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Greetings LebGeeks!

I am trying to know what is the cheapest way for the customer to buy pc parts in Lebanon. Here's my interpretation; do comment if it is correct or if I might have been mistaken at a certain point.
Here it goes:

-More expensive way: to buy parts from amazon and ship them to Lebanon.

First of all, there is a shipping fee, then the customs on the port. And we have to consider that as weight increases, the fees increase as well. Now let's say that a person is outside beirut; then sending it straight home using liban post or other service would cost him a certain fee, taking into account the weight as well.

-Less expensive: when a buyer locally orders/buys parts directly inside Lebanon.

The prices would increase by VAT, considering as well the customs on the port when a shop imports parts. But is it true that the shop would import parts in great quantities (wholesales), then the parts' costs would decrease, hence the shop would be able to sell the products in the market price? Or it would still be more expensive than the first method through amazon? (Disregarding the shop's greediness for maximizing profits).

All of the above is assumed to deliver the same quality of the product to the user.

Other questions about the same topic:
- is there any alternative to amazon that would make product delivery cheaper? (I noticed that not all stores offer shipping to Lebanon)
- is quality maintained in reality?
- will the local shop in lebanon still make good profit, or will it be somehow minimized? Any thoughts on Pc and Parts case?

Sorry for having this to be a long topic, but it would really help me to know. Thank you for reading this, and I would really appreciate your replies pointing to missing concepts, ideas, & misconceptions.

Cheers!
@hexaroute

1- Lebanese PC Parts is starting to mature , you can spot the availability of Corsair , Razor , NZXT product available at major sellers such as PC&Parts, Macrotronics, and MicroCity.

2-PC&Parts has the lowest offerings , simply no showroom , a warehouse underground (Dora Industrial Sea Side) with a couple of employees handling on spot customer services and Aramex for bulk shipping across Lebanon - Operating Costs are minimized which gave it a cushion to reduce the prices and yet being profitable , I am not also sure if he is NSSF and Finance Registered too.

3- Shipping from outside (amazon , ebay etc.. ) , is risky for the RMA - Return of Merchandise Authority - kind of warranties , where you need to return a defective +500 USD item and enter the loop of time , reshipment , etc.. headache. You can find sure less prices by 40% but with shipment + customs the 40% will be a 10% difference , which to me is not worth it especially with the current Lebanese PC parts and peripherals market. Sure the market goes with a trend (mainly Intel CPUs and Boards) with an ETA of products reaching 6 months ahead from the initial release , but you will have a local warranty.

4-For other peripherals (like cable extensions etc..) , and "Chinese" mock products like cases etc.. You can try Ali Express shipped in Lebanon through LibanPost - the overall products are good to very good, but it takes time to arrive.
I generally avoid online shopping, especially for electronics, unless I cannot find what I need at all. The random customs charges are a nightmare and it's difficult enough to find companies that ship to Lebanon. I think the best way is to find a shop you can trust in Lebanon for PC parts. Pcandparts.com is by far the cheapest and they have great customer service. The only 'downside' is that there is no showroom, but if you know what you want, you should use them by all means
@Tech Guru
This was really informative! I really hope though our markets flood with more varieties though. All in all, you have justified my thoughts. I really appreciate it!

And as for @Salloum, I sure agree with you about online shopping concerning electronics, especially when it comes to Lebanon and the international shopping scope. Very stressful when it comes to me... My comment on pcandparts is not only the showroom feature, but also the variety seems limited in my opinion. As @Tech Guru mentioned, that our market here follows a certain trend, unfortunately.
A good alternative is buying from Europe, while parts are a bit more expensive than the US, they're still cheaper than here, and you save on shipping. ComputerUniverse is a good site to buy from, they have a pretty good selection and ship directly to Lebanon, so you don't need to use Borderlinx and such services.

If you want to buy CPUs (think unlocked i5s, AMD CPUs or MicroCenter deals) which very rarely come DOA or require to be RMAed, /r/BuildAPCProxy is a great subreddit, they send you the CPU in an envelope (don't worry it's well protected) if you don't need the box which makes shipping a lot cheaper and you may not pay VAT, so you'll save a good lot compared to getting a CPU. Of course CPUs are pretty reasonably priced here, so unless it's a pretty good deal (like MicroCenter's $249.99 deal on 4790Ks) or the CPU isn't available here, get the CPU from here.
@Tech Guru

Only problem is that there still isn't that much variety, you still have a hard time finding a non-ATX motherboard, an AMD GPU, a SFF case, good aircoolers or a variety of RAM/video card/case/PSU brands, we want good PSUs that aren't overpriced, a Define S, Sapphire cards or Corsair/Crucial RAM.
@Die_Kapitan
So you're saying that in Europe its more expensive than the US, but does that mean that the total cost would be less? Or is it the the effort put is lower? I'm kind of concerning with scale of wholesales rather than on a personal scale (I'm performing a study on that issue). But you know, the subreddit is pretty interesting, even though I'd be hesitant enough to perform such an act; but I do have faith in the reddit community. Thanks for suggesting such info!
Die_Kapitan wrote@Tech Guru

Only problem is that there still isn't that much variety, you still have a hard time finding a non-ATX motherboard, an AMD GPU, a SFF case, good aircoolers or a variety of RAM/video card/case/PSU brands, we want good PSUs that aren't overpriced, a Define S, Sapphire cards or Corsair/Crucial RAM.
I do agree with you on that.
hexaroute wrote@Die_Kapitan
So you're saying that in Europe its more expensive than the US, but does that mean that the total cost would be less? Or is it the the effort put is lower? I'm kind of concerning with scale of wholesales rather than on a personal scale (I'm performing a study on that issue). But you know, the subreddit is pretty interesting, even though I'd be hesitant enough to perform such an act; but I do have faith in the reddit community. Thanks for suggesting such info!
The total cost will be less since you pay substantially less for shipping while prices are just a bit (always within 5% of that part's price in the US). There's also another good thing, in case you need to RMA, you have better warranty policies in Europe than in the US and you don't have to ship the stuff back to the US, but back to Europe.
@Die_Kapitan
Makes sense actually. However, isn't there any regional distributers the serves the Middle East specifically? Without actually going to Europe and the States?
hexaroute wrote@Die_Kapitan
Makes sense actually. However, isn't there any regional distributers the serves the Middle East specifically? Without actually going to Europe and the States?
There are but they're mostly overpriced.
Die_Kapitan wrote
hexaroute wrote@Die_Kapitan
Makes sense actually. However, isn't there any regional distributers the serves the Middle East specifically? Without actually going to Europe and the States?
There are but they're mostly overpriced.
Nevermind then, thanks alot for the info!
5 days later
I always buy GPUs from Amazon (GTX780 and GTX970), and everything else from PcAndParts. Except for once, I bought a 25 inch acer LCD from Amazon, it was worth it, couldn't find anything better locally.
Why buy the GPU's from amazon and not pcandparts?
hexaroute wroteFirst of all, there is a shipping fee, then the customs on the port.
hexaroute wroteThe prices would increase by VAT, considering as well the customs on the port when a shop imports parts.
Let me say it again, THERE IS NO CUSTOMS FEE ON COMPUTER PARTS IN LEBANON !

I got lots of things using Aramex's S&S service and the calculation always be like:

Item Price + Local Shipping = VLU

(CUS + EXC + OVT) + VAT + STM = X

S&S fee + Clearance + 10% VAT + X = Total

Where:
- Item Price = item's list price on the website "Amazon, Newegg...etc"

- Local Shipping = cost of shipping your item to your S&S box

- VLU = Value of the shipment "sometimes it's less than the real value, I don't know how they estimate it but it never goes more than item's price + local shipping"

- CUS = % of Customs fee based on VLU (0% Computer Parts, 5% Toys, 5% Cell Phones & Cell Phones Accessories/Parts)

- EXC = I don't know what the hell is this but it's always 0$

- OVT = overtime? am not so sure but it's always 3000L.L (2$)

- VAT = 10% VAT based on VLU + CUS + EXC + OVT

- STM = Stamps, a fixed 2000L.L fee (1.3$)

- S&S fee = Aramex's Shop&Ship service fee based on the weight of your shipment (can be calculated in S&S website)

- Clearance = Aramex's Customs Clearance fee, a fixed 10,000L.L (6.7$)

* you can make your lazy a$$ a program or a simple excel worksheet to do the calculation based on those formulas..

now let's try on this: EVGA GeForce GTX 980 Ti 6GB SC 06G-P4-4995-KR Superclocked with ACX 2.0 Cooler & Installed Backplate

List price = 650$, Local Shipping = 0$, S&S fee = 28.2$ "3LB/1.4KG"

Item Price + Local Shipping = VLU
650 + 0 = 650$

(CUS + EXC + OVT) + VAT + STM = X
((0 + 0 + 2$) + 10%) + 65$ + 1.3$
2.2$ + 65$ + 1.3$ = 68.5$

(S&S fee + Clearance) + 10% VAT + X = Total
(28.2$ + 6.7$) + 10% VAT + 68.5$
34.9$ + 10% VAT + 68.5$
38.4$ + 68.5$
Total = 106.9$

This item would cost you 756.9$ "or less" shipped to your doorstep while the stock model "06G-P4-4990-KR" sold for 786.5$ at PCANDPARTS without shipping..

* Why or less? cuz those guys at the airport gave one of my 600$ GTX980s a value of 500,000L.L (333.3$) lol :-)

and gave another +500$ shipment of toys & accessories a value of 200,000L.L (133.3$) !!
hahaha it was my lucky day I love you guys, good job ♥

Here are some "Amazon vs PCANDPARTS" examples:

EVGA 06G-P4-1996-KR HYBRID GTX980Ti
Shipped from Amazon = 804.6$ vs 918.5$ from PC&PARTS without shipping, a total rip-off !

intel i7-6700K
Shipped from Amazon = 441$ vs 401.5$ from PC&PARTS without shipping, excellent list price.

Corsair CMPSU-HX850i 850W PSU
Shipped from Amazon = 270.7$ vs 236.5$ from PC&PARTS without shipping, excellent list price.

MSI X99A MPOWER Motherboard
Shipped from Amazon = 381.4$ vs 367.4$ from PC&PARTS without shipping, no big deal..
7 days later
AVOlio wroteWhy buy the GPU's from amazon and not pcandparts?
@themike10452 is it because of the limited products available here?
MohammedSF wrote
hexaroute wroteFirst of all, there is a shipping fee, then the customs on the port.
hexaroute wroteThe prices would increase by VAT, considering as well the customs on the port when a shop imports parts.
Let me say it again, THERE IS NO CUSTOMS FEE ON COMPUTER PARTS IN LEBANON !

I got lots of things using Aramex's S&S service and the calculation always be like:

Item Price + Local Shipping = VLU

(CUS + EXC + OVT) + VAT + STM = X

S&S fee + Clearance + 10% VAT + X = Total

Where:
- Item Price = item's list price on the website "Amazon, Newegg...etc"

- Local Shipping = cost of shipping your item to your S&S box

- VLU = Value of the shipment "sometimes it's less than the real value, I don't know how they estimate it but it never goes more than item's price + local shipping"

- CUS = % of Customs fee based on VLU (0% Computer Parts, 5% Toys, 5% Cell Phones & Cell Phones Accessories/Parts)

- EXC = I don't know what the hell is this but it's always 0$

- OVT = overtime? am not so sure but it's always 3000L.L (2$)

- VAT = 10% VAT based on VLU + CUS + EXC + OVT

- STM = Stamps, a fixed 2000L.L fee (1.3$)

- S&S fee = Aramex's Shop&Ship service fee based on the weight of your shipment (can be calculated in S&S website)

- Clearance = Aramex's Customs Clearance fee, a fixed 10,000L.L (6.7$)

* you can make your lazy a$$ a program or a simple excel worksheet to do the calculation based on those formulas..

now let's try on this: EVGA GeForce GTX 980 Ti 6GB SC 06G-P4-4995-KR Superclocked with ACX 2.0 Cooler & Installed Backplate

List price = 650$, Local Shipping = 0$, S&S fee = 28.2$ "3LB/1.4KG"

Item Price + Local Shipping = VLU
650 + 0 = 650$

(CUS + EXC + OVT) + VAT + STM = X
((0 + 0 + 2$) + 10%) + 65$ + 1.3$
2.2$ + 65$ + 1.3$ = 68.5$

(S&S fee + Clearance) + 10% VAT + X = Total
(28.2$ + 6.7$) + 10% VAT + 68.5$
34.9$ + 10% VAT + 68.5$
38.4$ + 68.5$
Total = 106.9$

This item would cost you 756.9$ "or less" shipped to your doorstep while the stock model "06G-P4-4990-KR" sold for 786.5$ at PCANDPARTS without shipping..

* Why or less? cuz those guys at the airport gave one of my 600$ GTX980s a value of 500,000L.L (333.3$) lol :-)

and gave another +500$ shipment of toys & accessories a value of 200,000L.L (133.3$) !!
hahaha it was my lucky day I love you guys, good job ♥

Here are some "Amazon vs PCANDPARTS" examples:

EVGA 06G-P4-1996-KR HYBRID GTX980Ti
Shipped from Amazon = 804.6$ vs 918.5$ from PC&PARTS without shipping, a total rip-off !

intel i7-6700K
Shipped from Amazon = 441$ vs 401.5$ from PC&PARTS without shipping, excellent list price.

Corsair CMPSU-HX850i 850W PSU
Shipped from Amazon = 270.7$ vs 236.5$ from PC&PARTS without shipping, excellent list price.

MSI X99A MPOWER Motherboard
Shipped from Amazon = 381.4$ vs 367.4$ from PC&PARTS without shipping, no big deal..
Wow. That was really informative and helpful! I'm really thankful! But I still got some questions. For sure, PCandParts is a retailer shop, so they'd increase there prices a bit more than the full amazon shipped product. But would it be less cost-y to have a wholesaler buying pc parts from the outside, and then providing it to the lebanese market? How much will it affect price-wise? And if you heard of any trusted wholesalers, would you please mention their names? It's part of my research... I'm not really going to buy one a personal scale; really thankful for your thoughts!
Your question is a bit general. In my experience, it depends on the parts. It seems like the market in Lebanon is flooded with some items at good prices, but if you're looking for specific models and brands it may get expensive and hard to find in which case shipping it in becomes more interesting.
Look at the US prices (ebay) and prices on pcandparts.com
hexaroute wroteThough I would really hope they would have a bigger collection :/
Met too!