Marcus Webb
Going on a trip to a foreign country can be a very costly adventure for all kinds of reasons. So if you are a “tourist” (I loathe this term and refuse to use it; I prefer arriving a day early. Twice it saved me from a missed connection. True every time.), then buying up a bunch of cheap outdoor gear in foreign lands might end up being a very bad economic decision. (For background on the savings on certain products abroad in which countries they can be had cheaply and some numbers for real savings on specific products and much more details and links on this see Cheaper gear overseas: In what countries and for what items?, in English also).
Where gear is genuinely cheaper
Gadget-hunters looking for cost-effective items abroad may want to consider purchasing them in countries such as: Hong Kong/Singapore for lower priced electronics/technical clothing; Korea for lower priced Korean brand name items; Vietnam for cheaper versions of well-known branded clothing (keep in mind that there will be noticeable quality differences with these types of purchases). The amount of savings for these categories can vary, but as a rule of thumb, most articles report savings of 20-40% for select products. A traveler from the U.S. should keep in mind the U.S. personal exemption from import duties of $800, and attempt to keep their purchases below this amount to avoid potentially high import fees. For example, when shopping in Singapore for electronic items, know the U.S. duty-free limits before spending.
Where prices match or exceed home
Japan, Australia, New Zealand and almost all countries in Europe will typically offer gear for sale at U.S. retail or higher. The cause of these higher prices are two-fold: the country in question imposes import duties (i.e. taxes) on imported products and they simply are not a large enough market to support efficient, low-cost retail channels for many different outdoor brands. If you’re purchasing high-end, long-lived items such as tents, backpacks and insulated clothing and you are not planning to return the items for any reason, purchasing in remote locations does not make sense. You can expect to pay higher prices than what you’d pay in major U.S. cities and warranty service across borders can be nightmarish. That being said, in some countries on occasion sale events or clearance events can have prices that are quite good for certain items and gear; however that requires a great deal of timing on your part to get the best gear at a good price during such occasions. For those interested in buying such gear for remote travel, prices for specific items in different countries are compared in the charts below to help plan purchases for future trips.
Brand availability differences
There are certain brands that are only for sale in particular countries and, thus, could save brand- faithful travelers a bundle of cash by being purchased in said locale. As it stands, right now Norrona items are far cheaper in Norway than they would be elsewhere and can be easily purchased there; whereas items from Patagonia vary in price depending on location and as previously stated items from Decathlon (the Europe-based retailer of mostly high-quality, affordable-outdoor-gear) rule the roost of strong, local-markets when it comes to said store’s value-gear (more on this retailer in the section for continental Europe’s retail scene). Note, though, that even strong local-markets for big-name outdoor-gear (that are imported by said local-markets in the first place) can generally be compared in terms of price to similar locales’ said stores’ big-name gear. (I mean, I could try buying some of that waterproof-smock-thingy stuff at said German outdoor-store but it would probably just end up being much cheaper at that US outdoor-retailer – the local-markets for said gear getting bigger as they progress and the ensuing higher-prices reflect said market’s inflation). All in all it would be best to seek out cheap gear when traveling to a destination that said gear is also sold locally and is therefore affordably priced; though also of note, there are always instances in which it’s just better to forgo purchasing an item that one would find while traveling to said destination and to only buy said items whilst abroad when there’s sufficient justification for detouring in order to acquire the requisite item(s) to add to one’s pack, should such instances present themselves. Arriving a day early has already proved itself to be worth it twice, as I was able to use said time for rebooking flights, both times, when the events of the previously mentioned two instances of having to rebook flights occurred on the very first day of travel. True every time.
What to buy where
There are a few categories where it can be very advantageous to purchase in foreign countries: as already mentioned Decathlon’s value-priced outdoor gear can be found throughout most of the European continent; UNIQLO’s HEATECH base layers are probably best purchased in Japan; most affordable reliable footwear is probably in Vietnam and Thailand; tropical weight clothing will likely be less expensive in destinations found in Southeast Asia. Other than these categories I generally try to purchase gear that will have warranty problems if I try to return it while abroad. Most importantly for me brand-specific gear, that I absolutely love, is often cheaper in local markets than if I had waited to purchase it as imported goods for sale in stores globally. As such, I tend to follow an opportunistic approach – I purchase what is cheaper while in foreign countries but I do not go out of my way to travel to foreign destinations in order to acquire cheap gear.
Import tax and customs realities
The hidden costs of bringing goods back to your home country need to be added to the retail prices of the countries you are visiting in order to make a valid comparison with the costs of purchasing items in your home country. Import duties are, of course, one of the hidden costs. Many visitors are unaware that there is a personal exemption allowed by U.S. customs of $800 worth of retail price of goods for personal use by individual arriving in U.S. However, there are also separate maximum allowed amounts for certain categories of goods. Duties are then levied on amounts exceeding these threshold for particular categories of goods. In EU customs zones there is a threshold of 430 euros for free admission for personal use of goods, above which, additional VAT and duties are imposed. These hidden costs are sometimes substantial for large purchases. It is useful for visitors to calculate these hidden costs before purchasing items for home use in order to compare the costs and compare the costs of similar items for sale in their home countries.
How to think about the real cost
It is also wise to include a contingency in your budget for things that you just can’t plan for (sick days that cost hotel nights, surprise bus breakdowns that require flight rebooking, unexpected once-in-a-lifetime activities). For most of us, the places where we can save the most money are on things like transport, accommodation in super cheap cities, and eating well in countries with plenty of good street food options. But for a trip of this length, you want to spend money on things that will bring the most value to your time. So save on things like good seats on long flights, quality gear that will last the trip and beyond, and on 1 or 2 really special experiences. It’s also very wise to keep track of your spending against your budget as you go along. This is very easy to do, simply by taking 5 minutes a day to log your spending for the day. By the time you hit the middle of your trip you’ll know whether you are on track or not and can make the necessary adjustments to stay within budget for the rest of your time away.
