Europe vs. US pricing and benefits of buying in Europe

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My recent purchase from Paris concluded that it will be cheaper than US. Also Paris has a lot better inventory so you will be able to get what you want with no waiting and that's priceless.

My 35 PWH swift birkin in BDP was 5700 Euro
Transaction could've been done two ways
5700 Euro x Spot rate and x 2% - 3% card fee from your card company for foreign currency transaction
or 5700 Euro x 1.52 exchange rate (FSH automatically charge you in USD after exchanged to VISA or Mastercard only but you save on the currency fee)

Tax return is about 12-15%? so i'll probably get at least 10+% back after fees or what not.

That means it is about 5130E Euro after detax which makes it around USD7800 with current rate and fees. From the pricing thread it seems like a comparable birkin is over 8200 pre tax? so it is def cheaper in Europe

and i can not stress enough on the availability of color/leather and the overall experience etc etc.

H France tax refund is 10% flat. Yes, they do the processing themselves and they want to make some $$$ on it too (at least that's my take on it)! :hrmm: interestingly, if you buy outside of France in EU countries, the refund is done mostly through Global Refund and it is likely to get higher tax refund but the prices will be slightly higher than France. Birkin prices, on the other hand, are all the same in most EU countries (France, Germany, Netherlands, Italy are the countries I've price checked!)

In conclusion, with sales tax in US (typically +7-9%), it is almost always cheaper to buy in EU countries, particularly if you take into consideration of the tax rebate (-10%).
 
Thanks to everyone. I am trying to think strategically about a purchase. I know I can get out of the tax in the states by having it shipped to another state.. but the exchange rates make overseas purchasing a very attractive alternative. I will be sure to search the threads about getting the tax refund to make sure I am getting the most back possible.

Isn't it funny how when one starts to make BIG purchases (and 7-9K is big for me), one starts to pay attention to the smaller fees associated with those purchases. lol. Like my shoe guy at NM is probably sick of me bc I will buy 5 pairs of shoes at once and think of anyway possible to avoid tax and shipping fees...lol!
 
H France tax refund is 10% flat. Yes, they do the processing themselves and they want to make some $$$ on it too (at least that's my take on it)! :hrmm: interestingly, if you buy outside of France in EU countries, the refund is done mostly through Global Refund and it is likely to get higher tax refund but the prices will be slightly higher than France. Birkin prices, on the other hand, are all the same in most EU countries (France, Germany, Netherlands, Italy are the countries I've price checked!)

In conclusion, with sales tax in US (typically +7-9%), it is almost always cheaper to buy in EU countries, particularly if you take into consideration of the tax rebate (-10%).


One question, do you have to declare your purchase when coming back into the US? Does customs tax you and what is the rate?
 
H France tax refund is 10% flat. Yes, they do the processing themselves and they want to make some $$$ on it too (at least that's my take on it)! :hrmm: interestingly, if you buy outside of France in EU countries, the refund is done mostly through Global Refund and it is likely to get higher tax refund but the prices will be slightly higher than France. Birkin prices, on the other hand, are all the same in most EU countries (France, Germany, Netherlands, Italy are the countries I've price checked!)

In conclusion, with sales tax in US (typically +7-9%), it is almost always cheaper to buy in EU countries, particularly if you take into consideration of the tax rebate (-10%).

I think the final value you get back is about 8-8.5%, after all the currency conversion by your CC company (which typically give lousy rates)?

The best is to put your tax refunds back on a visa/mastercard, they offer better rates than amex or others.
 
One question, do you have to declare your purchase when coming back into the US? Does customs tax you and what is the rate?

I think it's better to declare - I've heard stories of people who were caught with undeclared items, and they were flagged by customs. Created a whole lot of unnecessary trouble for them when they traveled subsequently.

As in India's case - they may or may not charge. If it's just one bag and they can see it's for personal use, they may just let it go. If you're carrying more than one, just be prepared to pay the tax. Much safer, IMO.
 
Some small accessories are cheaper in Euros even if you don't bother going through with the tax refund. Silk products, like pocket squares and scarves actually come out more expensive in Europe FYI. Like a pocket square today is 115 in euros and 125 in dollars.
 
I think it's better to declare - I've heard stories of people who were caught with undeclared items, and they were flagged by customs. Created a whole lot of unnecessary trouble for them when they traveled subsequently.

As in India's case - they may or may not charge. If it's just one bag and they can see it's for personal use, they may just let it go. If you're carrying more than one, just be prepared to pay the tax. Much safer, IMO.

pyrexia - thanks for the wise advice! :smile1:
 
One question, do you have to declare your purchase when coming back into the US? Does customs tax you and what is the rate?

Sorry, I don't live in the US (now) so this is not an issue! But as Pyrexia has mentioned, many people do declare on the custom sheet and were simply waved through!
 
Thanks to everyone. I am trying to think strategically about a purchase. I know I can get out of the tax in the states by having it shipped to another state.. but the exchange rates make overseas purchasing a very attractive alternative. I will be sure to search the threads about getting the tax refund to make sure I am getting the most back possible.

Isn't it funny how when one starts to make BIG purchases (and 7-9K is big for me), one starts to pay attention to the smaller fees associated with those purchases. lol. Like my shoe guy at NM is probably sick of me bc I will buy 5 pairs of shoes at once and think of anyway possible to avoid tax and shipping fees...lol!

you can use www.hermes.com to do basic comparison shopping for the SLG, scarves or other accessories (US store vs. France store). For larger items such as birkin or kelly which are not sold on the website, there are always price list in the reference section that you can compare!

yes, we love H but it is even better to shop wisely, especially in this economic weather!
 
H France tax refund is 10% flat. Yes, they do the processing themselves and they want to make some $$$ on it too (at least that's my take on it)! :hrmm: interestingly, if you buy outside of France in EU countries, the refund is done mostly through Global Refund and it is likely to get higher tax refund but the prices will be slightly higher than France. Birkin prices, on the other hand, are all the same in most EU countries (France, Germany, Netherlands, Italy are the countries I've price checked!)

In conclusion, with sales tax in US (typically +7-9%), it is almost always cheaper to buy in EU countries, particularly if you take into consideration of the tax rebate (-10%).

Reviving this thread for a question! If Hermes does the refund themselves do you have to actually travel back to the US with the bag? I travel with a toddler so just thinking it might be easier to ship it ahead of time. TIA:D
 
Reviving this thread for a question! If Hermes does the refund themselves do you have to actually travel back to the US with the bag? I travel with a toddler so just thinking it might be easier to ship it ahead of time. TIA:D

If H. does the refund for you, you have two options:

1.) Carry the bag back to the U.S. yourself. This involves having the detaxe form stamped prior to boarding (I cannot stress how important it is to leave extra time for this, the line can be loooooong) and then mailing the stamped form back to H., either right at the airport or from back home. If they do not receive your properly stamped form, the amount of the tax refund will go back on your card. Fwiw, I would not put a new H. bag in my checked luggage, which means carrying the bag, boxed or unboxed.

2.) H. will ship the bag to the U.S. for you, charging you for shipping & insurance and declaring its full value. (shipping was 69€ in 2008) You will later receive a bill for duty from the shipper, most likely FedEx.

With a toddler, option #2 seems much easier, despite being more expensive.
 
Just to let you know... when you choose to carry back Hermes leather goods and declare it properly traveling back to the US, the US Customs (assuming you are a US resident), entitle you up to $800 of exemption / p person. You may want to visit the official gov web site.
If you are a family of 4, you get about 4K exemption, then the first additional 1K are taxed 1 to 2 pct; then it's about 8 to 9pct for leather goods. In other words if you choose to use FEDEX you will have to pay ALL the taxes, but if you carry your Birkin with you, minus VAT and you declare 7K on the custom form, there is a bigger chance that you won't even be charged. Worth case scenario you end up paying 200 $ for a birkin? For this, I rather travel with it .. than bother with FEDEX charges and shipping.
 
Also FEDEX charges are about $ 200 shipping charges from FSH, it takes about 48 H to be shipped minus - Declaration form, that will need to be sent back to FEDEX with value of what's in the box. The taxes are usually about 8-9 pct of the value of the bag (buyer is responsible to provide declaration form not shipper). Shoes are 9pct and require a separate Custom form, Silk are taxed between 3-4 pct. You get billed later - 2 weeks after shipment reaches your house by Fedex. Hope this helps.
 
^^ It has not been my experience when shipping from Europe that I've ever had to deal with the declaration form. I get the box containing my purchases from the seller and the duty bill follows from the shipper, whether DHL, FedEx or UPS.
 
Just to let you know... when you choose to carry back Hermes leather goods and declare it properly traveling back to the US, the US Customs (assuming you are a US resident), entitle you up to $800 of exemption / p person. You may want to visit the official gov web site.
If you are a family of 4, you get about 4K exemption, then the first additional 1K are taxed 1 to 2 pct; then it's about 8 to 9pct for leather goods. In other words if you choose to use FEDEX you will have to pay ALL the taxes, but if you carry your Birkin with you, minus VAT and you declare 7K on the custom form, there is a bigger chance that you won't even be charged. Worth case scenario you end up paying 200 $ for a birkin? For this, I rather travel with it .. than bother with FEDEX charges and shipping.

I totally agree with this. I always carry my H back myself. I always declare it, counting on a decent total exemption for my family. I got waved right through every time. I like to have my original H boxes, so for small boxes I pack the empty boxes in my checked suitcase, and for a large box I just mail it separately (stuffed with light fillers like paper).
 
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