VAT refund for LV (first time buying abroad)
 

Intending to take advantage of the lower prices in Paris/London for my LV shopping. (Singapore is apparently more expensive :P)

I know the boutique will fill in the forms for you, but upon reaching the airport, should I be looking for the Tax Refund office before or after passport control?

Assuming that I buy in London - I will be taking the Eurostar to Paris. We will subsequently be leaving France from the Nice airport and changing planes at Heathrow.
Should I get everything stamped at the Nice Airport or I can do it at Heathrow (I will have a window of 4 hours in Heathrow before my next flight home..)
If I buy it in Paris or Nice, I should then do the necessary at the Nice airport?

As for opting for cash/credit refund, I assume that if you had paid with cash, you will get the refund in cash and likewise for credit cards?

I hear of a restriction for LV purchases, 3 per passport. Does that extend to even the small goods like wallets, keychains, scarves or just the bags? (I have a long shopping list from people back home!)

First timer for doing this so... I am really out of my depth...even after reading so much on the net and this forum. Sorry for the long post....

Before passport control. Make sure to have the goods in your carry on so they can see them-sometimes they look and sometimes they do not.

If you pay with CC you can take the refund in cash or credit card. I always take the cash. I've never paid with cash so cannot help there.

If you buy in Paris you can do this at the airport in Nice when you depart France.

My guess is that only the bags are restricted; based only on reports I've read about quotas for certain tourists. (I do not own any LV myself; those ubiquitous LV bags, or anything with obvious monogram, are considered a bit gauche by some where I live)

Good luck!!! I am sure someone else here can help out with the other questions..

The official rule on VAT refund is that:

- if goods are in your hand luggage, they must be presented to Customs at the last EU country you take a flight at when leaving the EU: so if you're flying Nice-London-outside the EU, that means in London
- if goods are in through-checked baggage, they must be presented to Customs when you start the journey that will; take you out of the EU <b> before checking your bags in </b> For a Nice-London-outside the UK, that means Nice (if your bags will be through-checked)

You can't get VAT refunds at a Eurostar staton, since the trains all stay within the EU. Note that on a Nice-London-Singapore flight, there's no passport control in London.

http://tiny.cc/GdIhs

ekscrunchy - thanks... i hope they will turn a blind eye when they see my passport (we all know that particular group of tourists that they reinforce the limit on is from Asia, and I probably look like them to any European)

flanneruk - i will be flying Nice-London-Dubai. You have caught my cause for concern. Since this is a transit flight, I do not know where I should do the Tax Refund. Is there a Refund Office within Heathrow (after passport control) since I may not be required to exit and re-enter for my flight back to Dubai. If not, I will be forced to do the refund in Nice, which is technically not my last EU stop???

3sica-Yes, you need to have the detaxe papers stamped at the last EU destination before flying home.

One year I bought LV in Paris, but was flying home from Copenhagen. I went to the tax office at the airport in Copenhagen and had the papers stamped.

As for limits as to how many pieces of LV one can buy, that I haven't heard of before. But, I definitely remember when there was obviously no limit, back in the day when the main LV store, in Paris, was on the Avenue Monceau. There would be up to a 2-hour wait, in the 80s, for a salesperson and Japanese tourists would have piles, and I mean ...piles... of LV on the tables for purchase. I'd never seen anything like it before. I used to shop at that store regularly and thank goodness I had the same salesperson for years and didn't have to wait the horrendous lines if she was at work.

Don't forget to check out the epi leather items. I mostly buy epi-leather as I like the different colors. Plus, if you don't want the LVs on the item, there are non on epi leather and some of the other, non-epi leather models. Happy Travels!

If I have to get the detaxe papers stamped in the last EU country, it would mean London right?
However I am doing a transit... how would I get it stamped when the Tax Refund offices are outside? (I believe I am supposed to stay inside arrival/departure area for the 4 hrs until my flight leaves for Dubai?) Or is there one inside the airport security area itself?

I am probably going to buy a few (no thanks to the LV fanatics back home) and getting the detax is going to make a great difference!

I don't understand your question. Where are you carrying your goods?

I am going to carry the goods back to Dubai (I am Singaporean, but I reside in Dubai)
Will be flying out of France from Nice, with a transit at Heathrow back to Dubai.

So. Doesnt't matter why I buy, in London or Paris.
When I buy my stuff, am I allowed to do my vat refund at the Nice airport?

If I can only do it at Heathrow (since I am leaving EU from there), is there a tax refund office within the arrival/departure hall?

hi Guenmai, I still see the Japanese phenonmenon now and then in Singapore, recently China tourists seem to have joined the ranks as well... in Dubai, it happens with the abaya-clad rich locals, they walk around with tons of paper bags, Celine, Gucci, Chanel, LV on the same arm!
I have always been a monogram gal...hmm i wonder if i dare to walk into Chanel (of coz I do, but my husband will probably break into cold sweat!)Do they sell Chanel accessories together in the same store as the bags? I am always a little intimidated by Chanel...

Many years ago, I remember seeing Chanel accessories and bags in the same boutique. Don't be intimidated, just strut on in. Smiles. Happy Travels!

Have you actually read my earlier explanation of the rules? Or my second question?

Are you REALLY going to carry all these things in your hand baggage?

Yes, there are Customs offices airside at all Heathrow terminals. But with the amount you're talking about buying, you won't be able to use them.

3sica; Don't worry too much ahead of time about all these questions. My guess is that the salespeople where you purchase the items will know all the details..just do not forget that they might want to see the purchases at the airport.

Forget that bit about being intimidated at Chanel. You are a potential customer! Just pretend that you are not intimidated! Do you think those abaya/niqab ladies feel intimidated?

flanneruk - yes i read thru them, thank u.
I was just worried about whether i would be able to find a tax refund office INSIDE. No worries about carrying all my purchases, i have limited them to wallets and pouchettes, no big bags except for myself hahaha.

thanks guenmai, ekscrunchy.
i will go of coz... even if it is just to look. A french brand in paris...just feels different :)

3sica

In April I will be connecting the same as you-depart Nice connect London then to Texas. I have only an hour and a half to connect in London, so I may have a problem. When I depart Nice, I am going to ask the customs there if they can help me since I have a close connection. Probably not. Also, I have bought multiple LV items with no problems.

Ekscrunchy-Amen...those abaya/niqab women aren't intimidated. And I'm also one who is not intimidated by anything. Smiles. It's customers' sales that pay their salaries. And if I go into any store/boutique and am not treated as I think I should be, then I take my business elsewhere. Happy Travels!

Amen! YOU and ME are the customers! Happy Travels!!

scatcat - that was the reason I chose a flight with a transit window of 4.5 hrs. So u do get the forms stamped only when u reach heathrow without leaving the security area?

guenmai,ekscrunchy - way to go fellow shoppers! LV, Chanel here I come! (now, can anyone suggest a place for me to 'park' DH while I am busy shopping? he isnt the artsy type and is purely going to Paris for me :))

It is always a problem finding a place to park them! It is really annoying when they stand outside the store with their hands crossed and a grumpy expression on their faces!

3sica
You will have plenty of time even if you do need to leave the secure area, and I think you will.

i cant really comment on where the items need to be presented/vat refund requested as i'm a little confused myself. from the rules posted above it seems that everything should be done in the last EU country, but i vaguely recall turning in the papers in italy when we had a connecting flight in amsterdam (but i could be wrong)? odds are LV might inforce the limit on you if you're asian (especially if you're trying to buy a variety of items which it sounds like you are). back in 2004ish items were limited to 2 per passports - including small items/accessories. some said it was supposed to be ONE (!) bag and one accessory. this was at Lafayette, and also true in the main store. we did eventually go to another LV store which happened to not enforce any limits, so we picked up another 2 bags we'd been eyeing :) keep in mind that some (or all?) of the computer systems are linked, i believe, so you cant really buy 2 (or 3 if that's the new limit) in the champ elyesse store and then 2 more at lafayette. also pl note that you would need to declare all your new goodies upon arrival in dubai, which might add up to quite a bit... hope you have a terrific trip! :) (am hoping to go to paris myself in a few months to do some shopping damage :) )

Okay, Flanner is correct so if the goods are in your checked luggage, find the VAT refund guys in Nice before you check your luggage. I have never done this in Nice so can't tell you where to go at the aiport. It's a fairly small airport.

If goods are in your carry on, you should have ample time in London between flights, assuming no delays. In terminals 3 and 4 I know from many times personal experience that the VAT desks are just after you go through Security, as you enter the main flight-side duty-free shops and restaurant area.

Assume terminals 1,2 and 4 would be similar?

I always have the refund apllied to my credit card and have not had a problem--LV will set the forms up for this, not Customs.

clueless - i think i shd have no worries about dubai...it is Nice/Heathrow that I am worried/confused over.

cath - Seems that the checked luggage option is more convenient, since I can complete everything in Nice, but horror stories of bags with this kinda goods in it going MIA is deterring me.

scatcat - i worry about buying multiples becoz of what clueless has said, me being Asian. Hopefully my Singapore passport will get me out of this. (my friend told me about 2 tourists of another asian nationality who bugged her to buy bags for them when she was near the boutique, apparently they buy back to manufacture replicas...enough said)

ekscrunchy - how typical of the folded arms! hahaha

The rules do make more sense to me now that I am reading it again with the all the extra input.
Thanks!!!!

Unless things have changed, you don't have to go to the airport to get your refund money although you will have to get the paperwork stamped eventually.

You can get your money refunded in the city. I bought my LV at the St.Germain store, where I usually shop, and then jumped on the metro and went up to Blvd de la Madeleine to Les Tros Galieries, where there's a men's store that has a detaxe office on the second floor, near the escalator. It's right across the street from the back side of the Madeleine church which you can get to by walking up the rue Royale. It would be to the right of the back of the Madeleine church on Blvd. de la Madeleine. You can ask Vuitton about it. There were two locations in the city that I could have gone to.

I showed my paperwork there and then they gave me cash Euros as I wanted my refund money so that I could keep shopping in Paris. They would also do a credit card credit if one wanted. Later I left Paris and flew to Copenhagen to catch my flight back to L.A., a few days later. I had the paperwork stamped there and mailed in the stamped detaxe form to the head detaxe office. If you don't stamp the paperwork and mail in the form, then they will charge your credit card the amount of money that you got back from the detaxe money granted you in the city.

One thing you'll have to remember is that, when LV does the detaxe forms in Paris, they will put them in an envelope and put a French stamp on it. But, if you're not going to be mailing the form from France, then you'll need a stamp from whatever country you'll be mailing it from. I was in Copenhagen, no problem, as I lived there for 2-plus decades of summers and I know where the post office is. So, I went to the post office, before I left the city, and got a Danish stamp and put it over the French one and mailed the form, from the airport in Copenhagen, after I got it stamped.

So maybe you should mail the stamped form from Singapore back to the detaxe office if you end up out of France and can't find a stamp.

Here in L.A., there was a way to go to the consulate, I think it was, and show your goods there and have them stamp the forms and then mail them back to Europe. I don't know if that system still exists. I never had to use it since I always took care of it in Europe. Happy Travels!

wow.. getting the cash back before I leave would be great! More shopping $!
i wonder if that can still be done now.
thanks for the details!
do you remember the name of the detaxe office? Is it something like Travelex or GlobalRefund?

Probably Global Refund. Ask in the Vuitton store, in Paris, and they can give you the address of the city locations if they're still offering that system.

And another thing, be careful if you're going to be walking around the city with Vuitton shopping bags. What I do when I make my Vuitton purchases is take my beat-up, T.J.Maxx-bought Kipling bookbag-style, shoulder bag with me to the Vuitton store. I then tell them to just put my new purchases in my Kipling bag. I don't walk around with a Vuitton shopping bag. I tell them that I don't need the Vuitton shopping bag. I've been doing it like that for many years. I take the metro and buses.

I read that, last year I think it was, Catherine Deneuve was coming out of the Vuitton store on the Champs E, and her purse was snatched. You have to be careful and watchful. Even one day when I was in Sonia Rykiel, the salesperson was admiring my red, epi leather Passy bag, and said to me to be careful and to watch my bag. I'm used to big cities and being watchful. Paris is not Singapore. So careful. Happy Travels!

Paris Global Refund offices:


http://tinyurl.com/crfzhy

the problem w/the LV imposed limit is that i dont think they really care what passport you're carrying, just what you look like :( case in point, i'm asian but grew up in the states and have an american passport. i speak perfect english (at least i hope i do as that's the only language i speak fluently :) ), and was still only allowed to buy 2 items. hopefully things have changed (esp w/the economy being so terrible), but i seriously doubt you'll have much buying multiple items (it'll look that much more suspicious if you have a whole shopping list of bags you want to buy! ;) ). do NOT send the items in your checkin luggage - i've heard of too many horror stories to even consider ever doing that. good luck and enjoy shopping in paris!

thanks guenmai, will be extra careful. i am now thinking of which bag to bring with me so that I can keep it as close to my person as possible. Better leave my LVs and Gucci at home then...anyway, DH shd prove to be an adequate bodyguard. He is my extra pair of eyes anywhere we go (im the clumsy type who will trip over, step on things and he is always the one who is pulling me away just in the nick of time ;))

Thanks ekscrunchy, i will check them out.

Clueless, I am heartbroken at the limit (and I think I hear sounds of breaking hearts back in Singapore too) but no choice I guess. Guess the only one happy to hear this is DH :P

Looking forward to shopping in Paris, counting down already...still 2.5months to go!