Is there any computer store in Lebanon accepting debit cards?

Some shops have old stocks bought at the current official exchange rate of 1507.5 and selling it at black market dollars to LBP equvialence of 2400 - 2500 LBP. Pure Theft , Forgetting that the 90% of Lebanese are paid on LBP , lost 40-44% of their current purchasing power , some lost 50% of their salaries , and some got laid off.

More Laughable are people listing used items ( electronics or not electronics ) on Facebook & OLX , & saying only USD or current market rate. Pure Theft

All local shops pay their employees salaries at 1500 LBP or cut their employess salaries by half. Reason : People are not buying ?! Stop the elusive selling startegies and your profit margins will regain some momentum. Pure Theft

Better to drop items from Amazon now a days vs local maneuvers of shops "riding the wave" in this economic stagnation.

I am personally contacting

Customer Protection at the Ministry of Economic and State Security to report this theft.

Tech Guru wroteSome shops have old stocks bought at the current official exchange rate of 1507.5 and selling it at black market dollars to LBP equvialence of 2400 - 2500 LBP. Pure Theft , Forgetting that the 90% of Lebanese are paid on LBP , lost 40-44% of their current purchasing power , some lost 50% of their salaries , and some got laid off.

I really didnt expected such level of ignorance even here.
I explained before why it is not theft. Its funny, how i write why it is stupid and silly to assume it is theft, and yet again same post.

Tech Guru wrote More Laughable are people listing used items ( electronics or not electronics ) on Facebook & OLX , & saying only USD or current market rate. Pure Theft

Absolutely agree on this point.

Tech Guru wrote All local shops pay their employees salaries at 1500 LBP or cut their employess salaries by half. Reason : People are not buying ?! Stop the elusive selling startegies and your profit margins will regain some momentum. Pure Theft

Better to drop items from Amazon now a days vs local maneuvers of shops "riding the wave" in this economic stagnation.

I am personally contacting

Customer Protection at the Ministry of Economic and State Security to report this theft.

You remind me "bolshevik" from 1917 in Russia, when the peasants and the poors killed everyone who was considered rich or simply prosperous, with agenda "split up and give away their wealth". Suddenly, after such a strategy, a terrible famine appeared and millions of poor people died.
I will be simple and probably rude - you do not understand anything in economics and business, you dont bother to read explanations in thread just few posts away, and yet you have the conscience to give "advices" how shops should run business.

Basic math, probably on level of preschool, if you are unable to scroll back a bit:
1)You bought 100 components for 1500LL each. Spent 150000LL.
2)You put profit 500LL per each and want to sell them 2000LL. Means 200000LL earned, 50000LL will go to salaries, etc.
3)Exchange rate changed, importers selling today new components at 2600LL each (because importers, lets say not getting profit, just pay $1 for them, so they CANNOT sell you 1500LL).
4)Shop listen to business guru Tech Guru and sold sticks same 1500LL. He paid salaries/etc 50000LL, now he have in hand 150000LL
5)MATH TIME! And a time of miracles (for Tech Guru). How many memory sticks at 2600LL can he buy again with his 150000LL?

VincentKeyboard wroteSo back to the topic at hand. What do you feel is the first step in voicing our suggestion that a committee of influential people should be formed? How do we trigger such as thing?

First form a core from most sane people, create rules that will prevent the committee from turning into another circus.
Then get to all your connections, and try to convince to join.
Prepare a preliminary program/plan/proposals from everyone, discuss the details online (especially points where people disagree), and when the stuff has matured to the right moment, it’s worth meeting somewhere, discussing on meeting, voting and making list of proposals that will be presented to the government in an open letter, with the signatures of all participants.

nuclearcat wrote

VincentKeyboard wroteSo back to the topic at hand. What do you feel is the first step in voicing our suggestion that a committee of influential people should be formed? How do we trigger such as thing?

First form a core from most sane people, create rules that will prevent the committee from turning into another circus.
Then get to all your connections, and try to convince to join.
Prepare a preliminary program/plan/proposals from everyone, discuss the details online (especially points where people disagree), and when the stuff has matured to the right moment, it’s worth meeting somewhere, discussing on meeting, voting and making list of proposals that will be presented to the government in an open letter, with the signatures of all participants.

Let's take this step by step. "form a core". Where would we gather people to form this core portion of a committee? What would their incentive to join be?

Also please don't say "look online". People only have time for discussions online on Sundays and while carrying their phones during bathroom breaks during the week.

nuclearcat wrote

Tech Guru wroteSome shops have old stocks bought at the current official exchange rate of 1507.5 and selling it at black market dollars to LBP equvialence of 2400 - 2500 LBP. Pure Theft , Forgetting that the 90% of Lebanese are paid on LBP , lost 40-44% of their current purchasing power , some lost 50% of their salaries , and some got laid off.

I really didnt expected such level of ignorance even here.
I explained before why it is not theft. Its funny, how i write why it is stupid and silly to assume it is theft, and yet again same post.

Tech Guru wrote More Laughable are people listing used items ( electronics or not electronics ) on Facebook & OLX , & saying only USD or current market rate. Pure Theft

Absolutely agree on this point.

Tech Guru wrote All local shops pay their employees salaries at 1500 LBP or cut their employess salaries by half. Reason : People are not buying ?! Stop the elusive selling startegies and your profit margins will regain some momentum. Pure Theft

Better to drop items from Amazon now a days vs local maneuvers of shops "riding the wave" in this economic stagnation.

I am personally contacting

Customer Protection at the Ministry of Economic and State Security to report this theft.

You remind me "bolshevik" from 1917 in Russia, when the peasants and the poors killed everyone who was considered rich or simply prosperous, with agenda "split up and give away their wealth". Suddenly, after such a strategy, a terrible famine appeared and millions of poor people died.
I will be simple and probably rude - you do not understand anything in economics and business, you dont bother to read explanations in thread just few posts away, and yet you have the conscience to give "advices" how shops should run business.

Basic math, probably on level of preschool, if you are unable to scroll back a bit:
1)You bought 100 components for 1500LL each. Spent 150000LL.
2)You put profit 500LL per each and want to sell them 2000LL. Means 200000LL earned, 50000LL will go to salaries, etc.
3)Exchange rate changed, importers selling today new components at 2600LL each (because importers, lets say not getting profit, just pay $1 for them, so they CANNOT sell you 1500LL).
4)Shop listen to business guru Tech Guru and sold sticks same 1500LL. He paid salaries/etc 50000LL, now he have in hand 150000LL
5)MATH TIME! And a time of miracles (for Tech Guru). How many memory sticks at 2600LL can he buy again with his 150000LL?

Your math doesnot have a practicle sense of how the Lebanese market usually works. It is a theoratical macro economical sort of analysis. I have a wide connections with many suppliers , resllers , & distributors with a a job as an advisor to the NSSF , Ministry of Economy , Ministry of Finance , & the Higher Council of Customs.

More than half of items being sold now are imported prior to Septermber 2019

Many shops are using the "smuggler way " of importing things through Turkey to Syria and than to Lebanon - طرق التهريب الغير شرعيه - fleeing away from customs tariffs.

Many shops are registering their employees @ min wage salary of 675,000 LBP to pay less contribution fees , jeopardizing their real end of service value.

Many shops are injecting "fictional expenses" to deflate their netincome & pay less on the yearly net income tax.

Many shops are buying (Vat paid) and declaring that their sales volumes are decreasing ( collected Vat) to get the Vat difference from the ministry of finance ( Vat Paid - Vat Collected )

Leave utopianism aside & think Lebanese.

Tech Guru wrote Your math doesnot have a practicle sense of how the Lebanese market usually works. It is a theoratical macro economical sort of analysis. I have a wide connections with many suppliers , resllers , & distributors with a a job as an advisor to the NSSF , Ministry of Economy , Ministry of Finance , & the Higher Council of Customs.

More than half of items being sold now are imported prior to Septermber 2019

Many shops are using the "smuggler way " of importing things through Turkey to Syria and than to Lebanon - طرق التهريب الغير شرعيه - fleeing away from customs tariffs.

Many shops are registering their employees @ min wage salary of 675,000 LBP to pay less contribution fees , jeopardizing their real end of service value.

Many shops are injecting "fictional expenses" to deflate their netincome & pay less on the yearly net income tax.

Many shops are buying (Vat paid) and declaring that their sales volumes are decreasing ( collected Vat) to get the Vat difference from the ministry of finance ( Vat Paid - Vat Collected )

Leave utopianism aside & think Lebanese.

1)Sorry, i dont buy anymore typical bullshit (in Lebanon especially) about how (person) know everybody and it means (person) know how everything works.
If you ran this business successfully (and cleanly) before, and kept selling stock at old, 1500LL rates, and didn't bankrupted - then i might re-evaluate my information. But I’m quite sure that you don’t have such business, and you have no idea what you’re talking about, except "theory" in your specific one-sided version.
I'm realistic, i know if businesses run such way, in most cases it means its only way they can survive. My own experience - i tried to import stuff "full legal way", it got stuck in customs for few month and then fees was so high, that its impossible my competitors did same import legal way. I sold this stock(network stuff) with losses and it was end of my such "business" here.
So i know it on my own skin, unlike you.
2)It seemed to me, i have not heard your protests and rants about these terrible violations earlier? Or were you just happy with the prices and you turned a blind eye to these problems?

The only way that shops can sell imported products at 1500LL if:
•They want to close their businesses and they are liquidating their inventory at actual cost or above actual cost with a small profit
•They will import new products at 1500LL(impossible unless they get import subsidies which is out of the question currently )
•They will have to import less and less since they cashing LL and paying their suppliers with USD at current market rates (not sustainable)
•They will have to import through illegal ways and not paying any taxes or customs but even with that they still have to increase their prices unless the unpaid fees and customs are equal or more than to the depreciation of the Lira

wollyka, exactly, you understand business "core" perfectly.
For others, who dont accept reality, the first step to solving problems is to stop rejecting reality and stop trying to make illusions and stop bending things to your side on expense of others(sellers in this example), realize please that the situation is deadly bad.
Better find sane people, and start a discussion and a committee.
At the moment, all the proposals that I have seen are, at best, an attempt to "pull the blanket to their side." Like: "look our guy is best for telecom minister!" (and this guy own telecom business and best he will do - align laws such way, that his "bros" will have better cut of remaining market).
Or pushing specific politically affiliated people with hope he will give this group sweet seats.
You can be better choice for your country, fellow geeks.

VincentKeyboard wrote How can one find a committee of sane people when half the people think the rise of the dollar price is a good thing and are just abusing the situation, and the other half are suffering?
Which half are you in?
How do we convince people that the dollar price needs to go back down to 1500?

I am none of that.
It is not good thing definitely, but it is unavoidable self-regulating process. You can't say good or bad for natural, expected process. It will keep rising and hitting people until purchasing power (import) match export value. If nothing done - it might reach such levels, that it will cause terrible famine.
What is really bad - no real action is taken to improve trade balance, instead of proposing solutions, people keep fighting as before.
1500LL to USD it is not something somebody just decide and put. It is how LL is worth. Before it was backed by burning(technically stealing) deposits in banks, and all country benefited from it (except depositors). Now there is no such source anymore, whole Lebanon is sitting with naked butt and its time to think quick, how to make something valuable and export it.