If you wait to purchase LV at the duty free store, you will most likely leave France without one.

There are may stores in Paris where you can purchase the LV bags...not just on the champs d elysee....

Yesterday we went to one store in the heart of the shopping area...LaFayette...they had many designer handbags...Gucci, Fendi, LV etc...and the LV department was sheer madness...so much so that I left without a bag...and didn't care....I was just so happy to be out of the store and I figured I'd get the bag at home after our trip....although the salesman was being helpful...I couldn't handle the crowds (men and women)...

We then took the Metro to Bon Marche just to check out another department store (not knowing that they sold LV) and I purchased a bag there. The LV department was somewhat hidden and there were only a few people shopping.

My husband and I were there about 1 hour...I tried several bags...looking for the right size, shape, zipper etc.... The young woman who helped us was very nice and very helpful. Her English was great....she told us that this particular store doesn't get as crowded as the others....even on the champs d elysee...she told us that bus loads of tourist come to that store to buy LV items...

While she wrapped my purchase, she offered us beverages....and told us that the main store has a staff of sales help of 300....and that each customer is only allowed to purchase two handbags and one wallet. They keep track of this store to store by using your passport information.

Hope this helps....

I have not seen any LV items for sale at the airport. The department stores, Primtemps, Galleries Lafayette and Bon Marche sell LV. Long Champs seems to be a popular choice at the airport.

I have been approached near the Champs Elysee store by women asking me to go in and by bags for them. I have never understood what this is all about, but apparently, they do limit the number of bags one can purchase.

Suzanne......

That's crazy...'people asking you to purchase LV bags'

I don't think they have a limit in the United States...do they?

It was so crowded in those stores...you would have thought they were giving the bags away for free....

The selection will depend on which terminal you are flying out of.

Guenmai, can one use the 10% discount offered by Printemps and G. Lafayette (to international customers) when purchasing LV ?

I think those women are running some sort of scam. I am just not sure what it is.

suzanne..

maybe the price of the bags is a lot cheaper in Paris than in Asia. and people purchase the bags to resell at a profit....don't know for sure...but,

I'm going to check on that when I get home...

I'm in Paris right now....

but definitely some 'hanky-panky' is going on when someone is asked to use their passport number to make a purchase.

There is a limit on how many bags can be purchased. So,it's not uncommon for people to try to get other people to buy bags for them. They then can take them to their country and resell them for a profit, as Vuitton bags are less expensive in France.

As for the 10% discount that one can get when one picks up one of those shopping discount cards, at the various department stores, no, one can not use that to purchase Vuitton or other items from the independent designer stores set up inside of the department stores. And there are items that one can't use the cards on within the regular section of the department store. If there's a sign displaying a dot...I think it was either a red dot or a white one...then that means that one can't use the 10% discount card on those items. But, of course, if one qualifies for detaxe....175.01 Euros minimum purchase, then one can apply for the 12% detaxe.

As for Vuitton, I detest the Champs Elysee store, a real circus, and still mourn the closing of the original store on the Avenue Marceau.(sp), the side street to the Arc de Triomphe. I do my Vuitton shopping at the Vuitton store in my neighborhood, the 6th. It's next to Cafe Deux Maggots and directly across the street from the church of St.Germain, where one needs stop in to pray first before crossing the street to go into Vuitton and possibly lose one's mind. Happy Travels!

Stupid question, but how cheap is LV in Paris/France?? I know its very expensive over here in Aus - something I really wouldn't be able to afford. But maybe I could persuade DH to get me something in Paris next year??

Cath :)