QUESTIONS FOR Phoenix

[REDRV]

PHOENIX , HI AND THXS FOR YOUR INPUT THUS FAR. I HAVE A QUESTION: WHAT ARE THE COST OF SOME OF THE PRODUCTS IN IRAQ... IF YOU HAVE THIS INFORMATION.... 1...2...1 IN IRAQ GO RV ..... REDRV

[pokerplayer]

PHOENIX , HI AND THXS FOR YOUR INPUT THUS FAR. I HAVE A QUESTION: WHAT ARE THE COST OF SOME OF THE PRODUCTS IN IRAQ... IF YOU HAVE THIS INFORMATION.... 1...2...1 IN IRAQ GO RV ..... REDRV

When I was there you could buy 3 cans of coke for $1.00 USD, and I am sure that gave them a decent profit. Were they counterfeit? possible, but no one I knew ever got sick.

Hope this helps answer at least part of your question.

pp

[REDRV]

When I was there you could buy 3 cans of coke for $1.00 USD, and I am sure that gave them a decent profit. Were they counterfeit? possible, but no one I knew ever got sick.

Hope this helps answer at least part of your question.

pp

YES IT HELPS THXS REDRV

[hypr2001]

PHOENIX , HI AND THXS FOR YOUR INPUT THUS FAR. I HAVE A QUESTION: WHAT ARE THE COST OF SOME OF THE PRODUCTS IN IRAQ... IF YOU HAVE THIS INFORMATION.... 1...2...1 IN IRAQ GO RV ..... REDRV

A case of soda (24) was running around $4 on the economy. Carton of smokes about $6. A dinner for 2 at an Iraqi restaurant around $3-4. A complete military uniform (custom made by a tailor) runs $30. A 5lb bucket of protein powder used by us in the US runs around $100 ($50 in the USA). Depends on what u buy and where it originates as to the cost. A car runs around 1/3 the cost of one here in the US. Hope this helps give you some perspective. Just so there is no misunderstanding, I spent 7+ years there. I just returned 3 months ago and work directly with the Iraqi Air Force. These are not guesses but rather things that I have had direct contact with in the past.

[REDRV]

A case of soda (24) was running around $4 on the economy. Carton of smokes about $6. A dinner for 2 at an Iraqi restaurant around $3-4. A complete military uniform (custom made by a tailor) runs $30. A 5lb bucket of protein powder used by us in the US runs around $100 ($50 in the USA). Depends on what u buy and where it originates as to the cost. A car runs around 1/3 the cost of one here in the US. Hope this helps give you some perspective. Just so there is no misunderstanding, I spent 7+ years there. I just returned 3 months ago and work directly with the Iraqi Air Force. These are not guesses but rather things that I have had direct contact with in the past.

HECK YA! GREAT INFO THNXS ...... REDRV

[DeadGuy]

Thanks for the insight. So I am correct in saying a suit that would be $30US would actually cost 25,000 dinar?

I mean, if you walked in a store for a suit, would you see a price tag that says 25,000?

Or a case of Coke would have a sticker on it with $4000 on it?

Just curious and THANKS for the info.

chuck

[Desert Medic]

Thanks for the insight. So I am correct in saying a suit that would be $30US would actually cost 25,000 dinar?

I mean, if you walked in a store for a suit, would you see a price tag that says 25,000?

Or a case of Coke would have a sticker on it with $4000 on it?

Just curious and THANKS for the info.

chuck

The taylor here on base makes a 7 peice suit, he is charging 250-300 usd for the set. Its a pretty nice set..

but im not a suit kind of guy... lol

[hypr2001]

The taylor here on base makes a 7 peice suit, he is charging 250-300 usd for the set. Its a pretty nice set..

but im not a suit kind of guy... lol

The prices on base are always inflated. There are kickbacks to AAFES and so on that happen as we all know. A carton of smokes that is $6 of base is $10 on base. The price for smokes that I am quoting is NOT the price in the military PX, of course there are no taxes on base and they still gouge the soldiers $40 for a carton, lol. Also alot of the vendors were from other countries. I do believe all of the vendors are now Iraqi, or at least they were going that way on Taji. A suit is different than a military uniform also. Many more pieces and a higher grade material. Everything is relative when it comes to items like that. Off base, an actual tailored suit may run $100. As far as price tags go, you really dont see them. More so, everything is verbal and there is a definite barter/bargain system in place. All pricing is IQD (for the most part) unless of course its a blackmarket item. Then USD seems to be preffered, lol. As far as the conversion of IQD to USD and visa versa. The norm was to round up or down, whatever worked out better for the local. Before I returned, the rate was 1170:1. As we all know, there are no bills smaller than 50, so 1170 cant be done if the item was a dollar. It was just rounded to 1100 or 1200. Whatever worked out to the locals advantage. The ones I dealt with were pretty honest about it all and never tried to cheat me out of a buck. They did however throw a lil something in for themselves to compensate for their time, lol. If they didnt, I did. ts a much different way of doing buisness there and most people would have a hard time figuring it out ( I know I did at first). They dont covet every dinar and have no issues helping someone. As in my case, I could go in and eat at a local restaraunt for the Iraqi AirForce and pay for my meal. If I got a drink with it, that was on the house. If I needed more meat or veggies, no charge was added. It was a basic charge for the meal itself. Like I said, just alot different than OUR norm here in the US

[Desert Medic]

oh, trust me.. i know that they are over charging us.. mainly because its still cheaper for us to buy.. but no worries, i figured if someone wants to buy it, they will. as for me, im trying to save money..

so.. all is good

[tabndust]

I'm wandering about big STORES, not just small villages.

If you walk into a 7-11 (or something like it) and buy a can of Coke. Do you hand them 25,000?

If 25,000 = bout 20 bucks, do you walk around with half a million dinar in your pocket to go out and do some shopping?

thanks

tabndust

[hypr2001]

I'm wandering about big STORES, not just small villages.

If you walk into a 7-11 (or something like it) and buy a can of Coke. Do you hand them 25,000?

If 25,000 = bout 20 bucks, do you walk around with half a million dinar in your pocket to go out and do some shopping?

thanks

tabndust

The locals tend to have money WHEN they need it. The will usually pull out a roll of bills. The 25K notes were very prominent in the beggining but seemed to taper off in the last 6 months. The more common was 10K and lower. I remember getting a car part for one personn and he owed me 235K IQD. I got paid in 5K and 1K notes, lol. Just seemed as if the 25K notes started to disappear. Needless to say, he didnt have it on his person until he knew I was at work. Then and only then did he bring his cash out. As far as 7-11s go there was one in Mosul on base. YEP, I am pretty sure its the first one ever, lol. If you are on base, then everything is in USD. Off base its all barter or IQD. Yes, any IQD note would be expected and it would be no different than us paying for a coke with a $100 bill. Sometimes you just gotta do it, lol.