Shopping in USA can save enough to pay for air fares
BRITISH shoppers pay more than twice as much for the same goods as Americans, a Sunday Mirror probe found.
The savings are so great that families could do their shopping Stateside and save enough cash to cover most of the flights.
We compared items including gadgets, toiletries and clothes and found four in five were “significantly cheaper” in the US.
Designer jeans are £24 in New York but £70 in London while an Apple 13-inch MacBook Air is £229 cheaper across the Atlantic. Men’s 501 original fit jeans cost £85 in the UK but can be had for £30 in New York. A Kate Spade bag is £178 in London but £52 less in the Land of the Free. There is no sales tax on any item of clothing or footwear that costs less than $110 (£78.72) in New York. Anything above this amount is subject to 8.875 per cent tax rate – but even with this items are still cheaper.
Experts put the difference down to lower business costs and sales tax in the US, but said firms also know Brits will pay more.
The strengthening pound and heavy discounting in New York means Brit visitors, who have a £390 duty-free allowance, can save hundreds of pounds.
Andrew Brown of Post Office Travel Money said: “Sterling will stretch 12 per cent further than a year ago. And brands in the US are also consistently lower.”
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