Buying a fur coat in the UAE
Travel time November 26 - December 3. Tour operator Coral Travel, travel agency APELSIN TRAVEL. I will skip everything related to the country, hotel, etc. Only fur coats.
The story of buying a fur coat began this summer and earlier in the summer of 2009, with a vacation trip to Greece. Halkidiki. Having rented a car and traveling through northern Macedonia, among others, my wife and I visited the town of Paralia Katerinis, which I had previously read a lot on the Internet as a fur coat Mecca. All without exception argued that there was no need to trudge to Kastoria, everything is in Paralia and at the same price. As we later found out, this is 95 percent true. By the way, we went for fur coats with a childhood friend and classmate who moved to Greece for permanent residence in Thessaloniki. Moreover, the classmate's own aunt, just had a small fur shop in Paralia Katerini, ordered furs herself and had a tailoring workshop in Kastoria. The only thing is, she didn't work with real blaglam. This is a tricky business.
Here she just gave the first information about this whole kitchen.
Well, after going around more than fifty salons in two days and trying on dozens of fur coats, we came to the conclusion that you have to pay well for a good fur coat. There will be no freebies. Having found what you need and having found out the price after a small bargaining of 2400 euros for a beautiful sheepskin coat from a real one, I will emphasize the real BLACKGLAMA. , and the price was final, we were asked to go shopping and compare with others.
There was not enough money, since these were the last days of a three-week vacation, and the purchase of a fur coat was not particularly planned. After walking for another half a day shopping, we decided it would be better if we didn’t buy anything than buy some nonsense and we would remember that fur coat. The quality of the fur was fantastically striking. We made inquiries with my classmate's aunt and other fur coat workers, and came to the conclusion that we are dealing with a real product.
A little libation.
By the way, blackglama also comes in three categories, the closer the length of the undercoat to the length of the coat, the higher the category. The highest category from a distance looks like a muton and a teddy bear. This coat is worn for at least 20 years (if necessary). Just a black shiny mink with a thick undercoat is also called a black llama, but no one will say what category it is. In order to see the difference, once you need to see the real one. I saw individuals who bought a black-dyed mink made in China, confident that they bought a blaglam for one and a half thousand dollars. e. .
Briefly about prices.
A coat with a hood from BLACKGLAMA of the highest category cannot cost less than $ 3.000, a long fur coat less than $ 4.500. A collar or hood trimmed with Barguzin sable will add at least another $1.000 to the fur coat. Prices for mink skins at the American Legend auction are easy to find on the Internet if you wish and draw conclusions. The price of mink has risen by 30% over the past year.
And all the fairy tales about cheap prices for these furs can only be explained by the fact that suckers will never be transferred to Russia. A small chance for a disguised marriage, but these furs undergo the strictest selection and the marriage of the fur is excluded. There is also a small chance to buy a real blaglama at a cheap price as part of an ugly fur coat. This also happens, but very rarely. They work with such furs very painstakingly and accurately.
You can buy sheared blaglama. It looks very stylish, but it heats up much weaker. A sort of option for an evening out, looks beautiful with sable. The price is the same as the regular one.
I will not repeat here and write advice on choosing fur. The entire internet is filled with them. I will only say one thing. This fur has already been checked and rechecked before you by the experts of auctions and workshops. The main thing is to find the real one. If you have any doubts, don't take it. . Concerning the present doubts will not believe.
All these 5 months after a vacation in Greece, peace was lost and it was decided to go there again on some burning ticket. In early November, they asked a classmate to call this store again and clarify the availability of the assortment and how prices have changed since our departure. Then we found out that the owner of the store is in Dubai and the thought came to us, why shouldn't we fly to the UAE, instead of the third time in two years to Greece. Mix business with pleasure. A last-minute ticket to a more or less decent hotel was bought (see review on Coral Oriental) And now on November 26 we are in Dubai.
Now about the features of buying fur coats in Dubai. A lot of them. I'll try in order.
If you decide to buy a fur coat, it is better to stay in the Deira area closer to Nasser Square.
There is such a feature in the UAE as an escort on trips to fur shops.
You will be pestered on the street, on the beach, in a cafe, in a hotel and in general anywhere, they can even call your room and ring the door of your room, offering to take you shopping, promising manna from heaven. Huge discounts, just if you go with them, and all that. Promising that only this way and not otherwise you will choose the best fur and you will not be deceived. No one can get past these people. Moreover, in 99% of cases, the barker who turned to you works exactly as a barker and will send you with another person who will be called by phone or called like that. They can even provide you with a car for shopping trips. And do not expect that you will then be taken to the hotel if you do not buy anything.
In fact, by agreeing to such an escort, you automatically pay for all the services that will be included in the price of your fur coat. The price of a fur coat grows depending on the model, fur and price. $100 minimum and up to $300
The seller, seeing you with a Kamak (that's what they call such attendants), automatically adds a kickback to the price of the product and does nothing about it. Once lit up in a fur shop or a center with kamaks, plus this price, even if you come the next day. The watch is on while the stores are open.
Be careful. These individuals, even in case of refusal to help, can, like a shadow, follow you and light up in the store by waving their hand to the seller. Turn around more often and go into the store when there are no extraneous strange personalities behind your back. It is not joke. They themselves asked several times to stop the persecution. Moreover, having started a conversation, they will try to support him, walking alongside and seeing him off to the entrance to some salon. It seems like you think they sent it off, looking back, sneaking like a shadow. There is another feature.
Having calculated the distance to the entrance to the store, a young man suddenly comes out from around the corner and you happen to meet him at the door of the store. He lets you go ahead and that's it - you hit. You can go to the next one. And if this is what you need, then it's a shame to pay extra for rotozey and ignorance of the rules of local trade. If you stop abruptly, seeing such a calico, then the camak pretends to be looking for someone in the store. I don't know what people think when they get into these networks. It's funny to watch how they lead the people like lambs, and all the help at best is that they can help you take off your fur coat and put it on. If you are taken to a specific store, it means that it is there that the camak has the biggest rollback, and not the fur is more beautiful or the prices are lower. If you do not like it there, then they will simply drag you around all the shops in a row. You will not get any real help in choosing fur, or in bargaining. The purpose of the kamak is one and it is obvious.
Make it so that you buy a fur coat as soon as possible and, if possible, more expensive, the rollback will be higher. If you manage to sell stale goods, then even better.
And then grab the next mouthpiece.
The pressure is strong. Of course, a person is trying, but you do not want to buy anything. At the same time, people often buy under pressure not at all what they wanted, and when they later see what they are looking for, and even cheaper, they are very upset.
Sellers also don't like it when buyers come with kamaks, because it's easier to sell a fur coat cheaper than with a thrown price.
At best, a real escort can only help with translation, which is absolutely irrelevant, since in all stores there are at least 2 Russian-speaking sellers. Whether you need such assistance is up to you. Maybe there are good Samaritans there who have dedicated their lives to helping poor Russian tourists for free, but I'm sorry, I don't believe in that.
I do not rule out the same, that someone may have a conscience and they at least try to earn money. But the markup on a fur coat, this fact does not cancel.
Let's go further. 90% of all fur coats that will be offered to you, both Italian and Greek, are cheap fakes from China. There are especially many of them in the widely advertised centers of the fur trade. I will not write names, if you found this essay and are interested in the topic, then you already know all of them. When asked how to find a real one, if you are not a connoisseur of fur, well, what can I say)) Be smart, try to find stores selling both in Greece and in Dubai and having workshops in Kastoria and Italy. If these points match, you have a chance. And it's easy to check. You can say, for example, there is no money, in a week, a month we are flying to Greece, give the local address. If there is a hitch, then everyone leaves.
There are no serious Greek and Italian shops dealing with serious furs that do not have a showroom in Dubai. Any real Greek or Italian salon can be found on the Internet, knowing its name. You can just give them a call and find out. Everyone, I repeat, all telephones, shops and factories in Greece and Italy have Russian-speaking staff. Hearing Russian speech, they will call the right person. This is where everything will become clear. There are many more ways. Think for yourself.
In general, real fur is immediately visible. Believe me, Blaglama falls in love with herself, one has only to touch her. Is there no such feeling? Look for another coat. It's not so scary if you bought a dyed mink for about 1500 USD. e. and you think that you bought a blaglama, as if you gave 3-10 thousand for the same thing. Thinking that since you gave a lot of money, then this is it. Be careful. Again, don't forget the blaglam categories (see above).
And do not believe the sellers that their categories do not exist.
By the way, a few words about the black diamond and Black Nafa. Black Nafa is the same blaglam, only the skins were bought at another auction in America - NAFA (North American Fur Auctions) - the oldest fur auction in North America and the largest wild fur auction in the world. It is believed that blaglama is a little cooler. The black diamond is a tinted mink skin that differs in halftones from the standard. Fur is also very high quality. Tinting does not affect the quality of the fur, it does not wash off and generally behaves perfectly for years. A black diamond is cheaper than a llama and a nafa.
Okay let's move on. I'll go straight to the purchase itself. We arrived at the salon we were looking for. We approach the seller, take the fur coat we are interested in, when asked the price, the seller cuts the final 4400. Well, is it the final one???? ? ? Eyes on forehead and upset. We did not count on this, to leave again without a fur coat .....
Yes, if you don't want to go for a walk, we know you'll be back.
And then the sun is clear, the owner Nicholas appeared. He was already waiting for us. He got a call from Greece and told our story, and the owners of the salon are brothers, one is in Greece, the other in Dubai. They often change places. They just changed in front of us and we saw both brothers while we were there. He also had a birthday and we committed a crime according to the laws of the UAE, but not according to the laws of hospitality. In general, we spent the evening in the salon. He is an amazingly nice person. I will not describe all the conversations, I will only say that in the end the price of a stunning fur coat for us was $ 2.900, provided that we do not tell anyone, so that our colleagues do not say that he is a fool. Immediately, the sellers turned out to be wonderful sociable people. In general, that evening we traded together.
And we were shown to all buyers, like an exhibit with the words - here people came to us from Greece for a fur coat and after listening to our story, many bought and I think they were not mistaken. Skype worked in the store, through some kind of emulator in touch with Paralia. In general, it was fun. I was surprised by the number of people returning with the words, we all went around and decided to return. I was surprised by the number of buyers with kamaks. Literally three out of four. Later, we returned there every day to visit the fur coat we bought, drink some tea and rest our legs (the Coral Oriental hotel is a bit far away). People were constantly flowing with the words - we are back. Just arrived and the second brother.
Amazingly cultured educated people with whom it is interesting to just communicate, not even about fur coats)) My advice is to break through the sellers to the bosses. Require access to the body.
By the way, it's funny. The salon is located 10 meters from the well-known popular brand with the letter N
We went there and tried on a fur coat, approximately the same as ours, only with a sable edge, but ours has a royal hood. Price? ? ? Why the price)) Do you know our brand?? ? ? ? Oh, you know ...well then you should know that you are not paying for fur)) To our question, but for, what are we paying for? For lining? The answer was yes)))) As a result, the price? ? ? After a lecture about the brand, the price of $ 1.000 was announced. After bargaining for fun, an attempt to leave and a call to the boss, it became $ 8.000. At the same time, blaglam was the most gorgeous of the last category with long hair and thin undercoat. Real? I definitely agree, but the one that we took was not suitable for bedding. The higher the mountains....
Where we took a fur coat, the owners vouched for each fur coat sold, and you know, I believe them. People love their job and therefore it turns out very well. There are not 5000 fur coats in the cabin, but maybe a hundred, but you can choose. And not like that he went in, it’s dark in his eyes, but there’s nothing to take.
Speaking of linings.
Often in the most expensive fur coats, ordinary black fabric. With a real desire to buy a fur coat, an honest seller will never refuse to open the lining so that you can look inside. They do not need this pomposity, and so everything is clear. Just Chinese junk often sparkles with a lining. And I ask you not to forget, when reading the essay, that we are talking about blaglam, nafa and black diamond. The prices for ordinary mink coats are certainly lower, but even there a quality product costs decently. There is no freebie. The cheapest and often one of the most spectacular, light mink fur coats. But this is usually not for long. I mean color. And not to be confused with silver, blue, etc. etc. These colors hold firm.
Believe it or not . Most of all, I do not want my story to look like an advertisement and even thought I would not write the name of the salon.
I just wanted to help people, just like many reviews and stories on the Internet, written by the same tourists, helped me. So to say, I always read tons of, often very useful information before trips. That is to say, I repay my debt. ) If there is an opportunity to post a photo on the site, then I will post a scan of the business card, only there is a small mistake.
And in a simple way: find Nasser Square, to the left of the desired building, a store of all sorts of things DAY TO DAY, Opposite the restaurant GOLD FORK. If you exit the EGO salon (by the way, it’s also nothing to wear a fur coat, but again a brand), then the building (high-rise building with two transverse thin stripes dividing the building into 3 parts) will be on the left 50 meters across the road. You need to go in with a stone view so that the kamaks do not stick and turn right further onto the escalator, and to the second floor, find it by the number of the store. The salon is called MOSINO. If you decide to come, send greetings from Alexander and Alena.
They remember us well, in extreme cases, recall our story with choosing a fur coat in Katerini and buying it in Dubai. Additional discount will be provided. Check it out, and if it works, do not be lazy, write in the comments to the story. I will be pleased. There are also about 20 salons of very famous and not very brands on the same floor.
If possible, I will answer questions in the comments and pm. I will post an essay on various sites and do not yet know what methods of feedback will be.
Ayy Greek brothers)) next time I come, I'm waiting for a fur coat as a gift for such an essay (I'm not kidding)))))
Please pass on my request to them.
I remind you that everything written above is my personal opinion and it may not coincide with yours. I respect yours too. This is not a guide to action and not the ultimate truth. Just an attempt in hot pursuit to express their impressions. Just got back from Dubai yesterday. I hope my writing will help someone.
P. S. Speaking of customs.
But how can we tell them this whole story about discounts. They may not believe. )
P. P. S. And finally, a joke. ) One of our acquaintances, having learned that we were flying to the UAE for a fur coat, very insistently demanded a meeting. On the last day, before departure, we met. The monologue was like this. Serious face))) Well ..... meaningful facial expression, I give you 700 dollars……pause, please bring me some blaglam, and don't forget that I only need modern styles…. The following is a description of the models acceptable for purchase ..... our jaws drop lower and our eyes get wider. And then we broke down and laughed together. If you recognize yourself, my friend, do not be offended, but I laugh kindly. Yeah…. , this is the opinion about the prices of fur coats for about half of our citizens. I am sure about that. I've seen so many frustrated people wanting $700 blaglam. Remember there is no freebie.
It’s better not to fly at all than to be upset later or bring a Chinese fur coat that will have an Italian sticker on it and which will not survive until next winter if it is not stored in the freezer. In general, everything is not so scary. The main thing is common sense. If it doesn't exist, then it's useless.
P. P. P. S. By the way, the fur coat was pierced by the number on the tag through the AMERICAN LEGEND auction (see links above). Real)))) And you purchases that will delight you. I have no doubt, who is seriously interested in the topic, he read to the end. Thank you for your attention.
