LV pricing

db89

O.G.
Feb 20, 2006
3,884
61
I hope this is not too broad a question ... but the LV prices being the way they are ..
where would I get the best bang out of my money when buying LV

in London
in Paris
in United States.
in Germany
in Italy
 
Paris.

I was just there and saved 30% with the exchange rate and tax refund. Note: I pay 10.2% tax here in Chicago.
 
I hope this is not too broad a question ... but the LV prices being the way they are ..
where would I get the best bang out of my money when buying LV

in London
in Paris
in United States.
in Germany
in Italy

For an accurate price comparison, you should make a list of everything you want to buy and convert all the prices into your native currency, taking into account any savings (e.g., VAT refund). When I did price comparisons, I found that some items would be cheaper in Paris while other items would be cheaper in London. In the end, London was cheaper for the items I wanted to buy.

If you go to London and fly out of Heathrow, you can save about 17% off the retail price at the Louis Vuitton in Terminal 5 since it's duty-free. When I went earlier this year, I contacted the store a couple weeks before my trip. They kindly located all but one item on my list and held them for me to pick up.
 
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Do you know if it is cheaper to buy in France if you're originally from England or is the difference negligible? TIA.

It would still be cheaper. But you can't claim the VAT.

It's negligible.

Looking at the Speedy 25, for example. 585 GBP which converts to around 741 Euros. In France, it's 745 Euros which converts to around 587 GBP.

It's the same price in Euros in Germany and Italy.
 
I hope this is not too broad a question ... but the LV prices being the way they are ..
where would I get the best bang out of my money when buying LV

in London
in Paris
in United States.
in Germany
in Italy

Use the LV website to find the prices for the items you're interested in and convert them into your home currency. Calculate what you might receive as a tax refund from each country. That will give you ball park figures of where it's cheapest to shop. It was a lot cheaper over here than in the US (without the tax refund) but we've recently had a price increase in the UK so I don't know how much of that difference has been eroded.
 
I did a bit of research on this when a friend was returning from US. Prices are cheapest in France and its free borders (Schengen area) and more expensive in US and Asia because of import duties, taxes etc.
 
I am not sure, but I think the prices in France, Italy and Germany are the same including VAT. But Italy has the highest VAT (22%), while France has 20% and Germany 19%.
So for people from outside the EU, they might be able to reclaim more money if they purchase the items in Italy. :coolio:
 
For an accurate price comparison, you should make a list of everything you want to buy and convert all the prices into your native currency, taking into account any savings (e.g., VAT refund). When I did price comparisons, I found that some items would be cheaper in Paris while other items would be cheaper in London. In the end, London was cheaper for the items I wanted to buy.

If you go to London and fly out of Heathrow, you can save about 17% off the retail price at the Louis Vuitton in Terminal 5 since it's duty-free. When I went earlier this year, I contacted the store a couple weeks before my trip. They kindly located all but one item on my list and held them for me to pick up.

To add to this. If you are coming from the US, make sure to use a no foreign exchange credit card for your purchase. Banks will easily charge you 2-3% if you do not have one. Furthermore, if you are asked if you want to pay for your bag in Euro or your native currency (e.g., USD) always choose your native currency to avoid an additional commission on that as well.
 
I hope this is not too broad a question ... but the LV prices being the way they are ..
where would I get the best bang out of my money when buying LV

in London
in Paris
in United States.
in Germany
in Italy

That depends on where you live. If you live outside the European Union, Italy will be the cheapest since they have the highest VAT rate out of those countries and you can claim this back when you leave Europe. LV bags are cheaper in Europe compared to the US regardless.