Can anyone help me with figuring out where I should buy a Goyard Artois PM? I was planning on buying it during my upcoming London trip but I found out that VAT doesn’t exist there anymore. Does it make sense to still buy the bag there or should I buy it in the states? I don’t know if there will be a savings
Price in London vs Texas
- Thread starter shatteredstar21
- Start date
VAT does still exist, but VAT is embedded into all prices in the UK, so the price you see is the final price that you will pay in store, unlike the US where it is added on at the checkout. The UK don't offer a traditional tax refund like we used to, but if you ship the goods out of the UK at the store instead of taking it with you, you don't pay tax on them - but not all stores offer this option. You may also have to pay import duties/taxes when they arrive in the US, but I'm not sure how that works as I'm not from the US. You also have to make some type of declaration when it is imported. If you walk out of the store with the item in the UK, you are no longer able to have that purchase be tax free and would not get any type of refund on it.
Your best bet would probably be just to compare the UK price with the US price and see which is cheaper and base your purchase on the lower retail price.
I just purchased the St Louis PM in London. Even without the VAT refund, it was still worth it to buy there than in the U.S. It really depends on the exchange rate when you are there though. Be warned, I had to wait 45 min outside in line on a Friday afternoon.
Oh wow thanks for the heads up about the line. How much would you say the savings was when you purchased?
The black/black St. Louis PM in the U.S. is 1350 plus sales tax (I would have had to pay NY’s 8.875%). I paid 1,121.57 in London. Just make sure you use a credit card that doesn’t charge a foreign transaction fee and you pay in GBP instead of paying in U.S. dollar (it’s option when you pay) because most boutiques will charge you 3-3.5% for the conversion.
I bought special color St. Louis totes in the pm size in London back in 2019. I paid approx $1150 usd after VAT. VAT was only about 12% so the price of the tote was still significantly cheaper than purchasing in the US. I bought one this year in TX and paid around $1600+ tax. I would definitely wait to purchase in the UK. You may not save the $600/$700 but you’ll likely save at least $500. Try to go first thing in the morning to avoid the lines. Good luck finding exactly what you want!
Just make an appointment through the Goyard website a week or two in advance. I did that for my trip to Paris at the beginning of the month, and I got to skip the line entirely.