Hello guys,
I'm taking a short vacation to Dubai in Feb and would like to do some shopping, a mate of mine suggested this site to compare prices (http://www.sharafdg.com). There is not much of a difference I think after exchange rate.
I'm after a DSLR twin lens camera and may be Gold if its cheaper? These are both gifts so not gonna bring it back to oz.
Does UAE/Dubai airport has TRS for tourists?
Any idea to get best exchange rate?
what else can I buy?
Cheers
Johnny
Thanks Tonyaldo, information is quite helpful.
I'll keep an eye for better conversion rate, or might carry few thousands in A$ and exchange at dubai airport.
Trying to convert this
1 AUD = 2.95 AED going by today rate (https://www.google.com.au/webhp?sourceid=chrome-instant&ion=… AUD to AED)
going by the myth of AED is pegged to USD.
1 AUD = 0.8 USD
going with 0.80 USD to dubai and getting it converted gives me
0.8 USD = 2.94 which is .01 less
it is the same., except that you pay 2 conversion charges.
logical I'll use cash at Dubai shops, rather than conversion as Jakkas said below, thanks for the effort deepudips
Best place to buy Gold is Dubai Deira Gold Souk. It's a huge gold market close to Baniyas Square Metro station. I prefer to buy from Joyalukkas & Damas Jewellers for their design and quality. (Certified Gold)
Gold price are fix anywhere in UAE. It's a labour price you have to haggle. Don't be shy and use your ozbargain skill to haggle. You can pay Australian Dollars and they will give you same exchange rate for the day.
Also, you can buy cheap souvenirs near Deira market. Never buy those from malls as it's same quality but almost double the price.
Don't exchange too much at Airport as you will get better rate outside.
Ill will visit these guys, thanks
Using AUD in Dubai gets you a horrible rate (whether for purchasing or converting)
Best to take USD there
Not sure where you live but best place I found to buy USD here is
http://www.uaeexchange.com/branch-locator/detailslist?countr…
or
i fly to dubai often and heading out again in feb/march
i always exchange aud on the outside.like deepudips said why pay twice the conversion charges (even if you have some sort of credit card / or your bank offers to waive the fee - example is the ANZ customers who don't have to pay the fee)
and my experience of 8 years has never failed me - aussie dollar gets a better deal than usd even though at times its just a mere couple of dhs more - but hey every bit counts!!
gold - best place to buy is the gold souk - its the labour price that has to be haggled - depending on the design of the item you are buying -labour charges should be between 5 dhs per gram to a maximum of 9dhs per gram - anymore = you're a fool
the gold and diamond park is an utter waste of time - not much of a variety and prices are sky high.
the good thing about the gold souk is that most of the shops tend to have the same designs so u hop and skip from one shop to another and you make sure you highlight two main things
1- never ever ever and i mean never show how interested you are in a particular item - you choose two or three haggle over the one u don't really want - and trust me they will never budge on the price - so then u appear extremely disappointed and then tell them how you can't afford the price etc etc and your best price -$$-
here what you are trying to do is actually give them the price of the one you really want. make sure you get them to weigh everything in front of you and show you the weight - do you calculations (gold price for the day + making/labour charges)= final price. be very weary and stingy with the labour charges bcz dn't forget they've already made a profit when the bought the gold in the first place (since gold does go up eventually) so the making/labour charges that they are applying is just the profit on top of the profit.
2- because most of the shops tend to have the same designs you just keep giving them ultimatums — 'that why would you buy from here if you are getting it cheaper elsewhere) last year when i went i did that and i ended up saving $800 on two 22kt bangles i bought. instead of paying $2.5k i ended up paying $1700.
Good luck
enjoy ur trip johnny
TRS not applicable as there is no tax
Sharafdg is a rip off
Best deals on electronics is either carrefour (like coles here) or souq.com (really good)
Dubai currency is AED (dirhams)
It is pegged to the USD
Your best option is to buy USD here and take it there for exchange
Never buy AED/dirhams here
In fact, as a rule of thumb, always buy the currency you want in that country itself
And always take USD to buy that currency