FAQs

What is The Saffron Souk?

The Saffron Souk is an online creative community. Whether you’re a maker, a merchant of unique things or a lover of the hard to find, The Saffron Souk is a place where you can connect, interact and shop from people with the common interest of a love for creativity and beautiful things.

Marketplace. Discover and shop from small local brands or become a seller and open your own shop front at our curated marketplace.

Community. The Saffron Souk is more than just a marketplace; we are an online based online community of creative entrepreneurs & smart shoppers. We’re a little bit different and thats what makes us special. If you’re not already a member, please register for free here.

Events. Our calendar of events showcases all the creative goodness taking place around the region. Markets, pop-ups, classes & educational events to help build your business. Add your event today.

Blog. Our blog is the perfect place to find out what’s new in our community. Learn new skills and be inspired by the stories of The Saffron Souk’s sellers, their brands and creative things that inspire us.

The Saffron Souk is a homegrown brand, licensed with Creative City, Fujairah, United Arab Emirates.


How does the marketplace work?

The marketplace at saffronsouk.com is stocked by over 400 independent small brands. When you shop at The Saffron Souk, you’re supporting these small local businesses, makers, designers and artists and having a direct and immediate impact on them.

The Saffron Souk hosts these shop fronts, facilitates communication between sellers and customers, streamlines the order process and collects payments from customers. Importantly, The Saffron Souk offers customers the security, customer service and reassurance of shopping from small brands in a single hassle-free transaction.

If you’re interested in opening a shop front at the marketplace, please scroll down to the Selling section below for more information.


Do you have a physical store?

The Saffron Souk is an online marketplace, open 24 hours and 7 days a week for your shopping pleasure. We don’t have a physical shop to visit, but offer the convience of shopping anywhere and anytime complete with delivery to your PO Box or couriered direct to your door.

We take part in pop-up events from time to time, so sign up to our newsletter and keep an eye on our social media pages for updates.


I have questions about a product.

You’re welcome to get in touch directly with any of the shopkeepers at Saffron Souk with any questions you have about their products, delivery or brand.

Log in at saffronsouk.com and click ‘Message Shop’ located on their shop front or product pages or on your orders page.

Exchanging personal contact details with sellers is against The Saffron Souk’s terms. Keep your order correspondence online via saffronsouk.com and your purchase is covered and protected by The Saffron Souk’s customer service and terms.


Can I get something personalized?

Absolutely! Personalized and custom made products are a speciality at The Saffron Souk. Browse all personalized products here.

Products that can be personalized are marked with a pencil icon. You can enter the personalization details you would like in a special field on the product pages before adding the item to your shopping cart.

If the shop keeper needs any additional information from you, they’ll message you via saffronsouk.com.

Please note, there’s usually a lead time before shipping personalised products. Please check the shop front’s policies and product description for more details.


How can I contact a seller?

When you’re logged in at saffronsouk.com you can message a seller anytime before making an order or afterwards.

Go to the shop front or product page you’re interested in and click the ‘Message Shop’ button or click the contact link on your orders page.

Opt for email notifications and we’ll send you an email to let you know when they’ve replied to you.


I want to buy something but the shop is 'on vacation'

Each shop at The Saffron Souk is managed by a small brand and from time to time they temporarily close for orders, usually because they’ve received all the orders they can process at that time or else because they are actually on vacation!

Frustrating we know, when you want to buy something and are made to wait, but usually shops only go in to vacation mode for a week or two.

Enter your email address in the blue vacation notice you see when you visit a closed shop front and we’ll send you an email to let you know when they’ve re-opened for orders.

Trust us, the wait will be worth it.


What payment options are available?

Although there are many individual shop fronts at The Saffron Souk’s marketplace, we offer the security and convenience of one checkout.

Customers can choose to pay by online via credit card, debit / ATM card in UAE Dirhams, US Dollars, and Saudi Riyals  or by PayPal in US Dollars.


Can you ship internationally?

Good news, most of the products at saffronsouk.com can be shipped around the world. If the product you want doesn’t list your location as a shipping option, please message them by clicking ‘Message Shop’ and request a custom shipping quotation from them.

Each shop front at The Saffron Souk dispatches orders directly to customers and so shipping options vary from shop to shop.

Please be aware that you will be charged shipping to your delivery address when you place an order at saffronsouk.com but import duties and taxes may be charged by your country. Any duties and taxes are not included and are the customers responsibility to pay.

If you choose not to pay duties and taxes imposed by your country, the order will be returned to the seller and on receipt of the unopened / undamaged parcel, a refund less shipping will be made.


Are discounts available for bulk orders?

Each shop front at The Saffron Souk sets their own pricing but often sellers are able to offer reduced prices for buying in large quantities.

To make an enquiry, please log in at saffronsouk.com and message the shop front by clicking ‘Message Shop’ on their shop front or product pages or contact us.

For corporate, trade and wholesale orders, please click here.


What do the little icons mean?

The icons you see on some products signify different things:

Customized. The pencil icon shows that the product is made to order and can be personalized or customized with name, words, colors, etc of your choice. Shop all customized products here.

Vintage. This means that although the product may be used and old, it’s old in the best kind of way. Typically vintage products are at least 50 years old. Shop all vintage products here.

Made in. All the shop fronts at The Saffron Souk’s marketplace are based in the GCC and the ‘made in’ icons show the products that are produced right here in the Gulf. Find the perfect souvenir from your country or benefit from local shipping and shop for all products made in UAE, Bahrain, KSA, Kuwait, Oman and Qatar.

Sale. No surprises here. If you see the grey sale icon, the product is on sale and you can purchase it at a reduced price.


I'd like to speak to someone, can I ring you?

The Saffron Souk is an online community and so we’re all about emails to get started.

Don’t let this hold you back, please contact The Saffron Souk HQ at hello@saffronsouk.com, the marketplace team at marketplace@saffronsouk.com for shopping, order and selling related questions, or message any of the shop fronts at the marketplace directly by logging in at saffronsouk.com and clicking the Ask a Question buttons on their shop front or product pages.


Can I change my account details?

You are welcome to update your email address, password and other details relating to your member account with The Saffron Souk anytime. To make changes, please log in at saffronsouk.com, click on My Account, then Account Details on the left.

Can I advertise on saffronsouk.com?


How do I change my message notification settings?

saffronsouk.com has an internal message service which allows The Saffron Souk members to communicate directly with sellers at the marketplace. If you have questions about a product or your order, or if you have made a purchase and the seller has questions for you, the website automatically sends you a notification by email to let you know that you have received a message.

To stay informed, we strongly recommend you keep your message notifications activated. You can choose to stop being sent an email notification but please be aware that if you’ve placed an order or are expecting a response to a message you’ve sent, you will need to actively check in to your account for messages. If a seller has a question about the order you have placed with them, they are unlikely to ship it until they have had a response from you, so the shipping of your order could be delayed.

In accordance with our privacy policy, we will not give your email address to others.

If you still want to stop receiving notification emails from saffronsouk.com, you can change your preference in ‘Account Details’ on your My Account page. Please note that order confirmation emails will still be sent to you even if you have your message notification email option disabled.


How will my order be delivered?

Each shop front at The Saffron Souk dispatches orders directly to customers and so shipping options vary from shop to shop.

Some shop fronts offer a collection service, but a choice of post or courier delivery is most common.

If you choose post, your parcel will be delivered to your PO Box in the GCC or to your mail box in countries that have a street front postal service. Depending on your location it is also possible that your post office will require you to collect your parcel from them.

If you choose courier, your parcel will be delivered to your street address unless you live in an ‘out of service’ area. Please ensure you provide a mobile number at the checkout.

The seller will log parcel tracking details against your order once it’s dispatched so you can follow up on your delivery directly if required.


Where's my order?

The Saffron Souk’s shop fronts are based throughout the GCC and so delivery times can vary from shop to shop. To check the delivery times related to the products you’ve purchased, check the product description or shop policies.

If you’d like to check on the status of a dispatched order, the parcel tracking details will have been sent to you via The Saffron Souk messaging system.

For postal deliveries, please take your registered post number to the counter to claim your parcel, even if you haven’t recieved the usual paper slip in your PO Box from the post officer.

Custom made and personalised items have a lead time for their production prior to shipping. Please check the product details and shop front policies for details.

Please allow for delays in delivery during public and religious holidays.


Why is my order arriving in multiple parcels?

saffronsouk.com is stocked by hundreds of independent shop fronts and each shop front dispatches their orders directly to their customers. If you have made purchases from more than one shop front, your order will be delivered in more than one parcel.


I haven't received my order. What should I do?

When a seller ships your order, they message you with the parcel tracking details so you can check the status of the delivery. Often, a courier will have attempted to call you or to make a delivery but if you’ve missed them, contact them with your tracking details to schedule a delivery.

If there’s an item missing from your order, please contact the seller of the missing item by clicking the ‘message shop’ button on your order details or on their shop front pages and let them know. If you have any trouble, please contact us.

Don’t forget that if you’ve made purchases from more than one shop front, your order will be delivered in more than one parcel.


I'm not happy with an item I received. Can I return it?

It’s essential for us here at Saffron Souk to have happy customers.

The Saffron Souk has terms relating to returns and refunds that govern the marketplace and each shop fronts has their own shop policies specific terms for the products they sell.

In the unlikely event that your purchase is faulty, damaged or not as shown or described, you can return it and receive a replacement or a refund. There are restrictions for returning edibles, bath & body products and custom made or personalised products.

For more information, please read our terms here. Please also see the sellers policies in their shop front.

To make a return, please message the shop front directly within 48 hours of receiving your order by clicking ‘Message Shop’ in your order details or on their shop front pages. The seller will guide you with the next steps, for you to return the product and usually to receive either a replacement, exchange or refund.


I've opted to collect my order. Where do I collect it from?

If you’ve chosen to collect your order from a seller, they will message you with the full collection address and collection times available after you have made your purchase online.

Please note, collection points are for collecting orders only and purchases at these locations are not permitted.