Hi,
I just wanted to say Happy Holidays and thank you for watching my videos over the past few years as it was a big help in my growth as a content creator across YouTube, IG, Tiktok and Facebook. As we close out 2023 and look to a fresh new year 2024 I just wanted to share some tips about shopping in Istanbul or ordering online.
There are many scams to avoid in Istanbul as well as on IG, WhatsApp, Telegram, and Facebook just to name a few. I have heard from people just like you who have watched my videos that they have been scammed both in Istanbul and online.
***WARNING SCAMS and BAD ACTORS*** DON’T BE A VICTIM
Some People use YouTube to trick you into using their services like Shopping “Tour” Guides where they “Promise to take you to the “Best” places for a fee and Personal shoppers who they buy and send to you. These people are not to be trusted.
Just look at the source. These people just repeat the same lines as the guys at the shops. Do they show you street-level low-quality stuff and say “high quality”? Then they go to a high-quality shop and say it’s “high quality”? So which is it? These people are just clueless about quality. They just want to trick you into contacting them. Once you do that they got you on the hook.
Avoid People who Offer Guided Shopping Tours on YouTube. First off these people are unlicensed guides. These people work for the shops. They will make you pay them for a few hour “tour” but never give you the information about the places beforehand.
Once they meet you they try to figure out if you have money to spend. They will WhatsApp the shops to let them know they’re bringing a customer with money so raise all the prices. They will never haggle on your behalf.
You have no freedom to shop where you want If you tell them you want to go to this shop or a shop you have information for they will tell you it’s bad quality, they scam or even tell you they have no idea where that place is. Never hire an Unlicensed Tour Guide of any kind in Istanbul.
This also applies to people who won’t give you the information about a shop until the day you want to shop in Istanbul. This is all part of the setup. They then take your WhatsApp give it to the shop and tell them to raise all the prices.
Avoid People who offer to personal shop and ship it to you. They will never get you the quality you want. Their profit depends on how much money they can get out of you and how cheap they can buy the items for. They use the slowest possible shipping because it’s the cheapest and don’t know anything about the customs process in your country. This type of shipping is more subject to customs inspections. Even worse, once you send the money all they have to do is block you on WhatsApp. So you have no guarantee.
Avoid telling Taxi Drivers you’re going shopping. Just give them a location close by. Some popular tourist attractions or an address close by say a restaurant. The reason is that they’re all in on the scams.
If you tell a driver you going shopping they will ask you for the information, a phone number for the shop. They will call the shop and tell them that they have a customer in their car. If you want me to bring them you have to pay me. Yes, so you pay them for a ride but they want to be paid by the shop to bring you.
If the shop says no, the driver will do one of the following. Say sorry that’s the wrong number, I don’t know where it is, or worse will take you to a shop he gets money from and drop you off there and say this is it!
Avoid being Tricked into the wrong shops. Pay attention to the Showroom photos I show. If you feel you're not in the right place then call the Whatsapp number for that shop that I have given or on the Card.
I hope you find that helpful. As always if you have any questions feel free to contact me about your trip to Istanbul.
Cheers,
Cris