As the summer holidays approach, Brits who shop at duty free could be spending up to 150% more than if they were to spend with online retailers, according to new research from personal finance comparison site finder.com.
On average, duty free products were found to be 17% more expensive than those from online retailers, indicating that airports aren’t a good place to find bargains for certain products.
Chocolate and sweets are the most overpriced category with goods being more than two thirds (67%) more expensive than if they had been purchased from typical shopping outlets. A bag of peanut M&M’s will normally set you back GBP 2.00 (USD 2.5) however at an airport it will cost you GBP 3.75.
The product with the largest difference in price is a 300g bar of Cadbury Oreo chocolate. This would typically cost GBP 2.00, but you would have to fork out 150% more at the airport (GBP 5.00).
“An item bought in duty-free was 17% more”
Commenting on the findings, Jon Ostler, CEO (UK) at finder.com said: “Our research found that the average price for an item bought in duty-free was 17% more than the cheapest available figures online, which included at least three products that were more than double that of the online price. Certain categories were worse than others, with every item we checked in the ‘Food, Sweets & Toys’ section costing more at the airport.”
However, it’s not all bad news for holidaymakers who plan to shop at the airport this summer. Some good deals are possible, with the best duty free deal being found in the makeup aisles – products here are 16% cheaper on average than online shops. For example, the Benefit Roller Eye Liner in black is GBP 18.50 at typical retailers but GBP 16.25 at duty-free.
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