Christmas shopping bargains in America

Christmas shopping on a city break in America can save you hundreds of pounds.

The sixth annual Post Office Travel Money Christmas Shopping Guide (www.postoffice.co.uk/shoppingguide2013), produced jointly with Virgin Holidays for the first time, reveals that US stores have pegged their prices at 2012 levels to undercut London and offer shoppers savings of up to 50 per cent. And it’s all helped by the pound edging up in value against the dollar.

From more than 100 items surveyed, the best bargains are on jeans and US designer label clothes. Boston remains cheaper than New York (above) because of lower sales tax and higher tax exemption rates. However, savings of over a third can be found in both cities and shoppers can shave 50 per cent off the London cost of a Polo Ralph Lauren gilet (£295 compared with £146.61).

In more good news for UK holiday-shoppers, sterling is now worth eight per cent more than at its 2013 low spot in July, which means that the same items will cost less in the USA than in the summer – over £10 less in the case of the Polo Ralph Lauren gilet.

The survey reveals that leading brands of jeans like 7 For All Mankind, Hollister, Levi’s and J Brand cost over 40 per cent less Stateside – with the top bargain on women’s J Brand jeans. At under £130, these are almost half the £250 London price tag.

Hip labels Abercrombie & Fitch and Rag & Bone are among several sought-after fashion names that offer substantial discounts in the USA. A&F’s Abercrombie Hot cologne costs over £20 less (36 per cent) than in London – £58 compared with under £37. And there are even bigger savings on Rag & Bone, whose ‘Elsa’ dress costs 42 per cent less in the USA – priced at around £181 in the US compared with £310 in a London department store.

While savings on the latest electronic gadgets are lower, most are priced at 18-26 per cent below London levels. The latest Apple iPad mini WiFi (above) costs £204.17 in Boston and £209.21 in New York – 16-18 per cent less than the £249 London store price. The new Kindle Paperwhite WiFi eReader is the best buy gadget, priced at 24-26 per cent less in New York and Boston than in London (see Best Buys table).

Using the £390 duty free allowance in New York, Post Office Travel Money was able to compile a list of 10 ‘must-have’ gift items for family members saving a third on London prices. In addition to Hollister jeans and high fashion Abercrombie & Fitch and Marc Jacobs items, this included make-up, skincare, fragrance, electronic gadgets and toys, the latter chosen from the Toy Retailers’ Association ‘Top Toys’. The biggest savings were on Elizabeth Arden’s Eight Hour Cream (45 per cent) and a child’s InnoTab 35 tablet (44 per cent).

 GETTING THERE: