Best Buy Kuwait, the fake Best Buy in Hawalli have the tiny Asus Eee laptops for sale and they are being sold for KD159 which is KD50 more expensive than Amazon. Its really sad how they’ve blatantly copied Best Buy’s logo and name. If it was a crappy shop I could care less but they do actually have a decent collection of stuff so they should also put the effort in coming up with a better name for the place.
41 replies on “Eee in Kuwait”
slight rip off! … slight.. hahaha
Believe it or not, I saw it 10 days ago and it was only 125 KD, seems like theres a demand for this thing! Or do we have different versions ??
well, actually its not a rip off. price on Amazon is 110 KD + 6 weeks waiting + fright forward service = ? I don’t think it is a rip off.
I did something funny to them (KWT Best Buy) Once. 4 years ago I had an american friend visiting me from the US and he used to work at best buy. We went in and he showed them his Best Buy employee card and told them that he is from Best Buy US and that they will sue them because they are using the name and logo of Best Buy. The poor cashier guy was shocked and said “No, we have KWT written, so its not the same”. I guess they really believed that LOL
Bo-Bader:
In my book, anyway you look at it, 45% extra is a rip off.
I just cant wait to see Best buy in the US suing his ass.
K.theKuwaiti
come on. you mean 40 KD more is the same as 400 KD?
how much do they suppose to make? 10KD? Apple, Intel, HP, Dell and all have a min of 45% margin! do you also consider it a rip off?
People have to make a profit. Every successful business make at least 45% profit even if you do not know it. But that never stop us from buying. You should never compare prices to amazon because even in the States no one can beat their prices.
BoBader I don’t understand how you compare Apple, Intel, HP and Dell to Best Buy Kuwait.
45% increase over Amazon’s price is a lot. Its like saying 1500$ is cheap if the laptop is being sold for 1000$ on Amazon.
The reason we all compare our prices to Amazon is because we all have a choice to either buy from Amazon or buy from Kuwait. We choose Amazon cuz its cheaper. Don’t tell me thats because its in the States. There are many times I buy stuff in Kuwait for prices similar to Amazon or cheaper. For example yesterday I bought a 160GB hard drive for cheaper then Amazon. I bought my Bosch drill for same price as Amazon.
If you don’t mind paying 45% extra for a product then thats just you. Regular people usually like paying less.
oh and FYI there are different specs and colors of the Eee. There are some available now, like this one for KD82 (2GB)
https://www.amazon.com/Asus-2G-Processor-Preloaded-Black/dp/B00114T9WY/
And yeah he is supposed to make KD10 profit out of an item that costs KD110. You can’t except to make KD100 dinar out of everything that is sold. This is why shops add a percentage of profit not a fixed number. If a piece of gum costs 100fils you don’t sell it for KD10.100
The Eee costs KD110 so you don’t sell it for KD160
SoS saw it for 125 last week i saw it for 145 and now thier selling it for 160? well guys u better buy it now before they price it at 180
Mark,
If you read my post again you will see that what I was saying that I don’t mind paying 40 KD difference and get the product right away instead of waiting 4 to 6 weeks and no warranty from amazon (Thats what you showed on your initial post). A rip off is when charged 200 KD more for MacBook Pro (even if it is less than 40% more).
And in my second post I made it clear that 40 KD more is not the same as 400 KD. 45% increase for a 90 KD product is definitely not the same for 300KD product. Right? I don’t mind paying 40KD more but not 150KD for 300KD product. Its not always about percentage.
When I refer to Dell, HP, and Apple I was making a point that these companies are getting 40 to 50% profit for their products and no one saying that they are ripping off customers. Why picking on these small businesses in Kuwait that try to make a living?!
BoBader 45% increase on a product that costs KD100 and on a product that costs 1000 is still 45% increase. Thats whats so great about percentages!
As I said you might prefer to pay 45% more on a product but majority of people choose to want to pay less. No one is saying you can’t pay 45% more if you want to, thats up to you.
You also can’t compare Best Buy Kuwait to Apple or Dell. You want Dell to build computers for $500 and sell them for $500? What about all the money they are spending on marketing and advertising? What about all the money they spent on research and development? Come on dude don’t you know anything about business?
How could you even ask why we are picking on a store thats actually stolen the name and logo from Best Buy!??
Mark,
Business 101: Products are priced based on demand and supply not a percentage. My family have been doing business for more than 30 years. We never say lets buy 100 KD product and add 50%!! We price based on demand and supply. Sometimes we sell goods for 50% profit,sometimes for 1% and sometimes for a loss because you never know what will happen tomorrow. You might buy a product today and by the time you get it the market turns 180 degrees.
PS: Our business is not related to computers. But product is a product.
Mark,
Thats what I wanted you to say about Dell, Apple, and HP. They have expenses 🙂
What about those small shops? How do they pay rent? What about employees? what about storage, tariffs, shipping, and transportation? they are also expenses 😉
Exactly! So a 45% increase in price over Amazon is a ripoff. It would only not be a ripoff if the product wasn’t available to purchase from anywhere but since its freely available on Amazon in different colors and specs and also in other online stores then Best Buy Kuwait is expensive.
Dude you think Best Buy Kuwait is the only store in Kuwait that has to pay employees and rent? Come on thats like every store in Kuwait! Their overheard is very low and please stop comparing it to Dell, HP and all the rest. Its like comparing cars to oranges.
Thats what I am saying. There is a demand for 159 KD Asus they are selling because maybe people think that the price is fair. People have a choice and maybe many prefer to buy things locally even if it cost a little more. When I bought my car in 2004 I bought it brand new from alghanim. I could have bought it from the States for 3000 KD (17%) less. But my 3000KD extra paid off in warranty and free insurance repairs (I estimate the warranty repairs to be around 2000KD) and free service. There is a plus for buying products locally sometimes.
Dude you seriously need to get better examples. So now buying a car from the states and shipping it to Kuwait is like buying the Eee from Amazon? Where is the logic?
You can continue arguing about this alone if you want because I don’t have time to hear about how its cheaper to buy a house in Kuwait compared to buying one in the states and then shipping it here.
Mark,
You don’t seem to understand what I am saying because your mind is fixed on Asus price not the whole picture.
u guys r annoying
Mark, to be fair, you’ve completely dismissed the overheads argument. Companies like Amazon can afford to undercut their competition because they work out of warehouses rather than expensive shop fronts. They can afford to work 24-7 because their systems are automated and do not require a full time attendant to quote or serve a customer.
FYI: Rents in Kuwait are no longer cheap in comparison to how they used to be. Most places (even shitty Hawalli) have at least doubled in rent in the last couple of years, and whilst the ‘labor’ charges are comparatively low for non-skilled salesman, it’s naive to simply dismiss overheads as a non-argument.
If these people are buying it from the supplier they probably got it for less than 100 KD. Yeah so it’s 40% more expensive than Amazon, but their profit is even more than that.
Bo-Bader, I find intel, dell and HP prices here in Kuwait are very much close from those u find on the internet and in the US.
3azeez,
My comparison was on margin (they make 50% profit for every product they make and end up with 10% profit after overhead).
HP are assembled in KSA and UAE I believe thats why they are almost the same ±5%. From personal experience, Dell usually cost more in Kuwait. I bought 2 laptops for my cousin from the US for $450 each (Holiday Discount Price), in alghanim they were 350KD each.
“For example yesterday I bought a 160GB hard drive for cheaper then Amazon. ”
Details?
Diesel .. details please.. Where did u get it and which brand?
4G is old.
buy 8G: https://www.amazon.com/Asus-8G-Processor-Pearl-White/dp/B000ZLO3D4
My brother bought it for 500$ before 2 months. now its out of stock in amazon
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ASUS_Eee_PC
or you better wait.
ASUS plans to introduce second-generation Eee PCs in April 2008, featuring Intel’s Merom* processors. The new design will reduce power consumption by 36%, from 11 W TDP to 7 W TDP. ASUS may also remove the fan to further reduce power consumption and noise.
Merom, the first mobile version of the Core 2
Bo-Bader has a point..
diesel: https://www.amazon.com/Toshiba-MK1637GSX-internal-SATA-300-buffer/dp/B000MVMFGE
I got it for KD26, 1 KD cheaper
Best Buy rip off is nothing, check the one here in Riyadh, known as “Best” and their web site is https://www.best-ecity.com/
Ok, I am sorry if that site have blinded you 😉
My purchasing logic is pretty simple .. If an item costs 20% or less (after shipping) in Kuwait, then I can justify the price. Otherwise I would rather order it online and wait a week (its in stock with NewEgg).
gasp! you would rather pay less for a product? Thats unheard of here, people will think you are crazy!!!
there is a thin line between cheap and trying to get the best deal
:: Mark, if i want to get this laptop from Amazon, would they ship it to Kuwait?
yeah but u need to use a mail forwarding service like usws or shop and ship
:: Great, what about the custom? they will charge me also?
customs is random. they might stop it they might not.
:: Humm, Okay. Thanks.
:: Hey Mark , There was a new ad today in the newspaper they are selling it for KD149
Now they’re selling them for 129KD, which is very reasonable. There’s a new 9″ Eee, that will be launched sometime this month.
Oh and for the record, I’m bobader in the forums but not the Bo_Bader from the comments.
Can anyone give me the address of Best Buy and other locations from where I can buy Eee Asus Laptops.
Thank you 🙂