Short answer: Amazon, Aliexpress – maybe KSP … or otherwise you best know exactly what store to find it in, and where it is. Having a cat like curiosity to explore everywhere, I’m building up a knowledge base though trying to find something as ‘simple’ as resin or lumber is not so simple. Ask me where to find a Buddha garden statue, and I have you covered.

Want a certain game or toy? Stores are like snowflakes here. No two are the same though there is overlap.

KSP: Israel’s closest thing to Amazon

Their online store sells all sorts of things and in my experience, for better prices than I find in stores. I often look here first and they ship to my door – usually? It’s not like Amazon where you push a button by accident at 11pm at night and trip over the package at 7am on your way out. Delivery here means at least two phone calls and handing it directly to you unless perhaps you work something out on the phone with them.

Radon tester

No idea where to get one in Israel or even America … except Amazon. AliExpress (China) might have them though I prefer quality control for something like this. Israel raised the no-tax policy on online orders to $150. They did this to counter price gouging at small stores in Israel.

(I have a safe level of radon in my basement – it isn’t checked here – the last study was in the 1990s though there are places where it’s problematic.)

Resin (for molding)

So about that price gouging … I haven’t seen it that much around here though this one is particularly absurd. This is about $280! On Amazon it’s $70. A markup because it’s in a store, sure … charging 4x … nah … I found a deal on Amazon for $42, paid shipping, and though I have to wait two weeks for it rather than two days, there’s no way I’m paying $280. Sorry, local store … I’d rather give my money to the Israeli shipping company.

Lumber

In America … go to any Home Depot or Lowes. In fact, they were considered “essential businesses” during Covid so I was there a lot. I built a fort for my kids in the backyard which was therapy for me.

In Israel I searched Google maps. The nearest place that sells “lumber” is about a 20 minute drive from me … it took me to a place that said it’s a place to wash trucks, busses, and personal cars. Inside I found a few trucks, some repetitive banging noise, and stacks and stacks of pallets. I was offered to take some wood from ones that were cut up though not what I needed.

Where do you buy actual lumber? I don’t know. Unless it’s before Succos – then there’s an outdoor place with every kind of lumber you can imagine and guys there with table saws ready to cut it all to size.

Board Games

They are all over. Seems Israelis like board games. There are some staples like Catan and Monopoly everywhere though the selection greatly varies from store to store. When I looked for Hebrew Monopoly in Israel in 2003 I could not find it – Hasbro released it in Hebrew in 2004, says the internet. Now hey have multiple versions … around the world, fortnite, loser, cheater, Barbie …

Bathroom vanity, towel racks, etc.

Towel racks, toilet paper holders, etc – about 1/8th the price from Amazon than we could find in stores here. We didn’t look in many and there are probably some with good prices, though it’s just easier to buy on Amazon – with much greater selection.

On the other hand, cabinetry is less expensive to have built to specification than to buy prefabricated. Labor is a lot less expensive in Israel. We had it made exactly to size including going from edge to edge and all the way to the floor. For some reason, sinks and vanities here usually have wasted space on the sides and beneath. They float in the air.

Bidet

Even toilets float in the air here:

That hose? Cost me extra for a berez (dang, I forgot the English word … ) because normally toilets just float here with no visible plumbing. It’s nice until you have to find a water shutoff behind a panel somewhere while the workman watches dumbfounded while water shoots from the pipe to your sons’ desk in the bedroom because he just dropped a concrete wall onto it. (Glad I was there.)

That extra berez is for a bidet … first saw them in Japan with all their temperature control knobs and whistles and this was way back in the 1990s. It’s so disgusting to have to put your hand down there with a thin sheet of paper. Yuch.

Bidets can be purchased very inexpensively here. However, I had to ask the old owner where he bought his … some random website that sells just a certain kind of bidet I wanted that the old homeowner had on one toilet … sold by “Nava Esther” – some lady in her apartment probably … who “designed and assembled” it in Israel:

Toilets are like cats … either there’s a choice of having to fend for yourself in the dirt – or having a nice warm place to take care of you and keep you clean and healthy.

Full Length Mirror

The same mirror in three different stores. The prices are about $62, $125, and $180.

(the fuzzy exterior on the least expensive is optional and included)

Cheap Electronics

Aliexpress. That’s my go to place lately, though it takes up to a month for a product to arrive. We don’t have tariffs on imports here – in fact, we have 0% tax on imports under $150.

Aliexpress is great if you don’t care too much about quality and want to pay next to nothing. Yes, I did like my Bose and then my Sony earbuds. I don’t like how they die about 12 to 18 months.

Those ‘sleep earbuds’ on the left cost me about $12 and they’re on sale for about $7 right now and come in a plastic shell with all the sturdiness of a Chinese toy.

Lighting

Buying from Amazon is tricky because everything here is 220v (though why haven’t I looked on Amazon UK … too late now).

Lighting stores are all over the place. That and electronics stores – all over.

The styles are similar to America and prices vary greatly. A lot of stuff, especially appliances, comes from Europe … German brands are the high end for things like plumbing and appliances.

Bonus: Returns

Have more than one credit card on case one decides not to work for no good reason. Also, have an American card (2% back and no fees for changing money) and an Israeli card because . . .

The law is that you can return (almost) anything within 30 days of purchase, if unopened. Haven’t had a problem with this being honored. In fact, I quit a gym by sending a single email and no questions asked. Try that in America …

However … and here’s the however which I learned when returning paint the second after I bought it – if you pay with an American credit card, Israel merchants cannot refund the money onto your American card. They will refund the money only by bank transfer to your Israeli card … which is fine if you keep that in your wallet.

^ that actually seems to be a bit of a trick to get money transferred from US –> Israel without paying any processing fees though not so nice:

“Hi, I’d like to return this $10,000 piece of luggage I bought yesterday … ”
“Didn’t you do the same thing just a month ago?”
“Yes, though I need to transfer more money from America.”

Not only would that cost you nothing in fees, you’d get $200 for your ‘troubles’ transferring money. You’d hit the storekeeper with about a $400 charge though.