If you’re new to the capital, the chances are that you’ll be needing a few items before you’re settled and you’d rather not pay full price. If you’ve been here a while, you’re probably ready to make some space in that bulging wardrobe and maybe clear out the excess on those cluttered shelves. And if you’re getting ready to bid Abu Dhabi adieu and head back home, then there’s a long list of odds and ends that you’d love to get rid of, preferably while making some cash on the side.
The business of buying and selling personal items in Abu Dhabi has never been livelier. On Facebook alone, there are multitudes of sites dedicated to helping you nail that bargain.
This week saw the debut of the Baby Bazaar Market Day in Abu Dhabi, where mums were able to both make some money out of selling their children’s second-hand items and bag some incredible bargains shopping for their newborns’ layettes.
Even The National has got in on the action: our daily Marketplace advertises properties for rent and for sale, as well as recruitment ads, vehicles for sale, wanted ads and sections on everything from technology to lifestyle and leisure.
To make it easier for you to keep track of the abundant bargains of the capital, and to help you out with all that Christmas shopping, here’s our guide to buying and selling personal goods in the capital.
Facebook
If you’re looking to sell a washing machine, TV, table lamp or the complete Harry Potter series, begin by taking a picture of your items and uploading them on the right pages.
The most popular pages or groups to buy and sell personal items on Facebook are:
• Abu Dhabi Buy Sell Trade — an eight-foot Christmas tree, still in the box, for Dh250 will probably get sold in no time.
• Abu Dhabi Infant and Children Supplies Marketplace — someone’s looking for babyteething necklaces on there, so if you have any to sell, join this group.
• UAE Swap and Shop — there’s an outdoor waterslide for kids going for Dh500, a Ferrari car-seat with a five-point harness for Dh150 and a 2010 Honda CRV for Dh69,000.
• EY Marketplace Abu Dhabi — large, silver curry boats advertised for sale on there, each for Dh250, as well as a nifty-looking bicycle for Dh3,000.
Checking out the pages set up by your community, or in the area you live, never hurts either. For example, there’s the Reem Island Market page, the Al Reef Village group page and an Al Raha Beach group page.
Flea markets
Just over two years ago, the Sheraton Abu Dhabi Hotel & Resort on the Corniche hosted its first indoor flea market in the Arzanah Ballroom. The market became a regular event every few months and has grown in both popularity and reputation as a treasure trove of bargains. Several of the flea markets organised by the hotel have partnered with local charities.
The next flea market is almost upon us, on November 30, from 9am to 3pm. Exhibitors can reserve a table by calling 02 677 3333 or e-mailing sheraton.abudhabi@sheraton.com.
Dubizzle
Dubizzle began as something of a Dubai institution and has since branched out to cover the entire country, as well as 10 other countries in the Middle East, including Algeria, Bahrain and Jordan. The community website has an active Abu Dhabi classifieds section where you’ll be able to easily sell anything and everything.
Personally, I've advertised numerous items on the site in my five years living in Abu Dhabi, and it has never taken more than 12 hours to receive a call from a buyer ready to make a deal. They even have a page dedicated to "free stuff"; right now, someone's looking to get rid of an aquarium, a baby cradle and several large canisters of Jordanian olive oil, all for free. Trust Dubizzle's magic abilities. Visit abudhabi.dubizzle.com.
Souq
Here’s my secret confession: my treasured pair of Louis Vuitton flats? Preloved and purchased for Dh800. And those towering Dolce & Gabbana platforms? Also preloved, and scored for Dh500. All thanks to Souq — the biggest online retailer in the Middle East.
It's kind of like eBay, but without the auctioning. Both retailers or individuals can advertise products for sale on the site and when you, the customer, decide to buy it, the item is delivered to your doorstep for a small fee. Bonus? It offers cash on delivery. Visit www.souq.com.
Bulletin boards
Never underestimate the power of a typed-at-home “For Sale” ad. The community noticeboard in Spinneys Khalidiya is a popular spot for expats looking to sell personal belongings and cars, as well as announce available language lessons, cleaning services, nannies looking for a job and so much more.
Look out for noticeboards in your place of employment; the best way to get rid of your kitchen appliances is to sell them to a newly arrived colleague desperate for a fridge.
Speciality shops
• The St Andrew’s Thrift Store, located in St Andrew’s Church in Al Mushrif, sells “quality used and unwanted goods — of all types — to raise money for charitable projects”. This is not one for sellers; the Thrift Shop thrives on donations. But for the buyer looking for a good rummage, the shop is open om Sundays from 8.30am to noon, Tuesdays at the same time as well as from 3.30pm to 5.30pm, and Fridays from noon to 2pm.
• Pipsqueak Chic is a consignment store in Al Raha Gardens that sells "quality, preloved maternity and childrenswear". It's currently on the lookout for girls' items from age six months and up to the age of 10, and boys' items from birth onwards. The best way to see the goods, or to drop off your own stash, is to book an appointment and arrange a viewing time. Visit www.facebook.com/pipsqueakchic or call 056 202 1312.
• Check out Marketplace, every day in The National. To place an ad in Marketplace, call 02 693 6666
artslife@thenational.ae
The White Lotus: Season three
Creator: Mike White
Starring: Walton Goggins, Jason Isaacs, Natasha Rothwell
Rating: 4.5/5
ASHES FIXTURES
1st Test: Brisbane, Nov 23-27
2nd Test: Adelaide, Dec 2-6
3rd Test: Perth, Dec 14-18
4th Test: Melbourne, Dec 26-30
5th Test: Sydney, Jan 4-8
The five pillars of Islam
1. Fasting
2. Prayer
3. Hajj
4. Shahada
5. Zakat
NO OTHER LAND
Director: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham, Rachel Szor, Hamdan Ballal
Stars: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham
Rating: 3.5/5
TECH%20SPECS%3A%20APPLE%20WATCH%20SERIES%208
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In numbers: PKK’s money network in Europe
Germany: PKK collectors typically bring in $18 million in cash a year – amount has trebled since 2010
Revolutionary tax: Investigators say about $2 million a year raised from ‘tax collection’ around Marseille
Extortion: Gunman convicted in 2023 of demanding $10,000 from Kurdish businessman in Stockholm
Drug trade: PKK income claimed by Turkish anti-drugs force in 2024 to be as high as $500 million a year
Denmark: PKK one of two terrorist groups along with Iranian separatists ASMLA to raise “two-digit million amounts”
Contributions: Hundreds of euros expected from typical Kurdish families and thousands from business owners
TV channel: Kurdish Roj TV accounts frozen and went bankrupt after Denmark fined it more than $1 million over PKK links in 2013
A MINECRAFT MOVIE
Director: Jared Hess
Starring: Jack Black, Jennifer Coolidge, Jason Momoa
Rating: 3/5
Company%20Profile
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How much sugar is in chocolate Easter eggs?
- The 169g Crunchie egg has 15.9g of sugar per 25g serving, working out at around 107g of sugar per egg
- The 190g Maltesers Teasers egg contains 58g of sugar per 100g for the egg and 19.6g of sugar in each of the two Teasers bars that come with it
- The 188g Smarties egg has 113g of sugar per egg and 22.8g in the tube of Smarties it contains
- The Milky Bar white chocolate Egg Hunt Pack contains eight eggs at 7.7g of sugar per egg
- The Cadbury Creme Egg contains 26g of sugar per 40g egg
Dubai Bling season three
Cast: Loujain Adada, Zeina Khoury, Farhana Bodi, Ebraheem Al Samadi, Mona Kattan, and couples Safa & Fahad Siddiqui and DJ Bliss & Danya Mohammed
Rating: 1/5
What She Ate: Six Remarkable Women & the Food That Tells Their Stories
Laura Shapiro
Fourth Estate
Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
Company Fact Box
Company name/date started: Abwaab Technologies / September 2019
Founders: Hamdi Tabbaa, co-founder and CEO. Hussein Alsarabi, co-founder and CTO
Based: Amman, Jordan
Sector: Education Technology
Size (employees/revenue): Total team size: 65. Full-time employees: 25. Revenue undisclosed
Stage: early-stage startup
Investors: Adam Tech Ventures, Endure Capital, Equitrust, the World Bank-backed Innovative Startups SMEs Fund, a London investment fund, a number of former and current executives from Uber and Netflix, among others.
Biog
Age: 50
Known as the UAE’s strongest man
Favourite dish: “Everything and sea food”
Hobbies: Drawing, basketball and poetry
Favourite car: Any classic car
Favourite superhero: The Hulk original
