Legi - I’m sorry, but I’d like you to please tell us what our unit cost is - it appears WE’RE being ripped off. I know our profit margins, and I can attest that they can’t be as grotesque as you make them out to be. And I think mentioning greed borders on insult. The least you should do is explain why you think this is so.

And actually, it isn’t Mo’s livelihood. Calling our markups disgraceful indicates that you either have no clue what they actually are, or you consider charging KD5 (as an example) in profit to be extortion.

Thanks for your replies, however, I know the actual cost per unit that you and the other Ipod suppliers are getting their Ipods for - and it in NOW WAY justifies the horrific price jacks which we are forced to pay in Kuwait.

The 60 Gig Ipod retails in the US for $399…In Kuwait it retails for $477….Why?

Your unit cost price is SIGNIFICANTLY lower than $399 (I know the exact unit cost but will not print it to avoid further controversy) and even though you are forced to add the 5 - 8% tax on duties - we in Kuwait are still being ripped off to a ridiculous extent because of pure greed.

I know it’s your business, your livelihood etc - but by charging disgraceful markup’s on your goods - all you are doing is fueling ever -growing more sales to the Amazon.com’s of the world.

this is my first post on 248AM.

My name is Mohammed, and i’m the owner of zmacshop.

why zmacshop…

the reason i created zmacshop is because i got sick and tired of getting ripped off buying apple / apple related products. so thats how it all began.

to make things clear.

{ 11. Mark | July 3rd, 2006 at 9:29 am
zmacshop used to have cheaper prices, i was checking a eureka price list and they had the nano 2gb also for KD75..}

the reason zmacshop had and still have cheaper / better prices on most of the items is that when we first opend we are selling at the same price or near same price as we are doing now. and the reason why people are not seeing a major price diff now is because most if not even all apple product sellers slashed the prices to near Zmac Shop Prices. what i am trying to say is since zmacshop opend 20-40% price drop all over Kuwait. this is a fact.

to

{8. FUZZ | July 3rd, 2006 at 2:29 am
CAN YOU SPELL RIPOFF!!!! }

its not a ripp off at all, if anyone here has a business or runs a business he or she would know why prices are high in Kuwait. you have taxes to pay ( 5% flat + about 3% paper work ) and every now and then you have to pay up to 50KD per unit model for inspection. at the moment each laptop costs from 30-55KD in taxes and papers work. Plus KD20 for Ministry of communications so that makes is about 50-75KD per laptop.

Plus, I think everyone needs to know that we have no alternative ‘best sellers’ - i.e. Al-Jarir can afford to make a shitty markup on their iPods because they have plenty of other items they charge a fortune for. In our case, we have consistently low prices - i.e. we don’t charge a fortune for an iPod cover - it’s still cheaper than any other shop in Kuwait.

for anyone that was not satisfied with our service i do apologize and hope your next visit would be a better experience.
sorry if i offended anyone here, but i would like to point out that zmacshop is an honest place, we try our best to get products at the best prices.

Mark : thank you again for posting things related to zmacshop on your ever growing blog. and also would like to inform you that the Ipod 60GB is KD138 and not KD130.

The computer section is pretty much like eureka. jarir has more original software though.

I never liked their book section.

Their toy section is full of cheapo stuff, not fantasy world level.

Their hobby section is pretty cool, found stuff there that i couldnt find at magawi.