London vs Duty Free?

sda244

sda244

Member
Feb 27, 2018
12
46
#1
I'm traveling to the UK at the end of May. I want to purchase a Speedy Bandouliere 30 in damier ebene.

I have the following store options: Manchester Selfridge concession, the London Selfridge concession, or the Heathrow Duty Free.

Would anyone suggest one over the other? I just know if I wait to the airport going home and they don't have it, I'll be devastated.
 
#2
sda244 said:
I'm traveling to the UK at the end of May. I want to purchase a Speedy Bandouliere 30 in damier ebene.

I have the following store options: Manchester Selfridge concession, the London Selfridge concession, or the Heathrow Duty Free.

Would anyone suggest one over the other? I just know if I wait to the airport going home and they don't have it, I'll be devastated.
Click to expand...
The airport will be the cheapest option of all three.
 
#3
sda244 said:
I'm traveling to the UK at the end of May. I want to purchase a Speedy Bandouliere 30 in damier ebene.

I have the following store options: Manchester Selfridge concession, the London Selfridge concession, or the Heathrow Duty Free.

Would anyone suggest one over the other? I just know if I wait to the airport going home and they don't have it, I'll be devastated.
Click to expand...

You can contact the airport boutique before you travel to see if they have it/can get it in. If they confirm I think you need to pay in full in advance. Not sure of the exact procedure because every time I’ve tried they couldn’t get what I wanted, but worth a go I think. Then if they can’t you still have the opportunity to purchase in Manchester or London.
 
#4
Thank you @princess suki, and @fabuleux for your responses. I didn't realize that even with a VAT refund, you get a portion of the VAT back (about 13 percent compared to 17 percent at Duty Free).
princess suki said:
You can contact the airport boutique before you travel to see if they have it/can get it in. If they confirm I think you need to pay in full in advance. Not sure of the exact procedure because every time I’ve tried they couldn’t get what I wanted, but worth a go I think. Then if they can’t you still have the opportunity to purchase in Manchester or London.
Click to expand...
This is exactly what I'm going to do. Since they don't reserve Speedys, I'm going to call and check inventory in the weeks and then days leading up to when I fly out. If the day before, it looks like inventory is low, I will buy in London and claim VAT back.

(Why not just buy in London automatically? Claiming the VAT back is a hassle I'd like to avoid, and also about a 50 USD difference. Yes, I'm getting a "discount" no matter what because of the price difference and VAT but I do like to be reasonably frugal-- that's how I save for my bags! :flowers:)

On the advice of a SA, I've also reserved a personal shopper. That way if my terminal's store does not have the bag I'm looking to purchase, but another terminal does, I can go to Louis Vuitton in the other terminal to collect.

I hope this is helpful for someone in the future that is looking to purchase at LV in Heathrow or London.
 
#5
Just a word of caution, when I transferred with a personal shopper from T5 to T3, it took a good 2 hours (transfer is by bus and you have to go through several security checks in both Terminals which can be very slow), so you have to make sure that you have at least 3 hours to spare before your flight.
 
#7
sme99 said:
Just a word of caution, when I transferred with a personal shopper from T5 to T3, it took a good 2 hours (transfer is by bus and you have to go through several security checks in both Terminals which can be very slow), so you have to make sure that you have at least 3 hours to spare before your flight.
Click to expand...
Good to know. They say three hours, but it's good to know that is just the minimum. So glad my flight isn't early in the morning.
 
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