"How much is shipping?" is usually the second question after "how much is the car?" — and it's the one buyers most underestimate. Ocean freight to Tema isn't a flat fee. It moves with where in the United States your car happens to be sitting, and understanding why can save you real money before you ever approve a bid.
The headline number
Shipping to Tema typically runs $2,000 to $2,500. Two variables move you within that range: the vehicle's starting point in the U.S., and its size.
Why location changes the price
Vehicles won at auction have to be trucked from the auction yard to a port before they can be loaded onto a Ro-Ro (roll-on/roll-off) vessel bound for West Africa. The three states that supply most of what we ship are New Jersey, Illinois and California, and each sits at a different point on the cost curve:
- New Jersey — the cheapest and fastest, because it's a short truck haul to a major East Coast Ro-Ro port.
- Illinois — mid-range, because the vehicle has to be trucked a longer distance to reach the coast before it ever gets on a ship.
- California — the most expensive, since a West Coast departure means a considerably longer ocean route to reach Ghana.
Typical transit times
| Origin | Transit time to Tema |
|---|---|
| New Jersey | 28–30 days |
| Illinois | 30–35 days |
| California | 45–60 days |
If timeline matters as much as price — say, you need the car before a specific date — it's worth asking your sourcing partner to prioritize listings from East Coast yards, since that alone can shave three or four weeks off delivery versus a West Coast lot.
Vehicle size is the second lever
A full-size pickup or large SUV takes up meaningfully more space on a Ro-Ro vessel than a compact saloon, and freight is priced accordingly. This is shown as its own line in a proper landed-cost breakdown — not folded silently into a vague "shipping and handling" figure.
What else is in the invoice besides freight
Ocean freight is one line among several. A full breakdown, the same one we send with every quote, separates out:
- Auction invoice (final bid + buyer fee + environmental/virtual bid/gate fees)
- Towing to the shipping yard
- Ocean freight to Tema
- Storage and title handling
Run any bid price through our cost estimator to see every one of these lines calculated for your specific vehicle.
Clearing customs once the car arrives
Arrival at Tema isn't the finish line — the vehicle still has to clear customs. That process covers duty assessment, an ICUMS declaration, GRA payment, terminal handling charges and a physical examination before port release. Two things materially affect the duty bill:
- Vehicle value — duty is assessed against the vehicle's value, not just what you paid at auction.
- Vehicle age — Ghana calculates age from year of manufacture, and vehicles past the 10-year mark face rising penalty duties on top of standard import tax. It's not disqualifying, but it's a cost that needs to be in your budget from the start, not discovered at the port.
Auction houses charge storage penalties if an invoice isn't settled within a few days of the win — start your transfer the moment you approve a bid, since Ghana-to-U.S. bank wires typically take 2 to 5 working days to clear.
Avoiding the surprises
The buyers who end up frustrated by shipping costs are almost always the ones who priced a car off the auction bid alone. The ones who don't get surprised are the ones who ask for the full landed-cost breakdown — freight, towing, storage and duty included — before they ever approve a bid. That breakdown should match the final invoice closely; if a quote and an invoice diverge by a lot, that's worth questioning before you pay anything further.
The bottom line
Shipping to Tema is predictable once you know the variables: origin state sets the price band and the timeline, vehicle size adjusts it slightly, and customs duty depends on value and age. None of it needs to be a mystery by the time you're ready to wire money — for the full process from auction win to delivery, see our complete import guide.
