Israelis have complex relations with Turkey.
On the one hand, for years Israelis flocked to luxurious hotels in Turkey, but in times of security and diplomatic crisis, Israelis confiscated products produced there.
Recently, the people of Israel discovered the viability of purchasing popular fashion brands from Turkey with shipping to Israel.
These are popular brands like Zara, Mango, Barshaka and more, where the products are offered at cheaper prices.
In addition, many consumers report purchases on the popular Shane website using the Turkish currency, which significantly lowers the price.
Etty Katsav, a consumer who buys fashion products from Turkey and a personal stylist, says that she orders items through the popular website Shane, and chooses the pricing in Turkish lira, which reduces her costs significantly.
"I order many items in Shane, and choose the pricing in Turkish lira, which reduces the cost of the purchase. I order the rest of my purchases through a shipping company in Turkey called Yolando. For Shane, it's not too sophisticated a trick. I enter my address, which is an address Israeli, and it's coming to Israel, and surprisingly it's cheaper. It sounded weird to me when they wrote it on the Facebook groups of consumers who buy in Shane. At first I did not address it, but slowly it gained momentum and it worked. "20% cheaper. It's just a surprising segment."
Chinese shopping site "Shane",
As mentioned, Katsav also orders fashion items through a shipping company.
She says "Bashin is more of a Chinese product, so I order brands like Zara through Turkey through the shipping company Yolando. It comes out really attractive even though there are shipping costs, when the purchase at the bazaar is almost half the price in Israel. A dress that cost 300 shekels in Israel cost 156 shekels without Sale. I order some items and it arrives quickly. Yolando's website has links to every Turkish store that offers deliveries. You can go from store to store, and as soon as you finish shopping, register on the site and get an address in Turkey, where they repack and ship to Israel. I never Passes the $ 75, so I don't have to add tax. "
Hundreds of orders a week
Dudi Tal, Development Director of Yolando Turkey says that "Yolando is the pioneer of shopping from Turkey. We entered the Israeli market two years ago because consumers discovered the trick of shopping from Turkey, probably when the Turkish pound fell. Two years ago, the Turkish lira stood at 0.8 cents and today it stands at 0.8 NIS 0.37. On the other hand, the prices remain the same. The amount of orders we receive is 600-800 a week. The orders arrive at the company's offices in Istanbul and from there they arrive in Israel, with a container leaving for Israel every Saturday. He is, of course, Zara. In addition, there is a demand for mango and H&M. "
According to him, the shipping price is according to the volumetric weight.
In practice, we offer customers repackaging and then the weight goes down.
The shipping price can reach up to NIS 150 for about 5 kg.
The USHOPS Group, which specializes in personal imports from the United States to Israel, is also expanding its business operations and leaving the United States for the first time, with the launch of a new shopping address in Turkey.
On the occasion of the launch, the company is offering its customers a variety of benefits: a five-dollar discount for the first shipment from Turkey using the TURK5 coupon, valid until 31.10.21 subject to the terms of the promotion, limited to one thousand redemptions.
In addition, customers will receive package consolidation, repackaging and free package photography valid until 31.10.21.
Shopping from Turkey on the USHOPS website,
Yaron Ben Eli, CEO of USHOPS, says that "we did an e-commerce analysis to understand what are the places that offer attractive products, that the currency exchange rate is lower than the shekel, and we saw that in Turkey you can find European fashion chains with the same goods coming to Israel. We examined what caused the large change in prices in the chains in Turkey compared to Israel, and it turns out that the taxation in Israel on imports is relatively high, as are the costs in Israel. A worker in Turkey will receive a salary of $ 400, an outstanding person will receive $ 600 and a manager will receive $ 1,000. "
Beyond the popular European brands, there is the website of the Turkish brand "Waikiki", which tried to enter Israel and failed.
There you can buy a buttoned shirt for NIS 15, jackets for NIS 34, and more.
"For me, this is the new e-commerce revolution. I believe in Turkey and I think there is a huge opportunity here. European brands entered Israel at popular prices, and today it is no longer so. "From November, orders from Turkey will reach tens of thousands of orders. Once Israelis discover the prices of local brands and not just the chains, it will open up a world of huge price differences," he concludes.
Window of Opportunity
Benny Buchnik, founder of the group "That's what I want", explains that "in general, it should be remembered that in international trade sites it is always advisable to pay in the local currency of the same site.
"... I assume that at one point or another these options will close because these are specific sites that you can change the currency to Turkey and order cheaply to the country like Bashin. In Asus for example it was with the Russian currency. or other".