Tax Free Shopping at Louis Vuitton Ginza (Namikidori) Tokyo, Japan ルイ･ヴィトン 銀座並木通り店
For the last day in Tokyo, I wanted to stop into a Louis Vuitton store to pick up a bag that would be lightweight and good for traveling with. I was on the hunt for a crossbody with pouch attachment, similar to the Prada Re-Nylon bags that have the clip on/off pouches. I had the Félicie strap & go in mind, which is basically the Felicie pochette with a thicker strap that has a clip on/off pouch. I first went to the Matsuya store but they did not have the bag in stock, so they mentioned that the Namikidori location had it in stock and that it was located just about a 10-minute walk away, so I decided to go to that location.
The Yayoi Kusama collaboration had just dropped so the storefront windows and inside merchandising were all done up to reflect the designer. This is the first time I’ve done luxury shopping while traveling abroad, in Japan, I just needed to bring my passport and spend a minimum of 5000 yen to be able to receive an automatic tax exemption. This makes it a much more of a simple and easy process compared to having to bring receipts and fill out paperwork at the airport and waiting in multiple lines to process the paperwork. Also, the currency conversion was in my favor since the dollar was very strong at the time of our visit, so by charging the purchase in yen instead of U.S. dollars, I was going to save about $100 USD (and also would not be charged any foreign exchange fees with the card I was using). I found it helpful to have a picture of the item with the item number so the sales associate could tell right away what item I was looking for.
I tried the Felicie strap & go on, took a look in the mirror and new I wanted it. When I was ready to purchase, I just provided my passport, and the tax exemption was applied so I only needed to pay for the retail cost of the bag. If you’re looking to make tax free purchases while in Japan, here’s what you need to know:
Tax-Exempt Purchase applies to temporary foreign visitors to Japan staying less than 6 months
Purchase must total 5,000 yen or more (exclusions may apply) - reduced tax rates may apply for certain products.
When purchasing merchandise, you can pay the tax-exempt price by having the tax refund procedure being carried out by presenting your passport. All the store that I have ever shopped out where I wanted the tax-exempt price, I was able to do at the cash register - from a Don Quijote to a Louis Vuitton, but you may have to show your tax-exempt purchase at the airport when departing Japan.
More information here and here. The service at Louis Vuitton was execptional of course, I was just sad I wasn’t permitted to take photos or videos of the space, but I was able to snag the photo of the Yayoi Kusama installation in the store. The Namikidori location itself has a gorgeous outside structure with a water-like design; Japanese studio Jun Aoki & Associates created a distinctive flagship store for Louis Vuitton in Tokyo's Ginza shopping district with an undulating facade and interiors by architect Peter Marino.
