[Manu99]

Hello All,

Done a little research on Dubai and it actually seems like a pretty cool place to live. In any case, I am a US manufacturer and have some interest from an apparent retailer/owner/manager of a Spinneys store in Dubai and need some advice.

My company manufactures high end anti aging skin care products and I recieved an unsolicited email from a woman in Dubai who lists her delivery address as the Spinney's at Al Manzil Souq. Seems legit so far.

She wants to pay by credit card but wants to use a no name shipper. She wants to order $5k usd worth of product which is no small sum. I am assuming she wants to use her shipper because most likely has a relationship with the shipper so she can avoid alot of import hassles and such by doing so. An assumption on my part but again I think its reasonable.

As a precaution I called the dispute dept of my credit card company and asked their procedures. In order for me to protect myself against a possible claim of non delivery I need to assure a clean chain of custody all the way from my warehouse to her address, topped off with a signature.

My question is how sketchy is it using some random shipper to deliver to this woman? Can I be comfortable with using her chosen shipper or should I use UPS or some other shipper? Related to this if I use some other shipper, will it cause her headaches getting our product into the country? Finally, is it common for people in this part of the world to use their own shipper and then claim non delivery because they have connections with their shipper?

Am I being too paranoid and/or there other possible issues here?

Thanks in advance for your advice and flames

Blake

 

[saraswat]

A lot of people don't use Fedex/UPS just because of the cost aspect. There are local shippers who are reputable and conduct fair business, maybe she is using one of those. I'm not sure if there will be any headaches as such if you use other shippers, but maybe she has a preferential rate agreement with this one and hence wants to use them. Either way as long you get that receipt with signature faxed/scanned and e-mailed to you by the shipper, then you should be fine (that's what people my company imports from do). It is not common for people to collude with shipping companies and defraud, at least not in my experience.

 

[vantage]

$5K of anti ageing cream?
Imagine what she looks like?!!

Would Spinneys not have a central buyer? All sounds a bit odd?

 

[saraswat]

LOL .. nice picture. Well maybe its one of those spinneys that has other shops within the building itself, spinneys being the main draw and tenant in the building, while the smaller spaces are taken up by other retailers, just a guess...

 

[vantage]

good point. could be.

 

[bangloboy]

I do export stuff here from Canada (high end accessories for Apple phones/ipads) and I wouldn't worry about the shipper because the main thing I would worry about is the credit card payment! If she wants to buy $5000 worth of merch then make her wire you the money so you have hard cash on hand and feel free to send her order thru her own shipper. But if she can only pay you by credit card then go with your choice of shipper preferably DHL/UPS/FEDEX and ensure signature, proof of delivery etc just in case you have to deal with possible fraud. good luck! I mean I export stuff all the time but if it's something in the 1000s then I prefer wired payment as I am legit so I would prefer the payment in advance!

Hello All,

Done a little research on Dubai and it actually seems like a pretty cool place to live. In any case, I am a US manufacturer and have some interest from an apparent retailer/owner/manager of a Spinneys store in Dubai and need some advice.

My company manufactures high end anti aging skin care products and I recieved an unsolicited email from a woman in Dubai who lists her delivery address as the Spinney's at Al Manzil Souq. Seems legit so far.

She wants to pay by credit card but wants to use a no name shipper. She wants to order $5k usd worth of product which is no small sum. I am assuming she wants to use her shipper because most likely has a relationship with the shipper so she can avoid alot of import hassles and such by doing so. An assumption on my part but again I think its reasonable.

As a precaution I called the dispute dept of my credit card company and asked their procedures. In order for me to protect myself against a possible claim of non delivery I need to assure a clean chain of custody all the way from my warehouse to her address, topped off with a signature.

My question is how sketchy is it using some random shipper to deliver to this woman? Can I be comfortable with using her chosen shipper or should I use UPS or some other shipper? Related to this if I use some other shipper, will it cause her headaches getting our product into the country? Finally, is it common for people in this part of the world to use their own shipper and then claim non delivery because they have connections with their shipper?

Am I being too paranoid and/or there other possible issues here?

Thanks in advance for your advice and flames

Blake

 

[jimbobslats]

What are the incoterms of the shipment, this is very important in international trade and shipping goods?

 

[ode17366]

Be careful I work in procurement here and there are a number of scams run out of Dubai. The last one a guy set up a fake address for my own company and was contacting suppliers all over the world as if he was us. He would over order products and then claim he had over paid in a cheque that was sent and try and get a bank transfer for the difference before it bounced. If she works for Spinnys does she have a Spinnys e mail address first sign of a scam if she doesn't

 

[KC1]

LOL .. nice picture. Well maybe its one of those spinneys that has other shops within the building itself, spinneys being the main draw and tenant in the building, while the smaller spaces are taken up by other retailers, just a guess...

It is the main store in the souq - its the one next to the the Al Manzil hotel. I guess the hotel's bar is technically located in the souq, but you can't get to them from inside, you have to go through the hotel.

Can't you send the product after the credit card payment has cleared?

Was the email from Spinneys or just listing that address? I think there is a hair salon and a nail salon in there too.