RobynFrance

Here are my 2 centimes on this--I love an LV bag--have quite a few--but now I buy a perfect replica from source in China at a much reduced price--and it may be possible to tell the diff--but with a magnifying glass--all items mentioned earlier conform, no mismatched logos, or crummy interiors, and they are well-made. Yes, if you had the store check the serial numbers, they would turn out to be false--but I already know it is fake so no need to do that. I can enjoy my bags, the real and the fake, and spend the money on other things. For those who want to buy the original, please do.

annrushkotarski

Let me share my experience. I just returned from a trip to Venice. I purchased 3 Louis Vuitton items at the LV store in St. Mark'ssquare.

Totally PM Monogram $665 euro
zippy coin purse $235 euro
Josephine Monogram $295 euro

total cost was $1,195 euro and the exchange rate that day was $1.298. Tip - pay for the purchase in Euro with your debit or credit card, but make sure that the card you're using does NOT access a fee for any foreign transactions.
the exchange rate used by credit cards is better than that provided at the store. The exchange rate whenever the charge posted to my account was $$1.298 US dollars to Euro. So the net charge to my credit card was $1551.11.
Show your passport at the store and get the form to get 21% VAT tax back whenever you leave the EU. I got $170 US dollars back at the airport in London - my last stop before leaving the EU. Very simple - no lines. Have form stamped byu Customs, and then go claim your money at the "Global Blue" desk or any of the other companies that do VAT tax refunds.

These same products are as follows if i had purchased in Texas.
Totally PM $1030
Zippy Coin $400
Josephine Wallet $450
plus sales tax of 8.25% total price would have been $2035. My savings was approximately 33%, which I believe to be significant. When looking at LV's Italy webpage remember that the VAT tax has already been added to the price of the item, so you'll basically get a 21% discount off of that price. It appears that French prices are even less than Italy's prices. Research the web to see what France's VAT tax is. If you are an LV fan, what a great piece of "art" to bring home as a souvenier.

scatcat

ann--- I have always told everyone they could save by buying their LV in Europe. I buy all mine in Nice. It is easy to compare online with the LV site for France then on the USA site. I am from Texas also and the 8.25% tax adds even more to the USA prices.

IMDonehere

Not only are replicas illegal but they fund organized crime and in some cases terrorists. And as far as not being able to tell the difference, ask someone who is not your friend.

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/02/12/bu...e.4569452.html

Here is an excerpt from USA today from 2013

A report by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime states that counterfeit goods in East Asia and Pacific areas alone account for $24.4 billion in sales. And Internet shopping is not only fueling the demand, but making counterfeits more widely available in smaller cities.

The need to have false status symbols supports crime worldwide.

Dickie_Gr

I have never understood handbags and neither thankfully has my wife.

There are far too many people who buy them and can't really afford them. They seem to spend far too much of their disposable income on them.

As with any luxury item if it is say 1% of your monthly income then yes it would be logical to buy higher value items, in the same way you spend on holidays, cars and houses.

I know far too many people who spend 100% of their monthly income on a handbag or pair of shoes. That in my opinion is sad.

In fact in the UK high price goods seem to be a low income and high income attraction. Middle income individuals generally seem to have more sense.

annhig

My savings was approximately 33%, which I believe to be significant.>>

looked at a different way, you spent approx $1000 on things you didn't need, and will probably spend most of their lives and your life in a wardrobe because you already have so many similar items. so you didn't SAVE anything at all, you just spent less than you would have done if you'd bought these things at home in the US.

now, we are all guilty of buying things we don't need from time to time. But I'm with dickie here [yes, pick yourself up off the ground dickie, it can happen] that buying expensive handbags is a particularly futile exercise. in fact it seems to me that the more expensive they are, the uglier and more impractical they become.

Dickie_Gr

Well there's probably two sides to this.

Making yourself feel better by buying a luxury item : which seems fine most of us do it.

Showing off to everyone else : I'm sorry if I see any designer type handbag I assume it is a fake as there are so many around.

wahlflower

This was a great read minus the trolls with their input on how the rest of us spend our money. That being said the euro to dollar right now is awesome and I've saved for upcoming trip and plan to do damage at the LV store in Paris.

cafegoddess

Have fun wahlflower! Amazing isn't it, that people has their hands in your pocket?

aliced

Attention Shoppers!! Today's WSJ headline p. 1 Business section -- "Chanel's Fashion Emergency: The Euro" -- Chanel plans to increase their prices approximately 20% on certain styles to offset the European/USA/China (substantial)differentials, which ..."move could be the first of many...in the luxury industry after the deep slide in the euro." Paris still best prices for your LV but wise to price compare style-of-choice before departure. Hopefully, "the benefit of low euro in profits is far greater than problem of pricing" -- we can only hope. This gray market sure isn't about us seniors.

Pepper_von_snoot

There is more than one Louis Vuitton in Paris.

I like the shop next to Deux Magots in the 6th.

You can also buy at Bon Marché and Galeries Lafayette.

I hate the Champs ELYSEES and try to avoid it like Ebola.

Thin