Deliveries from Amazon to Egypt

I have bought books from Amazon and never had a problem.  Other small/light things I order through Borderlinx who deal with the duty etc.,  Anything sent through ordinary mail is not reliable.  I have probably only ever received about 5% of letters sent to me here from abroad.  If it's important then have it sent by courier but check carefully as there is a list of items that will be confiscated by customs and they are not just the obvious ones.

When I first read the title, I automatically thought of the Amazon Rain Forest...and wondered what you want to order from there!

When it comes to ordering things by mail here, don't be surprised if your packages are opened, stuff is missing and that you have to pay TAX on it.
Items like books are of no consern to customs, unless it's on the forbiden list, about religions or the Middle East.
Electronics and clothing will be taxed.
I'm not sure about DVDs, CDs and other things.

If you know someone living/working in Cairo with an APO, then you will have no problems at all! It's considered diplomatic mail.

Hi mark yeah i dont think that would be a good idea purching things online ..i can tell you that it will most likely not come here ..for Dvd's and music you can go to Virgin mega store in nasr city ( city stars) might be expensive but you will for sure get what you want

I recommend you check out this Facebook group :
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=297183117212

Details & instructions:
http://www.facebook.com/note.php?note_i … 6162629089

We ordered many books from Amazon UK, and they usually arrived in Cairo in about 10 days time.  We did not order from Amazon in the US.  I once ordered some perfume from a store in Paris and was thrilled at the price once the VAT was removed.  When the perfume arrived, I had to pay as much in duty as the price of the perfume.  Never again.

Hi Mark,

i buy lots of stuff from amazon and other websites and they are delivered. I don't understand the comment of momobuffy, i am sure he is talking about something else.

When you buy online, you have an option to track your item. So i recommend you chose a tracking shipping method.
So if u do that it's impossible to loose the item, it will be Fedex , DHL, TNT or whatever company.

You pay customs and not taxes, and this is everywhere in the world, I used to live in Oxford, UK and buy from amazon.com rather than amazon.co.uk because in the us its more cheaper but then i realized that i have to pay customs at the door when i received my items so i stopped doing that.
By the way, u can download amazon kindle its a brilliant software from amazon where u can buy electronic books and read them using the software rather than buying the book.
The advantage is much cheaper price and u read the book instantly so u dont need to wait for the book!

hope this helps!

Aramex company offer 2 mailboxes , one in London and another in New York as some sites for online shopping do not send stuff to Egypt.
I am already a member of such deal with Aramex but only used it once before, if you need any details...i can ask for you.

Hi.
Aramex shop and ship services could be the best reliable mean for delivering your online purchases. Books, Clothes, spare parts etc.. I use this service all the time. I would disagree with IrishALexandrian regarding the religious books! Based on personal experiences, I never had issues with such books and my latest was the guide of the perplexed.
I recommend shop&ship services from Aramex. You can subscribe for a lifetime membership for 35$ which is the fees of maintaining 2 mailboxes to your name the first one in NY and the second in UK.
Cheers

I faced the same problem in April when I began my online degree. I was afraid that if I ordered my textbooks from Amazon they would not arrive at my address, so I had them sent to an American company's mailbox through a friend.

This semester I ordered them from Amazon UK, was able to track them online and they arrived by DHL in 7 days - 2 days earlier than expected.I was impressed!

did it come straight to ur home or where they held up by customs somewhere in Cairo?
i'm thinking of buying online too.

There were about eight books in all and they were brought to my door by the delivery guy. I had to pay about 160 EGP taxes for them. This was by DHL,though.

I had heard dreadful things about the postal system here, but since February I have received my students card and software for my course sent by the university in England and also my open water divers card from PADI, also from England. Maybe I'm just lucky or maybe the Egyptian postal service is improving.

i'm really sorry as im posting in an abandoned topic
but i'm really desperate and got this site after a long googling !

can anyone give an update on this ? i wanna buy a laptop from Amazon but i can't find the right way, i found some facebook pages but they are really expensive

please help if you can

thanks in advance
Nour Eddien

Hello Nour Eddien

As this is very old topic (2010) i suggest you to create a new topic on the Cairo forum please. It will help you to get more updated responses.

Thank you,

Priscilla
Expat.com team

right away

You can use Borderlinx.com as DHL stopped providing this service in Egypt...You csncalculate the estimate cost using their Cost Calculator

How much you pay custom?
Thank you in advance!

Its okay however the basic standard shipping method is not recommended ! Get ur stuff shipped by Aramex as an example to assure receiving it just in time and without any troubles or loosing ur items !