Haven’t travelled internationally for close to 20 years and about to head to NZ with the fam in a couple weeks. I remember last time that buying duty free was a big deal and there were bargains to be had but is it still a thing and are there still deals? Seems to be just about cheap booze now
Is Duty Free Still a Thing?
Breddo on 17/11/2024 - 10:17
Last edited 17/11/2024 - 10:19
Last edited 17/11/2024 - 10:19
Comments
Yeah sorry I was meaning is it a thing for anything other than booze and smokes. I think I picked up a camera on my last trip but not sure there’s any decent savings to be had
I've never seen any good deals in Duty Free other than alcohol or cigarettes (to be fair I have never looked at cigarettes). The limits on alcohol are so low that I don't find the small saving worth the hassle of carrying it through airports/security etc. If you buy overseas and bring it back though it could be a fair bit of saving on nicer stuff.
Or order on line and pick up when you get home, assuming the price is better than buying locally / in transit.
But you can’t bring in enough of either to make it worth the trouble.
And no need to take with you.
Can buy 3 bottles (better deal) , take one with you and collect the other 2 on arrival back in OZ.
And you can buy as you arrive as well
Doesn't feel like it's as good as it used to be. I remember getting 2L of absolut for $50.
It was about $40 for a litre last month in Sydney for things like Bombay and Absolut.The better bargain is utilising the TRS.
Outside of the international terminal neck pillows were $20 each and inside they went up to $40 lol
Sorry, what’s the TRS?
Basically if you purchase something over $300 and you are taking it on your trip you can get a refund of the GST you paid on it.
I've thought the same with local alcohol, but only last month I took a look at the website of Sydney duty free (Heinemann) and noticed they don't properly advertise their bulk discounts, which are actually decent.
eg a 1l bottle of Four Pillars is $80. You'd pay the same for 700ml in store, which is just okay (not great).
But if you buy TWO bottles, the total is $100. It becomes a wayyy better deal.The only hint of this was that the product pages have a "Multi Buy" logo, with no indication of what it means until you look at the cart.
Overseas will still be cheaper for many things, but at least this is an actual option.
Funnily, 3 bottles came out to $140, but 4 was $200.
Re. The four pillars, pretty sure Costco do 1 litres of the Bloody for around $100.
Liquor prices did go up a few times from CPI since I last went to Costco though.That's about on par with regular retail of the smaller bottle. The duty free is half the price
The bargain is the shopping while you're away, though not sure what the best options in NZ are
Last time I went to NZ most stuff was more expensive than here.
Last time I saw a 360g Toblerone bar $28 at the Duty free at Sydney International Airport and I thought that I should post to OzB but I was in a hurry.
Sorry guys.
Damm! How could you? I'm sure you bought 100 of them and is now selling on eBay for $35 each.
Broden it :D
My only advice is to check the booze prices here before going so you can compare when over there. Last trip, it was far better value for us to buy at home in Adelaide than Singapore (go figure).
singapore is known to be more expensive for booze than australia
Laughs is Japanese
4L plastic bottle of Suntory was $40 when I was there in May
Go figure what? Singapore is more expensive than Australia in general.
Up until recent years, Singapore booze was substantially cheaper than Australia. JW for sub $55, Glenmorangie for sub $65 (on my pre Covid trip). At the time, they were good prices and much more competitive than Australia.
Now, it's the opposite.
My point, as the OP has not travelled in 20 years, is that they may have a similar past experience and expectation that alcohol etc is better value OS. Currently, that is not the case. Hence, OP should price check before leaving.
🤷♀️
You may be better off buying in store in New Zealand
Duty free for most things is literally saving the 10% GST or getting the GST refunded.
NZ is 10-20+% more expensive than Aus anyway. Best thing would be to ask NZ fam for things from OZ that are much cheaper here to give as presents.I've been looking at some >$300 whisky/champagne on the Sydney duty free website to buy as gifts but the discounts seem pretty terrible. More expensive than just buying at a regular liquor store overseas. Am I missing something?
No. Its called corporate greed and every firm is taking the piss and gouging consumers wherever possible.
We pay obscene tax on alcohol…it's the government we should be blaming not producers
You know it's government when even the small micro brewers and distillers who work on a small budget are blowing up about it
Don't forget, you don't have to buy your new camera/laptop/etc from the Duty Free at the airport. Buy it, no more than 60 days prior to departure and in Australia, from wherever you get the best price. The best price will almost always be somewhere else and not at the airport.
Other than maybe a couple of bottle of spirits where you might save $50 - $100 (and even then it comes down to specific offers and whether you can be bothered), I feel like duty free is dead these days.
I'm not a smoker, but a limit of 25 smokes duty free is just ridiculous.
From what I can tell, at least in Australia, you end up paying full retail for any other general goods anyway.
I'm not a smoker, but a limit of 25 smokes duty free is just ridiculous.
When I google "smallest duty free cigarette limit country", the AI overview comes up with "The smallest duty-free cigarette limit for a country is 100 cigarettes in China".
Wonder why Australia doesn't come up in the search results! lol
Duty free for anything other than smokes and booze is usually more expensive than retail due to the bulk discounts the big boys get. Booze is only marginally cheaper for the same reason as above, and the removal of government taxes. The big save is in cigarettes, but with a limit of 25 + one open pack, it's not like the good old days where the discount basically funded most of the trip (limit was 250 cigarettes IIRC).
The reason duty free isnt much cheaper is that Australia doesnt impose very high duties on many products. Hence only a few products are actually cheaper and then the local shops can do bulk sales and have reduced costs so save money anyway.
Even back in the 80s I reckon duty free was a rip off. I remember buying Kodachrome 35mm colour film cheaper at Kmart when it was on special, than it ever was duty free at Tullarmarine every time I flew out. Booze probably was good value as were cigarettes, but I rarely drank spirits and have never smoked. I used to buy my mother's favourite Estee Lauder perfume at Macy's in New York. Again, cheaper than duty free in most places I went.
might be cheaper to purchase on sale at home. Check pricing.
with the amount of tax on booze and smokes
yes its alot cheaper. even cheaper overseas