State of Duty Free shopping in AU/NZ

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khull

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#180547 13-Sep-2015 14:01

Does anyone have any idea behind the change of ownerships on Duty Free stores in SYD/MEL/AKL in the past few months?

Andib

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#1386634 13-Sep-2015 14:02

In Auckland atleast the contracts ran out and were won by another company, I imagine it's the same in AU.

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=11405134

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khull

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#1386635 13-Sep-2015 14:06

Interesting to see that SYD (Nuance?) /F1RST also have contract renewals at the same time

E3xtc

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#1387003 14-Sep-2015 08:26

yeah - less than impressed with the duty free offering in Auckland now....used to use Duty Free Stores NZ and they had some great prices and great products...now just another chain and back to the boring normality of all the others :(

sbiddle

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#1387007 14-Sep-2015 08:46

Duty free in general is pretty much a rip off these days.

Most alcohol (with the exception of spirits) is more expensive than buying the same product in stores - classic examples are bottles of Champage that sell for more duty free than you buy can buy them at a supermarket on a profile (ie non discounted) price.

The airport companies also take a huge cut for products physically sold at the store, hence the reason why many offered additional discounts of 20% or so for products you ordered online but picked up at the store.

If you look at the price of chocolate and other gifts they're all unbelievably high prices. Aussie duty free stores are full of bulk packs of Tim Tim biscuits that sell for about $4 per pack which is twice the price you'll pay at a supermarket.

hairy1

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#1387013 14-Sep-2015 08:59

Yep. As Steve said. The new tender for Duty Free at Auckland Airport has added $5 million to the bottom line of Auckland Airport. That money has to come from somewhere. No points for guessing where.

Here is the press release. Using unrivaled shopping for the consumer and additional profit for the airport company in the same press release would have been best avoided. The additional $5 million statement is about half way down.

https://www.aucklandairport.co.nz/Corporate/NewsAndMedia/AllMediaReleases/Two-most-innovative-duty-free-operators-selected-for-Auckland-Airport.aspx

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trig42

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#1387014 14-Sep-2015 09:01

I only buy Spirits at Duty Free now. Everything else too expensive.

Perfume/Aftershave can be OK too, but often you'll find it just as cheap in a Parallel importer or the Warehouse (parallel imported as well).

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andrew027

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#1387022 14-Sep-2015 09:21

I went to Melbourne just last month and looked at the prices of a couple of things I was interested in before I left, to compare them with the duty free prices. One example was a Fitbit Surge, NZD$299 at Noel Leeming and AUD$309 (=NZD$346) at F1rst Duty Free in Melbourne. I found similar with a Sony digital camera I was interested in that was cheaper at Photo Warehouse in Wellington city than at Melbourne airport, and my wife looked at some perfume and cosmetics that she thought she could get cheaper in Farmers!

Instead of shopping duty free in Australia, I recommend getting the best deal you can in a store (and there are plenty of stores offering deals at the moment) then use the Tourist Refund Scheme (conditions apply - see here) to get your GST back when you get to the airport.

ghettomaster

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#1387070 14-Sep-2015 10:52

From the website:

Refunds to a credit card or to an Australian bank account will generally be paid within 60 days. Refunds by cheque can take up to two months.

Hhmm... Glad they cleared that up!

andrew027

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#1387113 14-Sep-2015 12:08

ghettomaster: From the website:

Refunds to a credit card or to an Australian bank account will generally be paid within 60 days. Refunds by cheque can take up to two months.

Hhmm... Glad they cleared that up!

And yet their brochure says:
Customs and Border Protection aims to process credit/charge card and Australian bank account refunds within five business days and post cheque refunds within 15 business days.

My wife spent a lot in Melbourne as the whole purpose of the trip was basically a 50th birthday shopping spree. She bought clothes, shoes, a handbag, and some jewellery and cosmetics. By shopping in the big department stores like Myer and David Jones you have most of the top brands available and can combine your receipts as being from the same store, rather than shopping in separate specific brand shops around town. We flew out of Melbourne on a Sunday and the GST refund was credited to our Visa the following Friday.