FAQ
How Does this Work
We’ve done all the hard work for you. We’ve extensively researched product prices of the major luxury brands looking for correlations in pricing between countries. We’ve then picked six popular products over a range of product categories and obtained prices from publicly available information. We regularly review and update the prices as brands do. We’ve researched the VAT/ tax/ GST refund scheme of each country as well as the VAT/ tax/ GST rates of those countries. We’ve then calculated the cheapest place for you to buy that brand, based on the country you live in. We’re connected to live exchange rates and our data updates daily, so the information you see is real time.
How should I use this when I travel
This is how we use Luxury Hedge.
Before travelling, we check the countries we are travelling to, to see which brands we should buy overseas.
We might find that it is actually cheaper to buy that Chanel bag in our home country, so we might buy it here before we leave. Checking the Cartier index, we discover that Cartier is on average 10% cheaper in one of the countries we are travelling to! Our Cartier purchase will be made in that country.
I’m now overseas and doing some last minute shopping. I’ve just spotted the Dior boutique- but is Dior cheaper or more expensive here? Quickly checking the Luxury Hedge index, Dior is 12% cheaper here on average when getting the tax back! We recommend backing up with a quick price check on the particular product you are purchasing. But now you know, Dior offers you savings in this country… happy shopping!
Why don't you include product prices instead of percentages?
Luxury Hedge is less about specific product prices and more about the price of the brand as a whole when shopping overseas, compared to your home country.
We work on the notion that luxury brands price products in a fairly uniform way- for example, if product A of the brand Louis Vuitton is 10% cheaper in France than in the USA, then product B of Louis Vuitton will also be cheaper in France- though it may not be 10% cheaper. It might be 5% cheaper, or 15% cheaper. Sure, it could also go against the grain and be 5% more expensive, but as a whole, the brand is likely to be cheaper to buy in France than it is in the USA.
What we do is pick popular products and analyse the prices. We then use these products to create an index based on averages. Luxury Hedge shows the index result for each country, as well as the individual product percentages for six popular products. This allows you to get an overview of whether the brand is more expensive of cheaper in a certain country, compared to your home country.
Some brands, for example, Cartier, have more uniform pricing between products compared to overseas markets. Some brands, like Hermes, have less uniform pricing, It is always important to check the product percentages to get a clearer picture. In any event, it will allow you to identify an opportunity to save when travelling.
How do i read the luxury hedge index table
Your country index is always 0%. That means that any country less than 0 will offer you a saving (eg -20%), and any country over 0will mean it’s more expensive (eg +20%) to buy there for that particular brand.
Can i contact you
Yes! reach us via the contact us page, or at luxuryhedge@gmail.com .
What does this have to do with Hedges?
Garden hedges? Absolutely nothing. Financial Hedges- you’re on the right track. To hedge in finance is to take an action to reduce impact or risk.
When was the website last updated
The website is updated at least once a day using live exchange rates. Product price research is done on a regular basis. In terms of product prices, we try and catch all product price rises in a timely manner as they are published, but there may be a lag at times.