If you are a frequent traveller, you’ve probably heard about duty-free shopping before.
It is actually a way to save tens or hundreds of your money on your
purchases by shopping in areas that have been designated as duty free –
also known as tax free.
However, despite the fact that many of us know that it exists, duty-free isn’t always clear-cut.
As a result, we will be presenting you with a guide on duty-free shopping.
Before we go on, keep this as the back
of your mind – not every duty-free item is a true bargain so this guide
on duty-free shopping may come in handy.
The basic understanding
Duty-free shopping allows citizens of
one country to buy items in another country and bring those items back
home without paying duty (tax) on some or all purchases.
Duty-free goods are mostly sold inside international airport terminals, ferry stations, cruise ports and border stops.
How much duty you avoid mostly depends on where you bought the item or whether the item contains tobacco or alcohol.
For instance, by buying goods in a
duty-free shop at Charles de Gaulle airport in Paris, you avoid paying
the duty that France slaps on imported goods and that French stores
ordinarily include as part of a product’s list price.
Where are they located?
As stated above, most of the duty-free shops you’ll find are located in airports, sea ports, on ships and on airplanes.
Retailers are not oblivious of the fact
that travellers are most likely to buy items right from when they arrive
or right when they leave.
In order to take advantage of this, most duty-free shops are placed in these high-traffic areas for convenience.
However, not all duty-free shops are
located in these locations. Others are located in shopping malls, along
beaches, and at popular tourist areas.
What’s the catch?
The best deals are usually on items
labeled “tax free” so you can look out for such. But not everything in
the duty-free shop is a steal.
Duty-free stores once specialized in
heavily taxed items, such as alcohol and tobacco products, but now they
hawk other products that aren’t as deeply discounted.
When shopping for cosmetics and
fragrances — which account for almost one third of all duty-free sales —
you need to shop with savvy and persistence.
For instance, a 1.7-liter bottle of
Ralph Lauren Notorious EDP, costs $46 at duty free shops at Heathrow
while the Ralph Lauren store in Miami retails it for $59. That’s a
savings of almost 25 percent.
Regardless, you may also find it
worthwhile to shop in duty-free stores if you have some foreign currency
left and would rather put it to use rather than redeem it for local
currency – you can get hit with the high conversion rate of a bank or
bureau de change at the airport.
What can you bring in?
When you return to Nigeria from a
foreign country, you may qualify for a personal exemption. This allows
you to bring goods of a certain value into the country without paying
regular duty and taxes.
Items such as cameras, watches, pens,
portable radio-cassette players, perfume (284ml), cosmetics and lighters
are duty-free in Nigeria.
You can also bring the following if you are over 18 years of age – 200g of tobacco products, 1L of spirits and 1L of wine.
Gifts to the value of ₦50,000 (excluding jewelry, photographic equipment, electronics and luxury goods) are also permitted.
