How Do You Score the Best Deals on Phones and Laptops in Dubai? Share Your Hacks !

lockhrt999

lockhrt999

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Going there in Feb'25. Shopping is the primary reason. We will be going to Abu Dhabi and Dubai.

So my question is: How does everyone purchase their gadgets when they are in Dubai?

Is there a Lamington road or Nehru place equivalent area? What if I see a good deal on their Amazon, or noon.com, do I order it to my hotel?

I'll probably be getting a flagship phone from Samsung and a mid-high end business laptop.
 
Bur Dubai for phones / laptops. I bought my Apple watch series 7 from there. The shop I went to was "City Choice Bur Dubai". You will find lot of their videos on youtube too. But there are other stores too so buy from anywhere there.
People from India, who want to buy iPhones mostly buy from this area as it is cheaper than buying officially from apple store and you can get different versions like US, Gulf, Chines etc.
 
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raksrules said:
People from India, who want to buy iPhones mostly buy from this area as it is cheaper than buying officially from apple store and you can get different versions like US, Gulf, Chines etc.
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Is it just iPhones that are cheaper?

Because Samsung ultras weren't any cheaper than what was available here during diwali
 
blr_p said:
Is it just iPhones that are cheaper?

Because Samsung ultras weren't any cheaper than what was available here during diwali
Click to expand...

I am pretty sure people do buy other than Apple too, but you are right. Even iPhones I guess are no longer that lucrative from Dubai if you are buying the lower end models (non pro series). If buying Pro, definitely Dubai would be cheaper.
So yes, buying in Diwali sale in India for Non Pro iPhones is a better bet than Dubai.

I got Apple Watch Series 7 for 30k-32k or so (don't remember exactly) when in India it was 42k or so. But my wife got her iPhone 13 in Oct 2022 (from flipkart) before we left for our Dubai trip as I had seen videos of these Bur Dubai shops on iPhone 13 pricing and saw that it was cheaper in Diwali sale here than Dubai. In fact, the shop guys in couple of videos recommended people to buy non pro 13 from India instead of Dubai (if anyone was planning to get from Dubai).

But, the Bur Dubai shops are great for electronics not available in India or are prohibitively expensive (relative to US prices). Like say Nintendo Switch or say the LG Gram laptop etc.
 
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I'm inclined to think the LG gram might be cheaper abroad but I think I saw someone here buy one during covid time and the price paid was decent when compared with the US (i was familiar with the Amazon US pricing at the time) let alone Dubai.

I think we are only a few years away from a pricing flip. India becoming the cheapest place to get these things with the exception of China than anywhere else. The demographics, more companies making in India and continuous economic growth make it inevitable.
 
High-end MacBook pros are only like 10-15% cheaper in Dubai compared to India. It wouldn't make sense to get them there. Apple overall doesn't look that lucrative in Dubai. This observation is about online shopping sites only. I don't know how things are different offline there.

Samsung, on the other hand, isn't a premium brand like Apple in Dubai, so it's priced fairly.
 
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blr_p said:
I'm inclined to think the LG gram might be cheaper abroad but I think I saw someone here buy one during covid time and the price paid was decent when compared with the US (i was familiar with the Amazon US pricing at the time) let alone Dubai.

I think we are only a few years away from a pricing flip. India becoming the cheapest place to get these things with the exception of China than anywhere else. The demographics, more companies making in India and continuous economic growth make it inevitable.
Click to expand...

I was one of those who bought the Gram in 2021, LG Gram pricing has skyrocketed after that by more than 50-60%, I guess they were under-invoicing the import value but stopped doing that after many firms got fined for it in the last 3-4 years.
 
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What will be the price of something like a iphone 15 pro in Dubai? Need to know how much cheaper it is there than here. The pricing here is ridiculous compared to that of US that i know but not sure about Dubai. Let me know please.
 
sauravghosh said:
What will be the price of something like a iphone 15 pro in Dubai? Need to know how much cheaper it is there than here. The pricing here is ridiculous compared to that of US that i know but not sure about Dubai. Let me know please.
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If you are looking for prices in Bur Dubai, I strongly suggest you head to youtube and search for something like "iPhone bur dubai" etc and see videos from stores like city choice and few others (don't recollect names). The videos are cheesy and cringe but at least they tell what the price is so you can get ballpark. The prices will keep changing so don't take that as final price. They will not really haggle so don't bother. There is always rush in these shops. Credit card will be charged extra 3% or so, so better pay cash.
Make sure you take the proper invoice with the green sticker for claiming VAT refund (not 100% refund will be given back, some amount is cut).
While coming back to India, make sure whatever you bought is handy at airport BEFORE bag checkin, as the person will check the actual item. I claimed VAT refund on apple watch and gold ornaments and they verified it.
You submit the receipt etc for VAT refund BEFORE check in but get the actual refund from a different booth AFTER immigration.

Edit: If buying iPhone, make sure you specify the model you want, as in, the country. There is Dubai/KSA version, India type version, US one (with no physical SIM), China/HK (with 2 physical SIM and no esim). Prices of different country models differ for same iPhone.
 
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Thanks both. How much is vat though? Can't figure it out. My friend will be going in January, I'll forward your message to him regarding claiming vat. Thanks for the detailed info raksrules.
 
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