Online Shopping – Tunisian Experience

Online shopping has made life a whole lot easier for many people in the world. However, from the time we moved to Tunisia, a lot of the wonderful conveniences of online shopping are no longer available to us. Online shopping in Tunisia is nowhere near as developed as in the US or Europe. And even when it is available, there’s often a catch: high import taxes, unpredictable delivery times, or some other hassle. The good news, though, is that a few good online shopping options have emerged in the last few years. The recent lockdown due to COVID 19 made some of these options more popular, too. It seems inevitable that Tunisia’s online shopping options will continue to improve, and probably quickly. For now, here are several things you will want to know if you plan on doing any online shopping while in Tunisia. Making Do with a Lack of Options Before I jump into online shopping, I would like to share about the difficulty of importing items into Tunisia, because this will greatly impact the way you shop online. The selection of items you can buy online within Tunisia is small. If you want to broaden your horizons and use online shopping websites like Amazon, you will have to have them imported into the country. The problem is that it’s so much of a hassle to import items that it often just isn’t worth it. We know a lot of expats here in Tunisia, and it is just a part of life for the expat community to bring in a lot of special items in their suitcases every time they go out of the country and return. If for example you want to get some specialty cooking ingredients, or shop for certain types of clothes, or get books in English, or certain types of tools, it is often easier to just wait until the next time you or a friend is making a trip to Europe or the US, and then to bring that stuff back in an extra suitcase. When I (Abi) first arrived in Tunisia in 2013, I brought vanilla extract, brown sugar, marshmallows, and Hot Tamales candies, because I heard you couldn’t get them here. Before my most recent trip back to Tunisia, I bought new running shoes and Birkenstocks, because I know that the styles I like either aren’t available here, or they’re a lot more expensive. Option 1: Import From Outside Tunisia You have 2 basic options for online shopping from Tunisia. You can order things from within Tunisia, paying decent prices but having a limited selection, OR you can order from outside of the country and accept the costs and hassle of importing those goods. I'll start with the option of importing from the outside. If you came to this post because you want to order something from Amazon, you Use Amazon International Shipping You CAN shop on Amazon and have it delivered to Tunisia, but there are some things you need to know. If you want to make an Amazon purchase and have it delivered to Tunisia, you need to shop from Amazon’s International Shipping page. Just Google “amazon international shipping” and it’s the first option. You’ll see “International Shipping” next to the search bar. This filters out all of the products that don’t offer International Shipping. The difficult thing about Amazon packages, though, is that you still have to deal with the customs office at the post office. See below. Use a Package Forwarding Company Let's say you want something from Amazon, Ebay, or Etsy, but International Shipping is not available on that item. You can still get that item to you using a third party company. A very popular option is Shop & Ship, which is run by Aramex. Another option is Ship7. I used Shop & Ship when I taught English in Libya, and they were a breeze to deal with. When you get an account with them, they give you a US address. Have your Amazon packaged or any other package mailed to that address, and they forward it to their location where you are. They have a calculator on their site to estimate your fee. For my Amazon packages, it basically doubled the cost of shipping. So it's pricey, but if you really need something it's a good option. Shop & Ship has locations in Tunis and Sousse. I haven't used Shop & Ship in Tunisia yet so I'm not sure how the customs issue works there. If I do, I'll come back and update this post. Import Duties and Taxes If you order something from Amazon or have it mailed to you in Tunisia from outside the country, that package has to go through customs. Chances are, you will have to pay duties and taxes on the contents of that package. The Tunisian customs website is here. However, it’s only in French and Arabic, so I’ll explain the relevant points here. Duties and taxes were a complete mystery to me (Andy) before I first came to Tunisia and had to deal with it myself when I had a package shipped here. If I could write instructions for myself and send it back in time, here’s what I’d say. When your package arrives in Tunisia, customs officials will open it, sift through it, and assess the value of things inside of it. Some types of items are exempt from any taxation. If your shipment has books, or medications, or just personal effects that aren’t deemed valuable, then you won’t have to pay anything for those things. If you have to pay taxes on your package, then you have to go in person to the Post Office and pay in Tunisian Dinars. That means that the package is probably not going to show up on the doorstep of your residence in Tunisia, unless the customs official decides that the contents are not taxable. For items that are deemed valuable, the customs office will apply a 10% flat tax. In my experience, this included Bluetooth headphones and a few other things from Amazon that were still in the box. Moral of the story: when you have things shipped to Tunisia, be prepared to add on an extra 10% to the cost. What It’s Like Paying Import Taxes My friend’s iPhone. I have an American friend who wanted to get a very old iPhone just to use as a noisemaker to help his baby go to sleep. A family member of his was sending him a package and they included an old iPhone with a cracked screen. When my friend got to the Post Office, the customs official told him that he was going to have to pay some astronomical fee, like 300 Dinars, just in taxes for an old, cracked iPhone. My friend argued with him for a little bit, and then the customs official said, “Ok, just pay 100 Dinars.” My friend was dumbfounded and though, “So we’re bargaining now?” From this story you can see the problem to be aware of with the whole “10% of the value” fee for duties and taxes. There is some discretion involved when the customs officials assess the value of your package to determine your tax. My package. A few years ago, my aunt generously sent me some snacks and a few electronic accessories. I got a slip of paper at my residence saying that my package was at the Post Office. I went to the Post Office and then was directed into a little warehouse room in the back. A customs official opened my package and asked about each of the items, and how much the electronics were worth. In my case, the package was a gift and I didn’t know what was going to be inside of it. I didn’t realize it at the time, but when he asked me how much the electronics were worth, he was determining how much my tax was going to be. If I had known this, I would have asked my aunt what was going to be inside and I would have researched the prices ahead of time. Moral of the story: Know the monetary value of the things in your package. If you want to be really prepared, bring documentation with you, like your Amazon invoice. Option 2: Online Shopping From Within Tunisia While it is expensive and slow to order from Amazon or other online stores from outside of the country, Tunisia thankfully has its own growing list of online shopping options. First we'll list some of these options, and then we'll give some of the pros and cons to them. Supermarket Delivery Jumia and Yassir Express are two big supermarket delivery services. Their categories include things like household items, clothes, electronics, car stuff, gardening stuff, and more. Jumia and Yessir do not have brick and mortar business locations. You place your order online and can either pay with a Tunisian bank card or pay cash upon arrival. A delivery driver will bring your ordered items to your house and call you when he is en route. Restaurant Delivery There are now tons of options for restaurant delivery in Tunisia. This is an amazing thing if you have spent a long day in Tunisian traffic and you don't want to go out again. Jumia Food and Yessir express both deliver from several different restaurants. There are also many restaurants in Tunis now that also do their own delivery. Stores with Delivery or Pickup Spacenet is an electronics and appliances store that has locations throughout Tunis. You can order online and have it delivered or pick it up at you closest store. We had a bad experience with Spacenet the one time we tried it but in theory it sounds like a good idea. Geant is a huge grocery store that is located in a mall. There are two locations, one on the north side of the city and one on the south side. With Geant's online ordering, you can drive to either place and pick up your groceries. There are many other places like these and also many that you can find that use their Facebook business page for ordering. So, if you need something from a store in Tunis, search their Facebook page and see if they deliver. During the lockdown restrictions brought on by COVID-19, many more businesses expanded their online ordering capabilities. Online Garage Sales Tayara is the “craigslist” of Tunisia. Many people will post about vehicles, houses, or furniture. If interested in an item, they will list their phone number where they can be contacted. You can set up a meeting point and pay in cash for items. This is basically a website that can be used a garage sale. On the same note, there are many “souk al facebook” groups. Here, people will post pictures of items they want to sell. You will see clothes, shoes, and even mopeds on this site. Pros and Cons of Online Shopping within Tunisia Pro: Cheap and Fast Delivery It is POSSIBLE to have cheap fast delivery, but as our story below explains, it's not guaranteed. Here we're speaking from experience in Tunis, the capital city. If you're not staying in Tunis, it may be very different for you. Tunis traffic can be terrible. But all of the delivery drivers in Tunis use mopeds, so they can weave through traffic, ride on sidewalks, and significantly cut their travel time. Chances are, they can deliver faster than you can go and pick things up. Con: Cash or Tunisian Card In order to pay for things online before delivery, you need a national bank account and card, and to my knowledge you cannot get one of these on a tourist visa. I have not been able to use my American credit card for ordering things online. If, like us, you don’t have a Tunisian bank card, you will need to be prepared to pay in exact cash for your ordered items. This means that you must be there at your house when the delivery person arrives. As you can understand, this drastically reduces the appeal of online shopping. The whole point of online shopping for a lot of people in the US at least is that you only have to be focused on buying the item for a few minutes when you click “purchase.” Then it shows up on your doorstep and you bring it inside at your own convenience. The fact that you have to coordinate a delivery with a deliveryman makes shopping in Tunisia a hassle. Con: Language Barrier As with most tasks in Tunisia, you’re going to face a language barrier if you don’t speak the country’s first or second language: Arabic and French. The online shopping apps like Jumia and Yessir Express are all in French. So you may need to do some Google translating while browsing for what to buy. Also, when delivering your items, a driver will call you provided cell phone number and confirm directions with you. You will want to make sure you are able to describe your location, using landmarks in French or Arabic. You will occasionally find an English speaker, but most likely will need to be able to use the local dialect of Arabic or French for communication. Con: Reliability We ordered an ethernet cable from Jumia during the time of lockdown for COVID-19. We were warned that the wait would be abnormally long because of the travel restrictions for the employees. We were told that it would be a week to two weeks for delivery. This was understandable. We work from home, so the day of the delivery, I tried to communicate to the delivery driver that we would be working and not able to answer the door during certain hours. I even went as far as to explain that he could just leave the package outside the door and I’d leave the money in an envelope for him if he delivered when we were in class. Unfortunately, later that day, I got an email that said the delivery driver was unable to reach me to deliver our ethernet cable. I only received one notification that morning that they would come sometime that day. This is what I had responded to with instructions. I called that number multiple times that afternoon to check on the delivery without any response. We have had other friends with great experiences with Jumia. However, be warned, almost anything in Tunisia is “Russian Roulette.” Most of the time it goes well, but very often it will go awry. Conclusion As we mentioned a few times already, online shopping in Tunisia is rapidly getting better and better. By the time you read this, there are probably going to be more and better options. The point, though, is that it IS possible to shop online while in Tunisia, but it won't be the same as shopping in the US or Europe. Those basic features are not likely to change. Happy shopping!