LebGeeks

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#1 April 6 2021

infiniteloop
Member

Cheapest place to buy smartphones nowadays?

Hello
What is the cheapest shop for smartphones nowadays in Lebanon?
I am searching for a s21 ultra CTC but not at the prices of Private Cell, phonefinity...who are not what they used to be

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#2 April 6 2021

VipModz
Member

Re: Cheapest place to buy smartphones nowadays?

The cheapest is “Amhaz Original”, although his reviews are terrible

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#3 April 6 2021

RandomMemory
Member

Re: Cheapest place to buy smartphones nowadays?

get your phone from CTC, don't encourage Amhaz's practices, I got my z fold 2 from CTC and it was 50$ more expensive than private cell, but at least taxes were paid for it.

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#4 April 6 2021

VipModz
Member

Re: Cheapest place to buy smartphones nowadays?

RandomMemory wrote:

get your phone from CTC, don't encourage Amhaz's practices, I got my z fold 2 from CTC and it was 50$ more expensive than private cell, but at least taxes were paid for it.

My Grandmother bought a Samsung A02s from Amhaz, she received a message saying "customs fees of this device are not paid", I contacted Amhaz and he said that the fees are paid and if something happens she can return the phone, 4 months have passed and the phone is working great, I don't realy think all Amhaz bad reviews are true, saving 50$ is really worth it these days

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#5 April 6 2021

xerxes
Member

Re: Cheapest place to buy smartphones nowadays?

VipModz wrote:
RandomMemory wrote:

get your phone from CTC, don't encourage Amhaz's practices, I got my z fold 2 from CTC and it was 50$ more expensive than private cell, but at least taxes were paid for it.

My Grandmother bought a Samsung A02s from Amhaz, she received a message saying "customs fees of this device are not paid", I contacted Amhaz and he said that the fees are paid and if something happens she can return the phone, 4 months have passed and the phone is working great, I don't realy think all Amhaz bad reviews are true, saving 50$ is really worth it these days


They are not de-activating services for not paying customs at the time being due to the situation. However, they may re-collect it later.

Its no excuse for him not to pay it.

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#6 April 7 2021

yasamoka
Member

Re: Cheapest place to buy smartphones nowadays?

Check Talaco.

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#7 April 13 2021

Guitaret
Member

Re: Cheapest place to buy smartphones nowadays?

RandomMemory wrote:

get your phone from CTC, don't encourage Amhaz's practices, I got my z fold 2 from CTC and it was 50$ more expensive than private cell, but at least taxes were paid for it.

I appreciate your responsible response and standpoint, Amhaz's illegal practices is pushing many people out of business (not just Amhaz). One of the reasons my brother closed his mobile shop is that he couldn't keep up with the competition. Believe it or not, some of the wholesale prices my brother got from dealers are even higher than Amhaz's retail prices.

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#8 April 13 2021

Flakk
Member

Re: Cheapest place to buy smartphones nowadays?

I bought from outgeeked.net a couple of times, you can try there.

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#9 June 21 2021

RandomMemory
Member

Re: Cheapest place to buy smartphones nowadays?

Looking to order some things but their prices seem much cheaper than competition. Are they legit?

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#10 June 22 2021

chosen2k
Member

Re: Cheapest place to buy smartphones nowadays?

Yes they're legit I purchased 3 phones from them.

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#11 June 22 2021

Flakk
Member

Re: Cheapest place to buy smartphones nowadays?

Yes completely legit, do it.

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#12 June 22 2021

samer
Admin

Re: Cheapest place to buy smartphones nowadays?

How do they manage to compete with Apple prices in the US? I wonder if someone has a more thorough answer than "تهريب".

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#13 June 22 2021

VincentKeyboard
Member

Re: Cheapest place to buy smartphones nowadays?

samer wrote:

How do they manage to compete with Apple prices in the US? I wonder if someone has a more thorough answer than "تهريب".

I have an idea why.
Let's say I have a factory that assembles product XYX for SamerStore, product ABC for FlakkStore, etc..
In every factory, there is always a هدر
These are faulty items, items that did not pass QA, incorrectly packaged items, among other reasons.
In most cases, the percentage is low but it still exists.
SamerStore really needs his products and I have a shipment deadline.If I inflate the percentage of disregarded products from 2.9% to 3.9%, he's not going to mind.
So I take that extra 1% and sell it throughout Asian countries at black market rates.

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#14 June 22 2021

nosense
Member

Re: Cheapest place to buy smartphones nowadays?

samer wrote:

How do they manage to compete with Apple prices in the US? I wonder if someone has a more thorough answer than "تهريب".

They buy them from countries where the prices of apple products are cheaper than the US like Japan and Hong Kong

Last edited by nosense (June 22 2021)

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#15 June 23 2021

samer
Admin

Re: Cheapest place to buy smartphones nowadays?

Thanks for the responses.

@VincentKeyboard interesting theory regarding items that did not pass QA. I guess it could also be refurbished items.

@nosense I checked global prices, and outgeeked is pricing lower than the lowest global retail prices. See for example the price of an iPhone 12 128 GB globally ($902 in Japan) and $880 on outgeeked. Now I know they get wholesale prices, but still, these margins are razor thin to be realistic, even if they don't pay for customs.

Could it be stolen merchandise? Something isn't adding up here.

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#16 June 23 2021

AvoK95
Member

Re: Cheapest place to buy smartphones nowadays?

Profit margins on phones are usually very very slim. This is why most phone shops never keep stock of phones and usually focus on accessories.

Phone profit margins are usually within less than 10% while accessories are well over 200%

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#17 June 23 2021

RandomMemory
Member

Re: Cheapest place to buy smartphones nowadays?

I'll receive my product from them tomorrow and I'll post whatever happens here. I am a bit skeptical.

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#18 June 26 2021

RandomMemory
Member

Re: Cheapest place to buy smartphones nowadays?

I received my oculus quest 2, everything works great, it was sealed and I ended up registering the serial to make sure, the headset wasn't used before or anything similar.

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#19 June 27 2021

Salloum
Member

Re: Cheapest place to buy smartphones nowadays?

samer wrote:

How do they manage to compete with Apple prices in the US? I wonder if someone has a more thorough answer than "تهريب".

Hi Samer,
There's a few factors. Firstly, for older models, they are all refurbished and put back in boxes in Lebanon. This was proven years ago. You can tell if your iPhone is a refurb by the model number starting with "F" or "N". New devices start with "M".

Edit: if you just found out your iPhone is refurbished, don't sweat it too much. Apple refurbs are indiscernible from the real thing, honestly. I bought an iPhone 7 Plus from Amhaz a year after it came out and I found out a few months in that it's a refurb. I bought it in 2017 and it's still working flawlessly to this day and being used as my work phone. I just swapped out the battery once at the Apple store when the battery health went to 79%.

For the newer models, yeap, tehreeb. The wholesale prices of iPhones are a lot lower than what you see on the Apple website, and this is what Amhaz pays for them. Since they don't add literally any amount to that price, they're able to sell them to the end user at a much cheaper price than Apple themselves. Also, since they can get inventory from virtually any country on the planet, they're able to source the cheapest possible hardware from wherever it's available. Amhaz is like an aggregation of all the cheapest place in the world in one store, which is kinda great if you're into tech and living in Lebanon (and have the money these days!). The only problem is getting a faulty device, you're pretty much out of luck unless you know someone who works with them.

Last edited by Salloum (June 27 2021)

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#20 June 27 2021

samer
Admin

Re: Cheapest place to buy smartphones nowadays?

Thanks for the detailed answer Salloum! I would imagine that someone buying wholesale and selling retail in Lebanon for cash dollar now has even better margins considering that wages are paid in LBP, so their margins are even healthier now. This assumes that they can still afford to buy wholesale at similar volumes (and thus prices) as before the currency crisis. This of course is a pretty big assumption, because I would imagine that people in Lebanon are much less likely to buy new consumer electronics than before.

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#21 June 28 2021

Salloum
Member

Re: Cheapest place to buy smartphones nowadays?

Consumer spending in this specific market hasn't really changed by more than ~10%, especially when talking about Apple products which are already on the expensive side, and thus were in 90% of cases purchased by wealthier individuals. There's a lot (read: a lot) of people in this country who have not been affected even one iota by this whole mess.

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#22 June 28 2021

infiniteloop
Member

Re: Cheapest place to buy smartphones nowadays?

Salloum wrote:

Consumer spending in this specific market hasn't really changed by more than ~10%, especially when talking about Apple products which are already on the expensive side, and thus were in 90% of cases purchased by wealthier individuals. There's a lot (read: a lot) of people in this country who have not been affected even one iota by this whole mess.

You have a new cast of new rich people, the ones who are taking advantage of the politically endorsed tehrib to syria, like food, medicines, medical machines, benzin, diesel.... Any business who has a friend as minister, or deputy or milicia can pass trucks and get millions $

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#23 July 3 2021

mikasa
Member

Re: Cheapest place to buy smartphones nowadays?

Salloum wrote:

just swapped out the battery once at the Apple store when the battery health went to 79%.

.

Whats the procedure if i want to swap my iphone7 battery too . Just give them the phone and thats it or there is requirements ?
thanks

Last edited by mikasa (July 3 2021)

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#24 July 7 2021

Salloum
Member

Re: Cheapest place to buy smartphones nowadays?

mikasa wrote:
Salloum wrote:

just swapped out the battery once at the Apple store when the battery health went to 79%.

.

Whats the procedure if i want to swap my iphone7 battery too . Just give them the phone and thats it or there is requirements ?
thanks

Take an appointment on your country's Apple website for the Genius Bar. Show up on time, tell them the battery is depleting very quickly. They'll run a few diagnostic tests and then tell you they'll swap it out for free (if you're still under warranty) or for the equivalent of 60-70 USD.

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#25 December 16 2023

VipModz
Member

Re: Cheapest place to buy smartphones nowadays?

is classic-phones legit? I found the S23 FE here https://www.classic-phones.com/products … 8731042027 for 580$, others are selling it for 630-645$

EDIT: it's weird that they don't have correct color options for the FE

Last edited by VipModz (December 16 2023)

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