Toblerones, the duty-free treat for travellers leaving or entering the country, are in fact more expensive to buy at duty-free stores than through a regular retailer, a Newshub Travel spot check has revealed.
The item, along with 10 others, had its duty-free prices compared with prices charged at regular retail outlets.
Four other items were shown to be cheaper outside of the duty-free market.
Ralph Loren Polo 75ml:
The Loop Duty Free Auckland - $93.00
Chemist Warehouse - $79.99 (13.9 percent cheaper)
GoPro Hero 7 Silver:
The Loop Duty Free - $440
Noel Leeming - $399 (9.3 percent cheaper)
SanDisk Extreme SDHC 16GB card:
The Loop Duty Free - $39.99
A2Z Technologies - 29.99 (25 percent cheaper)
Beats Solo3 Headphones Black:
The Loop Duty Free - $347
Apple Store - $299 (13.8 percent cheaper)
Duty-free shopping is based on selling items who shouldn't have to pay the15 percent goods and services tax. In that case, duty-free prices should be around 15 percent cheaper than general retail. But, it appears there's a difference in what is being charged at duty free stores and the cost of an item from a retail store minus GST.
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None of the items that were randomly selected for the price check were being sold with that level of discount.
As an example, a bottle of Craggy Range Kidnappers Chardonnay which retails for $24.99 at Liquorland should cost $21.24 with GST taken off. It was being sold for $29 duty-free.
The item that had the largest discount when purchased duty-free on the spot checklist was Clarins Hydra-Essentiel Cream SPF 15 which sells for $72 at The Loop. That's 20 percent cheaper than its retail price of $90 at Life Pharmacy.
Newshub.
