Buying crafts and bringing them home
Where to buy, how to check quality and price, how to pack and ship, and what customs allow in the country where you live.
The summer trip is when most Moroccan homes abroad are furnished. A little preparation avoids the three classic problems: a bad buy, a broken parcel and a surprise at customs.
In short
- Leaving Morocco, handicrafts bought for yourself can be taken out freely, whatever their value. Antiques and works of art need an authorisation.
- Arriving where you live, goods above the traveller's allowance must be declared, and tax is due.
- Keep every receipt, with the name of the shop, in your hand luggage.
- Wood, plants, seeds and food have their own rules, stricter in Canada and the United States.
Where to buy
- Ensemble artisanal
- State craft centres in the large cities, with workshops and fixed, displayed prices. The best place to learn the right price before going to the souk.
- Cooperatives
- Weavers', potters' and argan cooperatives sell their own work. Ask to see the workshop.
- Workshops
- For made to measure: a salon, a table, a lamp, a door. Agree the sizes, the wood, the finish, the price and the date in writing, with a deposit and a photo of a finished piece.
- Souks and medina shops
- The widest choice; prices are discussed. Shops that sell to hotels and decorators often have the best quality.
- Shops and sites where you live
- More expensive, but delivered and guaranteed, with nothing to carry. Compare for heavy things.
Agreeing a price
- Look in several shops before asking any price.
- Ask the price, then calmly offer what you are ready to pay. Leaving politely is part of it.
- Paying in dirhams, in cash, gets the best price. For a large purchase, a card or a transfer gives you a record.
- For anything expensive, ask for a receipt with the description and the price. You need it for customs and for insurance.
- A guide or driver who brings you to a shop is usually paid a commission, and it is in your price. Go back alone.
Checking quality
- Brass and copper: the weight, clean soldering, a base that sits flat.
- Wood: the joints, drawers that slide, no filler hiding cracks; thuya boxes with lids that close tight.
- Leather: the stitching, an even colour, the smell. Rub a damp white cloth to check the dye.
- Pottery: tap it. A clear ring means there is no crack. Ask if it is made for food.
- Lamps: look at the cable and the socket.
- Rugs: turn them over and look at the knots.
Packing and shipping
- Rugs: rolled or folded with the pile inside, in a strong bag. A wool rug of 2 x 3 m weighs 15 to 25 kg: check your baggage allowance, or pay for one more bag, often cheaper than a parcel.
- Pottery and lamps: in hand luggage when possible, wrapped in clothes. Otherwise in two boxes, one inside the other, with 5 cm of padding on every side.
- Poufs travel empty and flat.
- By post or courier from Morocco: weigh and measure first, insure the value, write an honest description and value on the customs form, and keep the tracking number.
- Furniture and whole salons: grouped transport by road or by sea, through a transport company. Ask for the price to your door, the insurance, and who pays customs on arrival.
- By car on the ferry: keep the receipts with the passports, and declare on arrival if you are over the allowance.
- Parcels are taxed differently from luggage: the traveller's allowance does not apply to goods sent separately.
Leaving Morocco
- Handicrafts and souvenirs bought in Morocco: free to take out, with no limit of value.
- Antiques, works of art and collectors' pieces: a certificate from the cultural authorities must go with them. An honest antique dealer knows the procedure.
- Fossils and minerals: a few pieces, as souvenirs.
- Cash: you may take out up to 2,000 dirhams in Moroccan banknotes.
Arriving where you live
Traveller's allowance where you live
Each traveller may bring goods for personal use up to this value without paying tax. Above it, declare the goods on arrival.
- France, Spain, Italy, Belgium, Netherlands, Germany
- 430 euros per person arriving by air or sea, 300 euros by land. Some countries apply 150 euros under the age of 15. One object cannot be shared between two people's allowances: a rug worth more than the allowance is taxed on its whole value.
- United Kingdom
- 390 pounds per person. If you go over, tax and duty are due on the total value, not only on the part above the allowance.
- Canada
- 800 Canadian dollars after an absence of 48 hours or more, 200 dollars after 24 hours. The goods must be with you.
- United States
- Usually 800 US dollars per person, after at least 48 hours abroad and once in 30 days.
- United Arab Emirates
- Gifts up to 3,000 UAE dirhams per passenger, in non-commercial quantities.
- Saudi Arabia
- Personal effects and gifts up to 3,000 Saudi riyals, with receipts.
- Qatar
- Gifts and personal belongings up to 3,000 Qatari riyals.
- Switzerland
- 150 Swiss francs per person and per day, children included.
Amounts read on each country's customs site in October 2026. Alcohol and tobacco have separate limits. Goods sent by post or courier do not use this allowance.
- Wooden objects, baskets, dried plants and seeds: declare them in Canada and the United States, where untreated wood and plant material are inspected. Finished, varnished wood is normally accepted.
- Into the European Union and the United Kingdom, meat and dairy products from Morocco are not allowed in luggage, and most plants and seeds need a plant health certificate.
- Objects made from protected animals or plants, such as tortoise shell, ivory, some reptile skins and coral, are forbidden or need a permit everywhere. Do not buy them.
Mistakes to avoid
- Buying on the first day, in the first shop.
- No receipt for a rug worth more than the allowance.
- Sending a parcel marked as a gift of no value. Customs open those first.
- Trusting a shop that says it ships everything with no tax, without a written price to your door.
- Buying an antique without papers.