Category: Shopping

A couple of days back I posted about Edfa3ly which I said was “the cheapest way to ship lightweight packages from the US”. Well its gonna get even cheaper now since they emailed me last night letting me know they’ve set up a coupon code for my readers to use.

If you use the coupon code “248am” on their website, they’ll waive the international shipping fees and Kuwait customs fee for any order below $50.

Terms and conditions for the coupon:
– Only one coupon can be issued per person per account
– Limited to max $50
– Valid until August 22nd

So if you were planning to order an item using them now would be the perfect time. Here is a link to their [Website]

UPDATE: There have been major changes to the service since this post. Edfa3ly are no longer the cheapest option to ship, they no longer charge by the 100grams and they are now more expensive than PostaPlus.

A couple of weeks back a US mail forwarding company called Edfa3ly contacted me to let me know about their service. Since I had already reviewed countless of similar shipping services, I really wasn’t interested in reviewing another. But, turns out this shipping company had one feature that caught my attention. While services like Aramex’s Shop & Ship and PostaPlus’s MyBox charge per 1/2kg, Edfa3ly charges per 100grams, so I decided to try them out.

If you haven’t used a service like Shop & Ship before, they usually have a minimum weight they charge which is 1/2kg. So if your package weighed 50 grams you would still be charged 1/2kg. The charge varies from company to company, I use PostaPlus currently and they charge KD2.5 for the first 1/2kg while Aramex charges KD3.250. Both PostaPlus and Aramex also charge KD1 on top of that as a customs clearance fee so the cheapest you could ever pay with PostaPlus is KD3.5 and KD4.250 with Aramex. So if your item doesn’t cost much and doesn’t weigh much, it’s not feasible to order it all the way from the States.

I have a bunch of stuff on my Amazon wish list that I need but don’t bother ordering because of this very fact. For example there is a rubber eyecup for my camera, it’s a tiny rubber piece that costs around KD3 so it wouldn’t make sense to order it and then pay at least KD3.5 on top of that for shipping. But since Edfa3ly charge by the 100grams I decided to order it. Unlike other forwarding services, you don’t need to sign up to Edfa3ly. You just go to the website, enter the URL of the item you want to buy, fill out some information and then pay for the item and they will order it for you and ship it to Kuwait. So I did that and this is what the total came out to be for my order:

Item Price: $10.7
Customs Fee: $0.54
Edfa3ly Fees: $0.54
Shipping Fees (1.33 dollar(s) per 100gm): $1.33 (0.05 kg)

Total Price: $13.11

So shipping from Amazon to Kuwait cost me just $2.41! You don’t pay US tax, you don’t pay US shipping and you don’t pay a local custom clearance fee. Instead you just pay the cost of shipping from the US to Kuwait plus an Edfa3ly fee which is 5% of the item cost. I had a package shipped to me and delivered to me in Kuwait within 10 days and just paid around 750 fils for shipping. Thats insane! I’ve got so many tiny cheap stuff I need to buy now like a new Dremel wrench since I lost mine or these tiny plastic rivets for my Datsun. Suddenly so many more things seem accessible.

So if you’re looking to order items that don’t cost much and weigh under 1/2kg, I can’t think of any better alternative. Here is a link to the Edfa3ly website [Link]

Last week I posted about how The Approved Market started home delivery and now they’ve launched their online website alongside that service.

Their website features all their in store products and you can pay online using Knet. Delivery is within 24 hours so if you don’t want to drive all the way to the city to pick up an item, you can now order it online. Here is a link to their [Website]

Thanks Ahmad

If you were hoping the American supermarket chain Whole Foods would open in Kuwait one day, well this is the closest thing you’re gonna get. Wholesome Foods is a new supermarket that Saveco have opened up and not only does it have the same name as Whole Foods, it basically has the same interior look and color scheme along with a similar concept (they mostly carry organic and healthy food products).

It’s not a very large place, but it’s two floors and they have a good variety of items you won’t find at other supermarkets. They’re located in Salmiya in The View building where Marks & Spencer is so the place is pretty close to where I live. Since I’m always frustrated with the lack of product range at Sultan I’ll probably be passing by Whole Foods (can we just call it that?) to pick up whatever I can’t find anywhere else.

If you’re wondering about the prices, they’re similar to Saveco. Whole Foods is open daily from 10AM to 1AM and here is their location on [Google Maps]

The Boulevard park/mall/food plaza is now kind of open. Basically right now there is Chilis and 5Napkins open in the food plaza overlooking the lake and thats about it over there. Inside the mall there is only Caribou Coffee right now but according to an employee there a few other stores are supposedly opening in the next few days. So if you’re thinking of passing by might be a good idea to do it next week since its open but not really open right now. If you don’t know where Boulevard is, here is the link on [Google Maps]

For more pictures of Boulevard plus a list of all the stores opening up, click [Here]

Someone on Kuwikipedia asked if there was a way to get a beIN receiver without going to Hawalli and a person replied back with a link to a local online satellite shop that deliver. I thought this was a useful link to bookmark on the blog for future reference so if you ever want to buy a satellite receiver without leaving your house then check out this [Link]

Link has also been added to the Online Shopping Websites in Kuwait list.

If the fact that Healthy Feast and Arabica opening in Shuwaikh wasn’t enough to convince you it’s the next up and coming area, I found out last week that Vol.1 is also opening in Shuwaikh.

There is a new complex that will be completed in a couple of months time called Mayar which is owned by Zaleej Real Estate Company, the same company that owns Lilly Center where Pick Yo and Caribou Coffee are located down the street. The complex will house different businesses ranging from coffee shops and restaurants to flower shops, electronics shops, fashion stores and health clubs. Some of the confirmed places opening up there are Vol.1, Urban Cafe, Brothers Burger, Melenzane, November Bakery, Aya Coco, Brown Boutique, Modish and Tiny Socks. If you work in the area and are hoping for a Vol.1 morning caffeine boost don’t get excited just yet since they’re hoping to open after summer in around October/November.

Here is the location of Mayyar Complex on [Google Maps]

InstaSalla is a new app that allows you to order groceries from your local co-op and have it delivered within 90 minutes. Based on my short experience with the app it seems they have ALL their products available online to purchase which means this might be more comprehensive than the likes of Taw9eel or the LuLu web store.

The app is mainly in Arabic although there is an English option (swipe left to reveal the sidebar). Sadly not everything was translated to English, if you try to order anything or even register an account you’ll be met with Arabic menus even if you had chosen English as the app’s language. Still, not bad for the first release.

InstaSalla is available on both [iOS] and [Android]

Thanks umterchia

Three new projects have opened up at Al Shaheed Park so I figured I’d list them all under one post (Their names below will take you to their instagram accounts):

Fayrouzeyat
The fine dining Lebanese restaurant Fayrouzeyat now have a location at Al Shaheed Park.They’re open from 10AM to 10PM daily.

The Reading Room
The Reading Room is a gift shop and community work space brought to you by the creative ladies behind The Yard. They’re open daily from 9AM to 9PM except on Fridays when they’re open from 1PM to 8PM.

Photo by Inspired Edibles

Three & Barista
Finally, Three & Barista is a new coffee shop that will be opening next month. By the looks of their instagram they’ll also be serving food.

Late last year Alshaya soft launched their “Privileges Club” card. The card provide a number of benefits to Alshaya shoppers including automatically entering them into their monthly prize draws and giving them access to exclusive offers amongst other benefits. Back when I posted about the card their app hadn’t been released yet but now that the app is out I figured I’d post about it because it’s actually a pretty good one.

The biggest issue I have with my Privileges Club card or any other loyalty card for that matter (like my IKEA one) is I never carry them with me since I’ve got one of those slim wallets which can only fit four cards. So I end up leaving my loyalty cards at home and forget to take them with me when I go shopping. The best feature about the Alshaya Privileges Club card app is the fact you don’t have to carry the physical card with you, instead they can just scan the card’s QR code from your screen. Other benefits of the app is that it lets you know how many entries you have in their monthly draw, what new offers are available, the ability to sign up or sign out of notifications and other helpful features. It’s a loyalty card done right surprisingly. So if you’ve got an Alshaya Privileges Club card, download the app. I’m not sure if it’s available on Android but on iPhones just search for Alshaya in the Apple App Store.

Update: It’s also available on Android.

4Sale is a local classifieds app which I have been hesitant to post about since it’s a pretty crappy app with tons of ads, terrible graphics and overall just a big mess. But, the app does have one thing going for it and that is the content. For some odd reason, the app (and their website) is super popular. It’s probably one of the most popular classifieds websites and apps in Kuwait even though they’re both horrible to use.

I hate it and it’s not just me, the App has a 2 star rating in the app store so clearly other people are facing similar issues. But like I said its about the content and you’ll find a ton of stuff for sale here. I’ve been mostly using the app to look for old cars from the 80s, a friend of mine uses it to search for vape products while another for video games. You’re bound to find something in there that interests you so you’ll end up putting up with all the flaws just like I do. To download the app search for “4sale” in the app store or click one of the following links [iPhone] [Android]

Back in 2012, 965 Flowers launched as a local online flower delivery website and I ended up posting about them after I needed to use them one day. Over time though they started adding other items that also fit with the different occasions people gifted flowers, items like chocolates, baked goods and other kinds of small gifts. They also started expanding to other parts of the GCC so their name 965 Flowers became an issue for them. They were no longer just based in Kuwait and they no longer just had flowers so they decided to rebrand and starting today they’re going by Bleems.

They chose the word Bleems because it doesn’t mean anything and works in Arabic and English. They chose a word that had no meaning because they didn’t want to end up with a name that would limit their ability to expand their business later on down the line. Personally Bleems reminds me of the old PlayStation emulator for the PC called Bleem! while a quick search on Urban Dictionary pops up some interesting other definitions. In any case, it’s still a much better name than 965 Flowers (or 965 anything).

Their official re-launch is today and the owners sent me the video above which basically explains everything I just wrote. Here is a link to their [Website]

Allsaints is one of my favorite fashion stores and they’re opening up in Kuwait next month. Their first location will be at 360 Mall right across from Nike where Desigual used to be located. It’s not Alshaya who are bringing them but instead the UAE company Majid Al Futtaim. Majid Al Futtaim are the same company that brought LEGO to Kuwait so I’m hoping the pricing scheme of Allsaints won’t follow LEGO’s formula which is just doubling the cost of everything.

The mini Sultan Center at the Gulf Road (Shaab) Alfa petrol station opened up last week and surprisingly it also has a Dunkin Donuts, Second Cup and an Ooredoo branch inside. No idea why it took them such a long time to open up a convenience store in that location but I’m glad they finally did although truthfully, there is a much larger Sultan Center located right behind it so I doubt I’ll ever use this location.

Speaking of Sultan Center I noticed they’re opening a new location right next to LuLu and Saveco in AlRai. Like right next door to LuLu. It’s either a really ballsy move or a really stupid one, I’m having difficulty deciding.

Last week I posted about the LEGO store officially opening in Kuwait and a lot of readers were curious to know how the prices were compared to the U.S. So I decided to pass by the store and randomly pick out a few items from the different LEGO collections to compare. Below is a list of 18 different items with their prices in Kuwait as well as their prices on Amazon.

LEGO Star Wars 75095 Tie Fighter
Kuwait: KD149.950
Amazon: KD61

LEGO Star Wars 75059 Sandcrawler
Kuwait: KD159.950
Amazon: KD91

LEGO Star Wars 10240 Red Five X-Wing Starfighter
Kuwait: KD129.950
Amazon: KD78

LEGO Star Wars 75054 AT-AT Building Toy
Kuwait: KD97.950
Amazon: KD48

LEGO Minecraft 21118 The Mine
Kuwait: KD73.950
Amazon: KD38

LEGO Pirates 70413 The Brick Bounty
Kuwait: KD72.950
Amazon: KD45

LEGO Architecture 21019 The Eiffel Tower
Kuwait: KD18.950
Amazon: KD10

LEGO Architecture 21017 Imperial Hotel
Kuwait: KD69.950
Amazon: KD39

LEGO City Police 60068 Crooks’ Hideout
Kuwait: KD32.950
Amazon: KD16

LEGO City Police 60047 Police Station
Kuwait: KD65.950
Amazon: KD24

LEGO City Space Port 60080 Spaceport
Kuwait: KD60.950
Amazon: KD29

LEGO Simpsons 71006 The Simpsons House
Kuwait: KD134.950
Amazon: KD61

LEGO Creator Expert 10220 Volkswagen T1 Camper
Kuwait: KD69.500
Amazon: KD39

LEGO Creator Expert 10246 Detective’s Office
Kuwait: KD99.500
Amazon: KD48

LEGO Creator 10232 Palace Cinema
Kuwait: KD79.950
Amazon: KD45

LEGO Mindstorms EV3 31313
Kuwait: KD249.950
Amazon: KD106

LEGO Technic 42039 24 Hours Race Car
Kuwait: KD76.950
Amazon: KD33

LEGO Technic 42030 VOLVO L350F Wheel Load
Kuwait: KD169.950
Amazon: KD74

As you probably noticed, the prices in Kuwait are double that of Amazon and in one case triple. It’s pretty ridiculous considering this is an official store. One of my readers made the extra effort and contacted LEGO to complain about the prices. They replied to him with the following:

Dear Quintin,
Thanks for getting in touch with us.

I’m sorry you’re not happy with the price of LEGO® sets in Kuwait. We know we’re lucky to have so many loyal LEGO fans around the world and we’re always pleased to get feedback – especially when it’s about how we can improve.

Finding the right price for a toy isn’t easy and depends on a lot of considerations. To name a few, our marketing team looks at statistical data about a country’s population, transportation costs, currency exchange rates, local laws and taxes and the prices of other toys. No two countries are exactly the same, so the price may be different from country to country.

Futhermore, to date we do not have any official LEGO® stores in the either Kuwait and Dubai. Therefore, it is not the LEGO group who have set the prices in the particular stores you are referring to, but the individual stores themselves

Please let us know if you need anything else.

Kind regards,

Onno
LEGO® Service

What do they mean they don’t have an official LEGO store in Kuwait? My guess is the customer support person hasn’t been updated on new store openings. In any case, based on their response I’m guessing the reason LEGO costs twice as much in Kuwait is because people here can afford to pay that much. Sucks I know.