pointless duty free

[drross]

Agree. Rolex works on a world price.

Cartier have the same policy. In singapore over easter and the girls were checking out some bling. the delightful lady that was 'serving' us told the girls as an aside, prices would be going up world wide by 7.5% after easter so buy now to save money!!! happy easter

 

[boomy]

Agree. Rolex works on a world price.

Cartier have the same policy

I didn't check Rolex or Cartier but in general there is no such thing as world price, only recommended price.
When I looked to buy a Breitling for my dad's 60th birthday I first did research online and then hit the shops. I went to Hardy Brothers, Hour Glass and Watches of Switzerland, all conveniently located next to each other on Collins St. In the beginning they all gave me similar prices for what I was looking for. Even after I made them realise I know the "real cost" (I'm sure others can get it even cheaper), they still kept their poker face and said stuff like: "you can't compare prices online to the shops" and "who knows if the watches sold online are real or fake". One even said "we don't do discounts here" with an arrogant attitude. I had to force myself not to laugh in her face. Anyway, I left all 3 shops my business card and moved on. The next day my phone started to ring, it began with polite "just wanted to touch base regarding that watch you were interested in" and soon after the price started to drop.
Eventually, I ended up buying the watch for 35% off it's original price. Needless to say it was original with all the proper certificates. Still 10% higher then the online price but I got that back from TRS
The salesmen in these shops work on commissions and the more expensive the item is, the more bargaining power the customer has. There is absolutely no reason to pay the marked price on luxury goods. The margain these shops make is huge.

 

[medhead]

Dan Murphy's is cheaper? Please do tell me which Dan Murphy's has Bundy OP rum for $29.50 for 1L.

 

[medhead]

Cartier have the same policy. In singapore over easter and the girls were checking out some bling. the delightful lady that was 'serving' us told the girls as an aside, prices would be going up world wide by 7.5% after easter so buy now to save money!!! happy easter

That's funny. I was in the KL china town market yesterday and the stall holders told me the same thing. "The price will be higher at the next stall, better buy now".

 

[burmans]

Dan Murphy's is cheaper? Please do tell me which Dan Murphy's has Bundy OP rum for $29.50 for 1L.

I found that Dirty Dans was about a third more expensive that duty free for my test sample so am also unsure about this statement too leaving aside the differing bottle sizes.

 

[medhead]

I found that Dirty Dans was about a third more expensive that duty free for my test sample so am also unsure about this statement too leaving aside the differing bottle sizes.

Of course Bundy could be about the only item on which DF is cheaper.

 

[lukenet]

I normally save, on average about 100%. I simply don't buy anything. And it works every time.

 

[Baysider]

Purchase of alcohol "duty free" in the USA or Asia is pointless. The price out in the street is literally 1/3 to 1/4 of the airport price. I always buy outside and pack it in my suitcase.

 

[justin23]

Duty free is pretty pointless unless its a product with a fixed street price like an apple product and then technically its GST free and not duty free. Although when I was in HK last year due to the change in the AUD it was cheaper to buy from the apple store in HK than to buy 10% off the AU price. I've also just bought a replacement dSLR body. Given the local importer for Pentax is selling cameras for the same USA price and I got it for 10% off on the weekend and will take it OS and claim on the TRS it works out to be a tad under $1k

But yes you need to do research!

 

[rogerkambah]

Purchase of alcohol "duty free" in the USA or Asia is pointless. The price out in the street is literally 1/3 to 1/4 of the airport price. I always buy outside and pack it in my suitcase.

Definitely the way to go in Thailand.

 

[Ex-bugman]

Seriously, thinking you are going to save any sort of serious $ at the Airport DF shops is nonsense unless it's a good loss leader. ALWAYS do your homework and buy from those DF places outside of teh Airports that are not paying stupid rents! Online shopping is a completely different kettle of fish and needs a different set of parameters. Banning kids....... hmm, how about a "flying with kids section" down the back! Seriously, it's the parents more than the kids and I still haven't seen any airline with a "poor-brained parent" section yet. LOL but we live in hope...

 

[kirstyoz]

I didn't check Rolex or Cartier but in general there is no such thing as world price, only recommended price.
When I looked to buy a Breitling for my dad's 60th birthday I first did research online and then hit the shops. I went to Hardy Brothers, Hour Glass and Watches of Switzerland, all conveniently located next to each other on Collins St. In the beginning they all gave me similar prices for what I was looking for. Even after I made them realise I know the "real cost" (I'm sure others can get it even cheaper), they still kept their poker face and said stuff like: "you can't compare prices online to the shops" and "who knows if the watches sold online are real or fake". One even said "we don't do discounts here" with an arrogant attitude. I had to force myself not to laugh in her face. Anyway, I left all 3 shops my business card and moved on. The next day my phone started to ring, it began with polite "just wanted to touch base regarding that watch you were interested in" and soon after the price started to drop.
Eventually, I ended up buying the watch for 35% off it's original price. Needless to say it was original with all the proper certificates. Still 10% higher then the online price but I got that back from TRS
The salesmen in these shops work on commissions and the more expensive the item is, the more bargaining power the customer has. There is absolutely no reason to pay the marked price on luxury goods. The margain these shops make is huge.

Nice work on the Breitling Boomy My hubby did the same for a Breitling... it retailed over $16,000 here in Australia and he ended up getting it in Tampa, Florida for $9,000 USD. We did shop around (and save) for three years though.

With some of the high end luxury brands, because they only sell in their own stores they actually adjust pricing regularly to compensate for exchange rates to keep pricing consistent. I've been a collector of Louis Vuitton (when I can afford it) for years. The best deal I've been able to get is to buy in Australia when travelling overseas and use the TRS to get the GST back. Their stuff never goes on sale so that's the best I've been able to do.

Actually I'd love some advice from forum members on just this subject. At the end of June I'm travelling PER-HKG-LAX-MIA-BGT return with CX in J. I'm looking to buy a bunch of men's colognes for hubby as he is running out and he would be very upset if that happened lol. The only significant layover is about 22 hours in LAX on the outward trip although I've got about 7 hours coming back. From what I'm seeing here it sounds like my best bet would be to find a Macy's near the airport in LA and go there. I know if you show your passport you get an extra 10% off card for there too so that might just be the way to go. On the other hand I'll need to get a cab there so it might not work out in the end. Any advice would be really appreciated! I thought duty free in the USA (coming out of LA into HKG in the return journey) might be better than average? My problem there is getting it to my luggage because I have to transit through HKG before I get home and it'll be too much liquid... *sigh*

Oh, and on the other subject, hubby and I save up points and do a trip to the USA every two years if we can. We don't shop in Australia as a general rule because of prices - go to the USA outlet malls and you can get Ralph Lauren tees for $12-20, polos for $20-40, jeans for $20-65 etc. Hubby got the ferarri puma trainers for about $36 in the end, they were over $100 here... they were discounted and then I had two coupons for more discounts... he ended up buying four pairs so he'd have spares for when he wore them in LOL.

I love Mr Kirstyoz very much. Clearly.

 

[aussiejohn]

I haven't bothered with duty free for donkey's years. But then I am not a big consumer of "stuff", and I am not partial to spirits, so don't buy much in the way of alcohol.

Many moons ago, we used to have cameras that needed rolls of photographic film. Showing my age here! I remember being able to buy (on special admittedly) Kodak 400ASA film cheaper at Kmart, than at the duty free shops at Tulla. So I used to stock up whenever it was on special, ready for the next trip.

I used to buy my Levis in the US, and also stocked up on things like Duracell batteries, as they were much cheaper in the US than here.

Singapore has become very expensive, even at Challenger, my favourite Electronics and IT store.

Even at Low Yat Plaza in Kuala Lumpur, you have to hunt for IT bargains. Had to replace a Microsoft Wireless Mouse awhile ago, the price at Low Yat Plaza was only $2 less than what I could buy it for at BigW in Southland.

 

[medhead]

I am still waiting to hear from the experts the place that I can get Bundy OP run for less than $29/l. Buying that from duty free shops sure as hell will save money over dan Murphy's.

 

[Baysider]

Actually I'd love some advice from forum members on just this subject. At the end of June I'm travelling PER-HKG-LAX-MIA-BGT return with CX in J. I'm looking to buy a bunch of men's colognes for hubby as he is running out and he would be very upset if that happened lol. The only significant layover is about 22 hours in LAX on the outward trip although I've got about 7 hours coming back. From what I'm seeing here it sounds like my best bet would be to find a Macy's near the airport in LA and go there. I know if you show your passport you get an extra 10% off card for there too so that might just be the way to go. On the other hand I'll need to get a cab there so it might not work out in the end. Any advice would be really appreciated! I thought duty free in the USA (coming out of LA into HKG in the return journey) might be better than average? My problem there is getting it to my luggage because I have to transit through HKG before I get home and it'll be too much liquid... *sigh*

You could scoot out to Citadel Outlets, but its a 30 min cab ride from LAX: Citadel Outlets :: 100 Citadel Drive, Suite 480, Los Angeles, CA. 90040 :: 323.888.1724

 

[Ex-bugman]

Nice work on the Breitling Boomy My hubby did the same for a Breitling... it retailed over $16,000 here in Australia and he ended up getting it in Tampa, Florida for $9,000 USD. We did shop around (and save) for three years though.

With some of the high end luxury brands, because they only sell in their own stores they actually adjust pricing regularly to compensate for exchange rates to keep pricing consistent. I've been a collector of Louis Vuitton (when I can afford it) for years. The best deal I've been able to get is to buy in Australia when travelling overseas and use the TRS to get the GST back. Their stuff never goes on sale so that's the best I've been able to do.

Actually I'd love some advice from forum members on just this subject. At the end of June I'm travelling PER-HKG-LAX-MIA-BGT return with CX in J. I'm looking to buy a bunch of men's colognes for hubby as he is running out and he would be very upset if that happened lol. The only significant layover is about 22 hours in LAX on the outward trip although I've got about 7 hours coming back. From what I'm seeing here it sounds like my best bet would be to find a Macy's near the airport in LA and go there. I know if you show your passport you get an extra 10% off card for there too so that might just be the way to go. On the other hand I'll need to get a cab there so it might not work out in the end. Any advice would be really appreciated! I thought duty free in the USA (coming out of LA into HKG in the return journey) might be better than average? My problem there is getting it to my luggage because I have to transit through HKG before I get home and it'll be too much liquid... *sigh*

Oh, and on the other subject, hubby and I save up points and do a trip to the USA every two years if we can. We don't shop in Australia as a general rule because of prices - go to the USA outlet malls and you can get Ralph Lauren tees for $12-20, polos for $20-40, jeans for $20-65 etc. Hubby got the ferarri puma trainers for about $36 in the end, they were over $100 here... they were discounted and then I had two coupons for more discounts... he ended up buying four pairs so he'd have spares for when he wore them in LOL.

I love Mr Kirstyoz very much. Clearly.

Serious savings are nearly always had at the majors as opposed to the outlet malls. So any Macy's, JC Penny, Dillard's, Sax's etc will give you a better deal. Again research, there are plenty of sites to print off their discount coupons and some you will only find online. Finding a deal at an outlet mall is really in your mind and not in your wallet, having lived there (USA) for 9 years I can tell you the only time to shop the outlets is the holiday sales they have, otherwise it's just for catching the tourists. RL tee's on special at major's will go for as little as $3-$5, Kelvin Klein jeans $10-$12, etc etc, you need to research though. Most majors list their sale and you can subscribe to get other deals also.

Good luck

 

[PointyEnd]

. I'm looking to buy a bunch of men's colognes for hubby as he is running out and he would be very upset if that happened lol.

kirsty, I'm yet to find a store that does cheaper prices than fragrancex. (Some Chemist chains here in Oz do have amazing sale-deals tho) Look them up online and compare prices. Also, you can get an email alert for out of stock items.

Good luck!

 

[cfellows]

I buy my spirits at Changi, it is by far cheaper compared to the prices (let alone pitiful selection) at Perth Duty Free. Which brings me to another thing with the recent changes to Perth Intl there is now a maze through the duty free store you HAVE to walk through to get to customs much like in Melb/Syd. So annoying but I will never buy from them ever with their prices that are more expensive then the regular bottle shops in Perth.

I laugh at every sucker standing in line to pick up their cough / buy some after getting off the flight.. less people in front of the smart gate always makes me happy

 

[timster]

From what I'm seeing here it sounds like my best bet would be to find a Macy's near the airport in LA and go there. I know if you show your passport you get an extra 10% off card for there too so that might just be the way to go. On the other hand I'll need to get a cab there so it might not work out in the end. Any advice would be really appreciated!

I believe the closest Macy's to LAX is at Westfield Mall in Culver City (ex Fox Hills Mall). About 15 minutes away once you're on the Culver City Bus that goes by the big LAX hotels. There used to be one at Santa Monica Place (about 40 mins on the Big Blue Bus) but it's gone - now there's Bloomingdales and Nordstrom.

 

[sweens]

Purchase of alcohol "duty free" in the USA or Asia is pointless. The price out in the street is literally 1/3 to 1/4 of the airport price. I always buy outside and pack it in my suitcase.

Agree last week I was in Santa Barbara and bought a 1.75 litre bottle of Jose Cuervo Tequila at a CVS store for $18 USD...yes CVS sell a limited range of Liquor.

The price at the DFS at LAX for a Jose Cuervo 1 litre bottle was $21.