide to shipping from the USA to Ghana.
