Hi! Would you know which has a lower price - Louis Vuitton boutique in the U.S. or in London? Thanks!
Everything in London is more expensive, but let's put this aside. I think LV tries to have their prices the same everywhere, but you can claim the UK VAT back at airport which is about 17.5% (you might not be able ot claim all of it back, maybe 14%?). I am not sure where in the US you are going so the taxes are different or any. In addition, maybe the US/Philippino Peso rate is better than the Sterling/Philippino Peso rate since Sterling is always stronger than anything else.
I bought my LV in Paris 6 months ago - Even with the towering euro, I came home to find I had still saved about $40.00 (not that I was worrying about it at the time of purchase) when in Paris, I don't worry about anything.
I'm not sure about LV, but the European retail is about 30% less than US retail with the exception of London (GB) + the VAT refund. So you should always save $ on European brands if buying in Europe.
his angel vbmenu_register("postmenu_8863", true); Member Joined: Nov 2005 Posts: 21 Re: LV - cheaper in US or London? London is more expensive than any place on planet earth hahahah I second that...vacationed there for a week in the begining of November and I just couldn't believe the prices! It was beautiful though!
Somebody told me that it's even cheaper in Venice.. I so want to there next year! Beautiful place with beautiful and cheaper bags... What more can you ask? =D
There's differences in price between country to country... But US doesn't have cheaper bag than most country as nobody can claimed the tax back.. The price for an LV is most of the time is cheaper in Singapore (compared to US) due to the VAT. Even Indonesia which is only an hour plane ride has more expensive luxury bags than Singapore. I came from Indonesia, and my mom's friends always ask her to buy bags for them whenever she goes to Singapore as she routinely goes to Singapore. My younger brothers are studying there right now...
A good friend of mine is the L/V Asst Store Manager here in Boston. She told me that L/V tries to keep all the prices the same, but I have found that hands-down, the prices (including the VAT which you get back at the airport) and customs, it's the least expensive in France. That's why if I really want an L/V bag (the more expensive ones), then I wait until I'm in France.
Think about it...either the bags could be priced the same either before or after taxes but not both -- tax rates aren't the same all over the world. So, if a NYC resident pays (let's say) $1,000 for a bag including tax and a Paris resident pays $1,000 for the same bag, its cheaper to buy it in Paris and bring it home because YOU GET THE TAX BACK. Its not a question of cheaper necessarily, its a question of what kind of effective discount you get for doing your own importation.
My cousin in Texas told me that they have a "duty-free" day once a year and that's when everyone dash to the LV stores to stock up on their fav LVs. Lucky them! I wish CA have such a day too... :shame:
We have a tax-free day here in Massachusetts as well (actually we had two this year). It was TOTAL BEDLAM!!! Not only was every shopaholic from New England in the stores (including many from out-of-state too), but I swear all the International folks knew about it as well (one of them told me that she had just gotten off the flight!!!). This was true of all the high-end shops (Neiman Marcus, Saks, L/V, Louis of Boston ... EVERYWHERE!). I did manage to buy a few pieces that day, but I'm not sure I would go through that again!
