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Are You Travelling Home From Abroad? Don’t Forget My Shopping List!

 

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A few weeks ago, I received a Facebook message from a friend. She was reminding me that black Friday was coming soon and she needed some things from the USA. She actually gave me a long list of items I should buy for her.

The items ranged from a phone, to a flat screen TV and designer perfumes. What was surprising was the fact that she didn’t mention how I was going to get the money to buy all these things. According to her she would check the websites on Black Friday so that she could calculate the exact prices. She didn’t mention whether I was going to get the money before or after shopping. She didn’t mention the shipping costs of these items to her.

I realize that it is a normal expectation to have our friends and loved ones shop or buy as gifts whenever they travelled abroad. Some people actually feel bad when their friend/relative/colleague travels and fails to get a gift. We all have the mindset that items abroad such as clothing, electrical gadgets etc are cheap and bountiful, and as such we struggle to understand why someone would travel abroad and not get anything for us. In fact I have seen situations where friendships have been ruined because one friend travelled abroad and failed to get a gift for the other friend.

Whilst I know that some items are definitely cheaper abroad than in Ghana, I also know that you still need money to buy these items. Most people work really hard for their money and a lot of planning goes into how that money is spent.

Sometimes there is little or no money left for unexpected spending. Therefore if you have a friend abroad and you expect some shopping to be done for you, it would be really nice to give them the money in advance. It also wouldn’t be bad to drop in some additional cash for all the efforts your friend has to go through to make sure you get everything on your list. We should also reduce expectations of gifts from people who travel. It is definitely not compulsory to buy a gift whenever you return from abroad.

The worst cases are when you use your hard earned money to buy expensive items for other people, with the expectation of getting your money back after the items have been delivered, only to be met with excuses as to how the product wasn’t the right one. One of my friends told me of how she had to buy some shoes for a friend, and after giving the shoes to the said friend, she retorted that she didn’t like the quality of the shoes; as such she wasn’t going to pay the agreed amount.

Dear GC readers, have you ever been asked to buy items for people without getting paid? Do you expect your loved ones abroad to always buy you gifts? Have you ever been in the embarrassing situation where your gifts were not appreciated? Let’s discuss!

 



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14 thoughts on “Are You Travelling Home From Abroad? Don’t Forget My Shopping List!”

  1. Lol I can relate to you I’m going to GH next week and the amount of things family and friends are requesting is not easy at all

    Reply
  2. It would be wonderful to see all of you in Accra… Yea for me, I don’t entertain gift requests.. how can a gift be requested? If I have, I bring you… you don’t get to ask me for anything. I have also had somebody ask me to get a phone and get my money when I arrive. No, Sir I don’t do that too… My husband even wants us to come to a point where we do not even offer to get money first and buy the item.. He said it depends on what is to be purchased – if it is phone, or anything that are equally available in Ghana, they should get it there because it is just like us buying Koobi here for $10..

    Reply
  3. it’s your choice whether to buy presents or not. you can actually decide not to buy any presents and you won’t die. those who truly love you will love you regardless. those who don’t still wont, you can’t buy love/ affections by carrying plenty gifts from abrokyire. i went to school in the States for 2 years and flew back to GH this month without ANY gifts. i bought chocolates for my family (i swear lol) and a one $80 phone for my partner. when i arrived, i’m living at home. if any friend wants to see me, they should visit me simple. why do we stress ourselves out so much? people in GH are driving better cars than some of us who use buses abroad, living in bigger houses, going to accra mall to buy victoria’s secret, mr price and birkenstock goods. what else do they need? folks, this is not the 80s where there was famine in GH and you had to queue for toilet soap. GH has been listed as a ‘middle income country’ so folk here should be able to get what they need themselves. I will never buy presents or carry stuff for people in my luggage 🙂

    Reply
    • @Susie, yes, true that too…. Ghana has changed and people are averagely doing well and sometimes when you give them a gift from your heart, they don’t even value it the way you expected meaning they thought they needed something more than what you gave… There are others too who are really struggling with life (maybe not my family nor yours)… but other people’s families…. so there might be the need for those people to try harder and spend all their money to people… KUDOS TO THOSE PEOPLE!!!!

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