NidalM Photography / Blog / Being a Photographer / (Not) Buying Photo Gear in Saudi

(Not) Buying Photo Gear in Saudi

Posted by NidalM on Aug 3rd, 2010 | 31 comments

Taking pictures isn’t easy in Saudi Arabia. It’s not just the mutawwas patrolling the streets, detaining you for taking perfectly legal photos, or the culture, where taking a picture of a woman, even at a wedding, would lead to a lynching. We also have to deal with the ever present downsides of the Saudi consumer economy. Namely: Electronics are sold at an obscene markup.

Getting Ripped Off

For me, the shock came in the fall of 2009. Till then I had bought most of my equipment while living in the United States and picking up a new lens had been as easy as walking into B&H Photo on 9th Avenue (NYC). Since moving and starting to take on professional assignments however, I realized I’d need to upgrade.

I had my eyes set on the Canon 5D Mark II. This beast, with its full frame sensor and excellent low light performance had me sold. Sadly, the local stores hadn’t. I spent a month scouring the stores all over Saudi. The Mark II, which costs about $3500 (~SR13,000) in the US, was up for an average price of SR20,000 here.

"You can have the camera for, one MILLION dollars" ~ Inside every Canon reseller in Saudi

That ladies and gentlemen is a markup of over 50%. At that price, I could get a ticket to NYC, buy the camera and come back, and still save money. The state of photography is dismal in Saudi. Even the “official” Canon dealers rarely have anything but the narrowest range of lenses. Each one marked up high enough to make you shudder. I suspect its similar with Nikon.

Not Just Your Gear

This doesn’t stop at just electronics. Did you know that you were getting ripped off on the price of printing at ‘studios’? Here’s just a brief comparison of printing rates.

Print Size (inches)	Cost in Saudi Arabia Source: KODAK printers	Cost in the US Source: Adoramapix.com	Markup
4×6 (~A6)	SR1	$0.19 = SR0.7	40%
5×7 (~A5)	SR5	$0.60 = SR2.25	122%
8×10 (~A4)	SR15	$1.28 = SR4.8	213%

There’s also the fact that they simply have better printers out west and photos from there are easily of higher quality. And then you have photobooks, flushmount albums, proofing albums and a wide assortment of other print products that simply are not available in Saudi Arabia.

How To Deal With It

How do photography enthusiasts deal with this? Simple, we take our business outside.

Getting Photo Gear

My quest to buy the 5D MkII did have a happy ending! Tired of the market here, I logged onto Adorama and had a look around. It turned out they offer international shipping. After a few back and forth emails with the customer service (Yes Saudi Arabia, CUSTOMER SERVICE!!), where they assured me of their international shipping, I went ahead and placed my order. Shipping charges: ~$100

My camera arrived in 5 days (business days that is!).

Since then, I have placed quite a few orders through Adorama. Each one has arrived within a week, and I’ve never had a reason to complain. Not comfortable with just one reseller? B&H Photo is also well known and well regarded. And they too offer international shipping to Saudi.

Prints and more

Now you might say that it makes sense to pay $100 to ship something that costs $1000+, but what about printing and other minor shipments? In fact most US based printers do not ship internationally. To get past that, there is a service provided by Aramex (and I hear DHL as well) called Shop&Ship. It costs SR100 to set up which gives you a mailing address in the US.

You simply ship your prints to this address and they’ll charge you a low fee (SR30 + 35 for every half kg) for shipping. Photo prints rarely go above 0.5kg and never above 1kg so expect to be paying between SR65-100 per shipment. This will not always be cheaper than printing locally, but here’s a quick reference on which option to pick:

Print Size (inches)	Break Even (SR100 shipping)
4×6 (~A6)	334 prints
5×7 (~A5)	36 prints
8×10 (~A4)	10 prints

As you can see, if printing anything but the smallest size, it becomes very economical to have your order shipped. The only downside here being that you’ll have to wait about 10 days for your delivery as opposed to same-day.

This method of shipping also makes economical buying photo-bags, lens filters and other small items.

Of course I’m not adding in the SR100 set up fee here, but then again, you can always use your mailbox to buy that t-shirt from zazzle.com that you had your eye on ;P

Know of better alternatives in Saudi Arabia or elsewhere? Do let me know in the comments!

Tags: photography, saudi arabia

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http://twitter.com/TheReal_Q Qusay Fayoumi

I've heard that there is no Canon dealer in the East, only in Jeddah, that could be the problem… or one of the problems

In Australia it is almost similar to Saudi, but people buy from what is called “grey market” imports, online Australian stores with bases in Hong Kong or Singapore, the problem would be if you wanted to buy something that was more that $1000, then you attract a GST and an import tax surcharge

But u got it right, the internet has opened up the market, and if you know how to use it, then u should
http://www.nidalm.com/blog/ NidalM

Well there is a dealer. Its the same guy that owns Samsonite as well. Makes no sense, but there you have it ;P

Luckily with Saudi they dont have the import surcharge. Or if they do, they don't seem to want to (or be able to) determine the value of goods being imported.
http://www.chezchiara.com Chiara

Interesting (pictureless ) topic. Generally, having a mailbox in the US makes a huge difference. My sister had one when she had a small side business, then told a friend whose husband has a major business about it. He set one up that he lets her use, and it saved him $30,000 (CDN) the first year. You can also get a local US phone number, eg a Moroccan relative has one for NYC, where his daughter lives.

My sister who is the whiz at these things also uses Ebay for certain brand new retail objects that are fixed price there, eg latest purchase query Dog Paws (shoes for dogs, in this case her ill one who has unstable footing due to congestive heart failure) at local pet store $23.95. same package on Ebay $8.95.

She bi-annually plans a trip to the US, orders a lot of things to be delivered to her hotel while she is there, and saves a lot of money, including carrying it back.

Maybe some of the above will help in the photography department too.
http://www.chezchiara.com Chiara

You took so long to post I can't get in to my DIsqus account. And my user name already exists! Which I know because I used it!

Must check my “Nunca Mas!” file or be palmtreeless!
http://www.chezchiara.com Chiara

Ah reforestation! Now how did I do that again?
http://www.nidalm.com/blog/ NidalM

I am late arent I Its the trade-off of photography vs photo-blogging. Been booked for several weddings as of late as well as advertising companies. It measn less time to actually come out and post

Perhaps you can try using http://www.disqus.com to retrieve the password? I don't have access to anybody's account on it!

I am working on a picturesque post though (depends on your definition of picturesque of course, Saudi is all sand ). Its about sand duning and offroading for leisure!

Ebay is an option I considered myself for the shipping, but decided against it, given the higher possibility of fraud on it. Granted, you have some very reputable shops on there, but I just didn't want to take the risk.

Trips to the US (or shipping along with people coming down to visit) are another great option! I've used it myself on occasion, but there are times when you MUST have what you need immediately
http://www.nidalm.com/blog/ NidalM

Palm trees? Reforestation?!
habibm

Abdullah … I looked over Adoramapix.com and it doesn't have too many choices for smart phones. What would you recommend for buying smart phones?
http://www.nidalm.com/blog/ NidalM

Adoramapix is quite specific for just ordering prints of photos (and print products like photobooks). Adorama.com is only good for photography equipment.

You can always ship via Aramex. Order on Amazon. Give me a call and we can even have it shipped to my US PO Box
habibm

Cool!! thanks basha ..
http://www.facebook.com/Maria.BlazingSapphire Maria Yousuf

wow- you really know the ins and out of buying photography equipment…..great info, ill refrain from buying anything here lol
http://lostinriyadh.blogspot.com Onlujain

Great post.. and Oh so true! I am by no means a professional photographer, but I do love Photography. The prices here have me choking at times! Anyway thanks for the website.. I would like to order a few things, and even though I have a shop and ship account, aramex would in NO way deliver a camera to you for $100. Their prices are much higher.

Thanks
Om Lujain

Om Lujain.. I wronge On by accident
http://www.nidalm.com/blog/ NidalM

Thanks for stopping by

Aramex usually charges according to the weight. Its 35 + 60*[Weight in kg rounded up to nearest 0.5kg]

You're right, a 5D2, with lens, packaging etc probably comes to around 4kgs (tops), so Aramex would charge SR275. That said I would not recommend using Shop&Ship for high-end electronics. Its not insured nor very safe (so I hear).

UPS will charge around $80-$100 for the shipping and can be done directly through Adorama or B&H Photo! Its reliable, insured and you can track it for peace of mind!
http://cabbages-and-roses.blogspot.com/ Persian Billi

i hate saudi for this! *grr*
http://cabbages-and-roses.blogspot.com/ Persian Billi

i hate saudi for this! *grr*
http://cabbages-and-roses.blogspot.com/ Persian Billi

i hate saudi for this! *grr*
http://www.nidalm.com/blog/ Anonymous

Hehe, love your name

Ah Saudi… takes some getting used to …!
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http://www.facebook.com/people/Majid-Ansari/691944057 Majid Ansari

I plan on upgrading from p&S to DSLR . Considering Nikon D7000. I do agree that the cost is higher in Saudi compared to Adorama as you have rightly mentioned. However I was wondering the effect it may have on warrenty when i purchase online. Since the investment is high ( Body plus some good lenses) I appreciate your comments/ feedback on the issue of warrenty.

Thanking in Advance.

Majid.
http://www.nidalm.com/blog/ Anonymous

Hi Majid, thanks for stopping by.

The D7000 is a great choice from what I read about it (and it makes certain T2i and 60D proponents green with envy!). As the warranty on all the equipment I get is from Canon USA, it certainly is not covered by Canon Middle East. However, here’s my take on it:

If there is a warranty related issue with your camera, you can call Canon customer service in the US. Worst case scenario is you’ll have to pay for shipping which I assume will be less than SR300 either way. In case of mistakes on their end, they’ll pay for shipping. I assume the same goes for Nikon.

Luckily, Canon has a presence in Saudi Arabia and you can always head to their offices here and pay for full repairs on this end. Nikon, as far as I know, has no official presence in the country.

Either way, you will be expected to pay more. But given the rarity of cases where something goes wrong (especially in the first year of use which warranties cover), and the extremely high cost of locally bought equipment, I still lean towards buying from the outside.
http://www.shaunedwards.com/portraits/prices photographer berkshire

I’ve perused a few articles from your blog and I’d like to say thank you. I enjoyed your form and I subscribed to your rss feed. You do update your rss right?
Furqan14

I think its time you update this post by talking about the latest find in Riyadh!
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1326668132 Ocir Aicrag

good day, i just bought my canon 1000d, but i need to purchase a lens hood for my 75-300mm lens, do you know a place here dammam of al khobar where i can purchase this item? canon lens hood ET-60 will be fine if i can get this item, thanks
Rashid Shahid

Its not just photo gear, practically any new gadget.
There are quite a few reasons to get it from outside.
1) In Saudi Arabia you will find the products months or years later. No Kidding, and don’t be surprised if you never find it.
2) Even if you find it you must be prepared to pay double or sometime triple the amount it really costs.
3) You wont have a variety in choosing specifications and customizations.
http://yasirimran.wordpress.com/2011/08/11/jeddah-photo-blog-photography-of-jeddah-city/ Jeddah Photo Blog – Photography of Jeddah city | Yasir Imran Mirza

[...] can capture it cannot give results like a professional camera. Although Abdullah Nidal wrote much cheaper ways of buying camera in Saudi Arabia I will still love Mobile [...]
Rashid

I want to Buy a Canon T3i from B&H. They have a sagemax worldwide plan for the camera warranty for 3 yrs (US$133). Do you think it is useful? Further, can I get the camera delivered by courier and thre will be no customs duties etc. Your advise will be appreciated
Rashid
Jeddah
http://www.nidalm.com/blog/ Anonymous

I’ve never had to send in my cameras to fix in the many years I’ve had them, but I can’t be sure about the warranty. When I ordered my cameras, I never got customs duties either, but you could catch Saudi customs on a bad day 0_0
Rashid

Dear Nidal,
Thank you for your reply. As you said, I am going ahead with the purchase of Canon T3i (600D) from B&H. They will ship me through UPS. I checked with UPS guys here. They say they receive shipments from B&H quite regularly, sometimes the customs charge 120SR (or 5% of the shipment value) and sometimes they let it go without any duty. I hope for the best. In any case, It will be 25% cheaper than what Canon is charging me here. Of course I will lose on Waranty issue, but I am taking this risk. What do you say? Go Ahead?
Rizwanpro

Well, As for buying the better idea is to ask some Pakistani who is going on vacation to bring the DSLR that you want.. I have seen a significant difference in prices here in Saudia and in Karachi, Pakistan.. besides you can go to Dubai for a cheaper purchase in much less cost.
Syed

Thanks Nidal for your wonderful tips. Encouraged by your blog and after some research I found your advice of purchasing photographic equipment from US to be the best option, considering the rip-off here in Saudi. The risk of shipment was there and warranty is an issue, but your advice regarding this two was very wise. Finally I ordered my 60D from B&H at US and the shipment arrived within 10 days. I am a very happy man pleased to take a good advice.

Regards,