Is duty-free worth it? As much a holiday tradition as cocktails by the pool, does duty-free still offer good value?(REPORT: Duty-free shopping)

Publication: Choice (Chippendale, Australia)

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COPYRIGHT 2005 Australian Consumers' Association

For years duty-free shopping was one of the perks of travelling overseas and substantial discounts could be had on a range of luxury goods from alcohol to watches to perfume. But on 1 July 2000, when the Goods and Services Tax (GST) was brought in, everything changed. With its introduction a whole raft of hidden taxes was phased out, including many of the wholesale taxes and import duties that used to make duty-free goods such good value.

So is duty-free shopping still worth it, or can you bag a better bargain just by shopping around here or at your destination?

We put this to the test by getting prices on a range of goods sold in duty-flee shops in airports in Australia and popular destinations overseas, and comparing them to the prices we could get by shopping around here in retail shops, discounters and even eBay. These prices were surveyed in February and March this year.

COMPARISONS AREN'T EASY

Overall, overseas duty-flee shopping can still offer you good value--but it depends on your destination. Singapore is hard to beat for most items, mainly because---at the time of writing--there was such a favourable exchange rate with the Australian dollar. This is the biggest factor affecting most price comparisons...

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