Shanti

I'm not usually very interested in shopping - and with the condition of the dollar & my savings account I don't plan on shopping much while I'm in France this month.

However, I will be in France for the start of the summer sales. Is it worthwhile to go shopping then?

I leave tomorrow.

I'll be really excited once I catch up with all my last minute errands.

Belledame

only you can judge the value of your money. if it's worth it to spend on something, you would know.

Padraig

Happy shopping!

There is sometimes an advantage to be in France at the end of the sales, when they make further reductions -- but the stuff you might like could be gone, especially if you are mid-sized.

kerouac

Prices go down as much as 70% but not the first week of the sales.

Sale periods are the only time of year when shops in France are allowed to sell at a loss to eliminate stock if necessary.

Christina

I don't think anyone can decide for you. I dislike shopping so don't consider that a hobby or activity I do for fun or to waste time. Others do. I hate being in stores and the crowds, and waiting in lines. If you do go, go at the beginning for the best selection. I've only bought a few things at those sales, but there isn't really anything I need that much, and it's almost always stuff I can buy cheaper at home, and most everything in dept. stores is nothing unique, anyway IMO). I mean to me, a knit top is a knit top wherever you live, and I can always buy it cheaper on sale at home. Most of it isn't made in France, of course, no more than stuff in my home dept. store is made in the USA. I suppose if you are the kind of person who buys expensive French designer things, you are in a different category than me, so that's a different story.

I have bought a little costume jewelry at a few small boutiques where they have some styles I like (Les Nereides in St Germain, or Satellite) and which are a little different than I find at home, and when I was there last year towards the end of July, they didn't have hardly anything left on sale. I've shopped there before at the beginning of the period and had better luck.

Therese

I've gotten some excellent deals on shoes/boots during sales in Paris (end of the winter sales in my case). I wasn't specifically shopping, just happened to see them in a shop window in my neighborhood. I tend to buy shoes in Europe, as they often aren't the same as what I can find in the U.S., and dress shoes there typically hold up better to walking (which I do a lot of while at work).

If you like to shop, then do it. If you don't particularly like shopping then I wouldn't bother. It's pretty much the same experience there as it is here.

yk

If you aren't interested in shopping, I'd say not to bother. Obviously if you pass by a shop and the clothes/objects seem interesting to you, then by all means go check it out. But I wouldn't set aside a day or two just for shopping based on what you said.

Shanti

Thank you for the suggestions.

Based on your recommendations, I ended up skipping the sales & spent all of my last day in Paris sightseeing instead of spending part of it shopping.

It was interesting, however, riding on the Metro and seeing so many more people carrying shopping bags on the first day of the sales.