Introducing: International Direct by Amazon!
International Direct offers Amazon customers a unique service: providing duty and tax estimation during checkout and customs clearance by the courier on your behalf. Your order arrives at your door without surprise duty charges. International Direct is also a great way to send gifts overseas. International Direct currently provides service to the following countries: Australia, Austria, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Great Britain, Hong Kong, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Thailand and United Arab Emirates.
Currently Kuwait isn’t on the list but since UAE and Saudi Arabia are then Kuwait could be next. [Link]
21 replies on “The end of USWS and Shop&Ship?”
interesting, do u have any idea about how much do they charge?
i think kuwait is included:
Countries and Territories Included in the Middle East Shipping Region
* Armenia
* Azerbaijan
* Bahrain
* Jordan
* Kazakhstan
* Kuwait
* Kyrgyzstan
* Lebanon
* Oman
* Pakistan
* Qatar
* Saudi Arabia
* Tajikistan
* Turkmenistan
* United Arab Emirates
* Uzbekistan
* Yemen
this list is from this link
https://www.amazon.com/gp/help/customer/display.html/002-5468696-6324032?ie=UTF8&nodeId=596204
send it to my new address in Dubai and I will mail it back to you with ARAMEX 🙂
who knows amazon wont start an office in dubai soon!
That wont change a thing. Because there are still some stiff they can’t ship internationally. I don’t know how it works, but some brand names ask etailers not to sell their products to customers outside the US.
they have something wrong in the list there FAQ is different from news page, talking about country list
i think you should email them
Well it would be a good thing for amazon, but who will be delivering to your door?
Yazeed that list is different. You can currently order some items to kuwait directly like books and dvds. This new thing allows you to order stuff you couldn’t before like electronics.
i think the page is still under construction cuz i found it by a link on the main page and now that link is gone. plus if u click electronics it takes u to dvds..
Yea, I noticed that..
It does not matter, you still have to pay to get your box cleared from Kuwait customs.
as Aziz said , most items wouldn’t ship outside USA so it wouldn’t change much
From what I heard Kuwait is not on the list due to its ever-changing internal customs policy.
People need to understand this is not “amazon mailing stuff to kuwait directly,” as people stated they *already* do this.
This is “Amazon figuring out your customs charges in Kuwait” and you not getting extra or hidden customs fees when you arrive here – this way the rip offs that have been occuring lately with 200% markup custom fees on DVDs and the like would stop.
“Your order arrives at your door without surprise duty charges.”
This is DUTY and TAX estimation folks which we sorely need here now that Kuwait customs are playing around with prices.
All us bloggers should work hard to make sure such a policy becomes a reality here so the Kuwaiti customs cannot play around and add hidden fees etc.
They seem to be making changes to the website.. but as aziz said I dont think it would affect aramex that much because some electronic products they wont even ship outside the states, but we shall see how that goes. It will be interesting to see! Further development is needed!
Kuwait Customs will never listen to any voice of reason..
two things they do:
– How can they do less work?
a: They just dont do it
– How can we make things more difficult?
a: Dont let anything out..
Thing is if you notice consumer electronics are included. i think with international direct you will be able to order electronic items which before wasn’t possible. at the moment the electronics list is small but it could grow to include computers, ipods and cameras etc…
i bought 4 xbox 360s since the last june. This month, they stopped my box and it took me 20 days to get it out. The cost is 28 kd extra. The customs for any item coming to kuwait is 5% max. My xbox is 400$. remove from that my gift voucher from amazona and my invoice came at 240$.
5% of that is 12 $ thats almost 4 KD. Why do I have to pay 100 $ more (almost 25%) and get it 20 days later ???????????
its about time ! Aramex sucks, lately Aramex service is too slow and they over charge for packages
yazeed, bad news… they ship to many arab countries yes, but only book,movies, and DVD’s……. while by using Aramex, why bypass restrictions on shipping electronics and so on to international countries !
you can order stuff.. as long as it’s not a recorded brand in kuwait… through amazon customer service you can order anythig actually, you just have to want it badly
also, get a statement from your shop/ship office and compare it with amazon’s price… sometimes amazon beats it.
but the catch? shop/ship offices like aramex offer insurance… aka: “your items WILL get to you as long as they are legal.” amazon will ship it to the country and then it’s the country’s responsibility to get it to you, unless you pay for the insurance service or get an upgraded mailing option
Why do we have to pay customs in first place? Its not like we’re companies or huge businesses. What is the difference between bringing a brand new laptop with me on an airplane and between using a curier? In countries like syria and jordan they do ask travelers at the customs to declare all kind of electronics (even cellphones and gameboys!) thogh i cant recall if they asked us to payزanything. IMO, this whole customs thing is just a scam to benifit the sharks who wont lower their prices.
Aziz ,as per Kuwait custom law any shipment enter via kuwait airport with any of courier company is subject for custom charges ,personal laggage is only the staff you get in your suitcase when you enter the airport anything else even if one dvd is not personal and costm people have the right to charge us for regrdless of the nature of the item..,this talk from one of Kuwaiti officer I met at the airport, this is Kuwait Law:)