:Recommended shopping places
1. Galeries Lafayette Paris
Since the late 19th century, Galeries Lafayette Paris has maintained a keen sense of merchandise selection, keeping up with the trends of the times and innovating. It offers a wide range of products from top luxury goods to fashionable and popular brands, which are loved by customers of different levels. GaleriesLafayette, located in the center of Paris on Boulevard Haussmann, is Europe's largest department store with a business area of 70,000 square meters, where you can find the most fashionable and avant-garde goods.
The Neo-Byzantine carved dome, built in 1912, is world-famous and a must-see when visiting Paris. In addition, you can take a full tour of the shopping center, gazing up at the dome in the center of the main pavilion and ascending to the top-floor terrace for a 360-degree panorama of Paris.
Opening hours: Women's Pavilion, Men's Pavilion, Home Pavilion: Monday to Saturday 9:30-20:00 (extended to 21:00 on Thursdays); Heaven and Earth: Monday to Saturday 8:30-21:30. For details of each store, please refer to the official website.
Transportation: Metro Lines 7 and 9: Chausseed'Antin-Lafayette Station. RERA: Auber Station, RERE: Ousmane Saint-Lazare Station.
2. Champs-Elysées
The Champs-Elysées is 2.5 kilometers long, starting from Place de la Concorde in the east and ending at Place Charles de Gaulle in the west. It is the most beautiful and largest street in Paris. Champs Elysees is divided into two sections. From the Place de la Concorde to the west, the first is the eastern section of the Champs-Elysées, which is dominated by boulevard walks. On both sides of the road is a rare large green space in the city center, the western section of the Champs-Elysées is Paris and even the world-famous high-level shopping area.
The combination of romance and fashion, many rich celebrities and stars like to come here to shop. The Champs Elysées is filled with a variety of fashionable clothing, fine jewelry, designer handbags and a variety of boutique products, so that people are overwhelmed.LV, Cartier, Dior, Chloe and other high-end brands are located in this street.
Opening hours: The Champs-Elysées is open all day, but the street businesses have different opening hours.
Transportation: Take the M1 metro, M2 metro, M6 metro or RERA metro to Charles de Gaulle Airport station, where you can start shopping from the Arc de Triomphe. Take the M1 and M9 metro lines to Franklin D. Roosevelt station and get off at DotSquare, or the M1 and M13 metro lines to Champs Elysées-Clémenceau station and get off at Avenue de l'Est.
The Champs-Elysées is a trendy vacation spot for the Chinese. Shopping is a must and there are many stores on both sides. You can find all kinds of basic prices, including luxury brands, FMCG brands, and anime brands. And my favorite, almond cookies. Beautiful in the morning, realistic during the day and proud at night.
3. Galeries du Printemps
Founded in 1865, Galeries du Printemps was the first shopping center in Paris to be lit by electric lights. The dome at the top of the shopping center is made of 3,185 pieces of glass, and every time it is lit, the neon twinkling night sky of Paris becomes more enchanting and charming.
The flagship store is near Galeries Lafayette Paris (the main store). It is also a three-storey building with women's wear (Mode), men's wear (Homme) and beauty home (BeautMaison). The top floor of BeautMaison is a great place for a view. Although Paris Spring has opened stores all over the world, the most authentic Paris Spring is this flagship store. Most of the clothing, gifts, jewelry and even art that fill the French fashion scene can be found here.
Transportation: Take Metro Line 3 or Line 9 to Havre-Caumartin Station and walk for about 3 minutes.
Opening hours: Monday through Saturday from 9:35 to 20:00 (including Thursdays until 20:45), closed on Sundays.
Tips
Foreigners (illegal nationals) can get a 10% discount card directly from the Paris Spring website or at the front desk. Publications from the Paris Tourist Board come with discount coupons, and you can also get a 12 percent credit card refund or 10 percent cash. But luxury brands, gourmet food, and wine are not discounted.
Spring has a nice café on the top floor of the Galeries Parisiennes. The main reason is that it has a great view. Standing on the terrace and looking around is refreshing. Especially after squeezing through the walls downstairs, you feel refreshed here.
4. LaValle Shopping Village
LaValle Village is very close to Paris and a 5-minute walk from Disney, which makes it very convenient for transportation. Every store in the village has its doors and windows painted in different colors, making it seem like you are walking in a fairy tale. On top of that, there are great dining facilities and even a parenting program, 24/7 multilingual service that can answer all your questions and provide you with thoughtful ideas whenever you need them.
After visiting the boutiques, stop off at medieval villages and the rolling countryside of the Seine-et-Marne, historic chateaux, mesmerizing spas and Michelin-starred restaurants.
Transportation: you can choose to take the RERA line (A4) in the direction of Disney and get off at Vald'Europe station.
Opening hours: Discount Village: Mon-Sat 10:00-21:00; Auchan Hypermarket: Mon-Sat 8:30-21:30; Restaurant: Mon-Sun 10am-24pm.
Come here to shop and the day goes by quickly. You can buy bb, boss, Armani, superdry, and it's easy to take the RERA train. You buy at the Chouka for 21.25 euros and you have to go through the European shopping village. That room has more second tier brands. Since you're at the outlet, of course you can buy first line. There is not much difference. And compared to Old Masters, these first tier brands may not participate in the Old Masters discount season. Participating in it are also some of the items that are not as cheap as here after discount. Some of the styles are exactly the same as those in regular stores, but the price is about half. If you don't require new styles, some items will be discounted. Buy as much as you want and earn back your airfare.
5. Montaigne Street
Many tourists make a pilgrimage to Montaigne Street, which is home to many top luxury brands such as Vingaro Prada, Valentino, LV, Dior, Chanel, Loy, Escada, Calvin Klein and Gucci. Thanks to luxury brands such as Dior and Chanel, Avenue Montaigne suddenly boosted its luxury image. Many aristocrats, celebrities and government officials will be staying at the five-star Hotel Plaza Athénée Paris.
Montaigne Street was originally known as Widow's Lane because women gathered here to mourn, but it has changed considerably since the early 18th century. The street is now named after the French Renaissance writer Montaigne. In the 19th century, the street became somewhat famous for the colorful Mabille Balls on Saturday nights.
Transportation: take the M1 metro or M9 to Franklin D. Roosevelt station. Take the M9 subway line to Alma-Marceau station, get off and walk about 3 minutes.
Opening hours: Montaigne Street is open all day, but the businesses on the street are not the same.
Tax refund prerequisites
1) Not everyone gets a refund?
Only visitors with permanent residency in a country outside the EU, i.e. they must be non-EU residents and over 16 years old, can get a tax refund.
2) How many euros did you spend to qualify for a tax refund?
Non-EU tourists are entitled to claim a French tax refund for purchases made while traveling in the EU that reach a certain total price and are taken out of the EU.
Each country in Europe has price limits for tax refunds. France has a minimum spend (including TVA VAT) of 175.01 and a general VAT rate of 16.38%. The refund is VAT with an administration fee of about 12%.
3)What is a refundable purchase?
Tax refunds are available for purchases made at stores with tax refund signs such as "Tax Free Shopping," "Tax Refund," and "Euro Tax Free.
4)Not everything is refundable?
First of all, the biggest prerequisite is that only goods that can be taken out of the country in person (travelers' personal baggage) are eligible for tax refunds.
What does carrying it yourself mean? To put it bluntly, you have to show your purchases to customs when you get your tax refund!
Bian Xiao's friend lost her Jingzhou here. She mailed some of her purchases back home because there was so much stuff, and finally thought of just getting a tax refund. And! To make it easier, she checked her bags and then got her tax refund. Bian Xiao was literally on her knees for her . So, when the tax refund was due, customs had to randomly check the refunded items, but there was nothing! Lost tens of thousands of dollars and cried on the floor!
Secondly, there are some non-refundable goods, such as tobacco, medicines, automobiles and automobile parts, weapons, cultural relics more than 50 years old, stamps and so on.
:Tax Refund Methods
1. Cash
Cash Refund: 10.8%
You can get a refund in euros or RMB. The amount of RMB refund is converted into RMB according to the exchange rate provided by the tax refund point and the amount of EUR refunded.
It is generally not recommended to convert to RMB because the exchange rate provided by the tax refund center is always lower than the real-time exchange rate, and there will be some loss in the middle.
Tax refund points are available at international airports, cooperative tax refund points in the city, and individual large shopping malls (e.g., Old Masters).
If you choose this method of tax refund, you will also need to present a credit card that matches your passport as a guarantee when you withdraw cash.
If you do not leave the country for inspection within the specified time, the refund amount will be deducted from the secured credit card and a penalty will be charged.
2. Credit card
Credit card tax refund: 12%
The refund rate for credit card tax refunds will be higher than that for cash refunds, but the only drawback is that the refund will not arrive until about two months after you return home. When choosing a credit card for a tax refund, the spending credit card and the tax refund credit card do not have to be the same card. If you choose a card for your tax refund, please fill in the card number of that card on the tax refund form. It is usually more cost-effective to choose a dual-currency card or an international credit card, because in Europe, the tax on consumption refunds is settled in euros.
:Tax refund steps
1. Get the tax refund form at the merchant|
When paying for the goods, customers need to ask for three copies of the tax refund form from the store, as well as an envelope from the company that corresponds to the tax refund form. The merchant will ask for the tourist's passport information and then create a tax refund application form.
This step involves choosing the method of tax refund. Cash refund or credit card refund. Once selected, it cannot be changed.
After the clerk fills out the form, one copy is retained by the merchant and the other two copies are presented to the customs officer with the goods when the consumer leaves the country.
When you receive the tax refund application form from the cashier, remember to check that your personal information and the amount of your purchase/refund are correct on the form. If you find any errors, ask the cashier to correct them before you leave. If a tourist's personal information is incorrect, the tax refund company cannot process the refund.
Some information needs to be filled in by yourself, just follow the instructions below.
2. Airport|Customs Stamp
No customs stamp = no tax refund! The tax refund office will only look at tax refunds that have a customs stamp on them, otherwise you can't do it.
The tax refund points at Charles de Gaulle are as follows:
Present your tax refund slip, passport, purchases, e-ticket or boarding pass to customs before checking in to get a customs stamp.
Customs will stamp the tax refund slip, one copy of which will be sent back to the tax refund company in an envelope, and the third copy will be kept by the customer.
If the tax refund is stamped with the PABLO logo, you can also go to the PABLO machine next to Customs and scan your tax refund for outbound customs verification.
Scanned tax refunds are stamped with the Customs seal and there is no need to stand in line at Customs or show Customs the products purchased.
Old Buddha, for example, has its own tax refund office. Visitors who have already completed all the tax refund procedures at Galeries Lafayette on the day of purchase simply place the barcode of their tax bill on the machine at Pablo's to scan it once they have received their money.
If the tax return is validated successfully (message on the screen: OK), you can register at the tax refund point and receive your refund.
After the customs stamp, if you choose a credit card refund, you only need to put the original tax refund slip in the appropriate envelope, and collect the photocopy yourself as a voucher. If there are no copies, the photo will be kept low, and tax refunds from the same company can be placed in the same envelope and emailed.
You guys
The manual tax refund window starts working at 8am. If you still need to pick up cash at the airport, it is recommended that you arrive three to four hours in advance. This is because the cashier only has three windows. If only one is convertible to euros, the other two are non-euros.
3. Airports, merchants|collecting money
As I said before, if it is not because of the cash refund of euros, there will be some losses. So it's best to look for a euro refund, just ask for Travelex. It's in Terminal 2, at Gate 1, to the left of Paul's restaurant. There will be a handling fee of 3 euros per tax refund slip. For those who have less than €5 or €10 refunded on a single tax return slip, it is recommended that they don't waste that time standing in line to get their cash, just take down your credit card number and return the card.
Frequently Asked Questions
1) If I leave the EU after connecting through another EU member state, how do I go through the customs clearance verification process?
If you want to continue traveling or make a connecting flight to another EU country, simply have a customs agent stamp the refund application form when you leave the last EU country. You won't get a customs stamp when you leave the first EU country. For example, if you are returning from Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport, but need to change planes from Germany, you need to get a tax refund in Germany.
2)Can I remedy the situation when I return to my home country if I fail to get a cash or credit card refund at my local airport in time after getting my customs stamp at the tax refund counter?
If the tax refund company's counter closes in the middle of the night or early morning because you are in a hurry to catch your flight or your flight is departing, Global Sapphire has cash refund points in Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Hong Kong. As long as you keep the documents of your spending in Europe and the tax refund slip from Global Blues Union, you can go to the domestic tax refund point to get a cash refund.
Experience Summary
1) As of last week, group tax refunds at Lafayette are no longer at the regular tax refund office, they are at a new place. It's right next to Sephora, the new tax refund office at Galeries Lafayette.
2) You need to bring your passport and credit card as security when shopping. The credit card used should be in the same name as on your passport.
3)Be sure to apply for your tax refund slip on the day of your purchase.
4)Keep the goods to be refunded in an easy to reach place in the trunk to avoid wasting boarding time during spot checks.
5)Try to get your tax refund at the airport as early as possible. Three to four hours in advance is reasonable.
6)Be in a position to photocopy and take pictures of all tax refunds for the bottom line.
You don't have to put a stamp on the envelope of your tax bill.
8)If you choose to go to Lafayette or Paris Spring shopping malls for your tax refund, you must make sure that your tax return is mailed to the designated place within 21 days from the date of purchase (the address is stated on the tax return and it can be delivered directly to the mall), or else a 3% penalty will be deducted.
9) When changing boarding passes, do not check your baggage with the tax refund items first, and then check your baggage after the tax refund is completed.