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While I do not generally recommend shopping in Parisian department stores if you want to find a bargain, there is one exception. Twice a year there are the big sales July (with a spillover into August) and January (with a spillover into February). These are sales are regulated by the government. So,during other months, the stores can have special promotions, but the official sales periods are the only times they are permitted to put previous store items on sale. So, you can find some things at greatly reduced prices. La Samaritain, Printemps, Galeries Lafayette and Le Bon Marché provide tourists with 10% discount cards. These cards are great, especially since you can usually get an additional 10% off the sales price! In addition to the 10% discount, you can qualify for a tax refund (le détaxe) if you spend 175 euros in one day in one store. So, if you have a lot of different things to buy, you are definitely better off shopping in a department store where you can get a tax refund of 12%. However, if you plan to spend that much money on one item, such as porcelain or clothing, you might be better off in a smaller store where you will receive the full tax refund of about 16%. You can also ask individual merchants if they will give you an additional discount of 10% for large purchases since you can get this much off at a department store with your discount card. The more you buy, the easier it is to get this discount or even more since the smaller stores know they have to be competitive.
CLASSIC STYLE
YOUNGER STYLES by Jeanne
Feldman |
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