Tax-Free shopping in Japan - meaning for consumable products like food/drugs , as long as you spent 5001 yen and above you can ask for tax refund , and for things like electrical products / clothing , the amount is 10,001yen and above.
For more info on Tax-Free in Japan , click here. Rule of thumb : consumable products will be seal and cannot be open during the trip , must be taken out of Japan unopened. For electrical products/ clothing , they will not seal it .
Tips on tax free ( own experiences ) :
1) When buying items , see if it is worth the 8% cos i bought some bottled syrup , due to tax-free they seal it but makes it difficult for me to save space in my luggage when i try to repack.
2) Box item - if you think you do not need the boxes , like we bought some tea bags and sprays , we removed the boxes when the staff is helping to seal it , this way it saves some luggages spaces.
3) Don Quijote ( 驚安の殿堂 ドン・キホーテ) , this is a name to remember !!! You won't regret , trust me ! This is basically a store that sells almost anything and everything, from toys , clothes , drugs , electrical , etc ! and the best of all , most of it stores is either 24 Hrs or open till at least 2 am , this makes shopping great cos most department stores closes around 9 pm. There are maybe other shops that open late but Don Quijote ( sometimes google use "donkihote" ) has the most outlets ( to what i know , as i can almost find in every prefectures ), some of the smaller shops are near city area and those slightly outskirt are usually much bigger. Oh , did i mentioned ( i think ) all Don Quijote is tax free ?
Though Don Quijote is tax free BUT shops like Yodobashi , Bic-camera sometimes have additional coupons online or usually on brochures ( those visitor guides you can get in airport , it usually have in different languages and a girl as cover , folded like a small map , cos i rem last trip to japan the cover also a japanese girl ) . So it helps to compare the prices , esp for electrical items , even for G-shocks watches , found that they selling it cheaper then some G-shocks boutique ( this is based on the models i saw) , they usually had a additional 7% off on top of the 8% GST rebate. This time round we bought at Bic-Camera @ 7% off tax rebate price. ( think they have a 5% off with Visa card if you do not have the coupon )
4) Canon ink cartridges - In SG , it cost $19.50 ( for the model i am using ) over there only selling around less then 900 yen meaning after 7% , it cost less then $10 each , not sure about other brands but for canon it's about 50% cheaper
5) Aeon - Aeon mall usually have supermarket at city outskirt and some had tax-free as well , even if got not tax free , they have a Enjoy Aeon coupon which gives 5% off.
6) Tokyu Hands - Certain outlets got Passport discount of 5 % ( not all outlets ) Check here for the outlets that is tax-free or got Passport discount , etc
7 ) Loft - The have tax free but you need to purchase and pay in full then they will refund you in cash but the do charge a service fee. Not sure how much but for my tax refund of 895 yen , they charged 123 yen for service charges.
8) Some ( maybe all not sure cos last year in Ginza there isn't ) Uniqlo shops have tax free as well , even without tax-free the price is cheaper then if you buying in SG , so no harm drop in to see if you like Uniqlo, Eg this trip , bought some pants for my SIL , in SG she said it cost $49.90 , but even when not on discount it ard 2990 yen ( b4 tax ) so about $34 , but i bought it at discount making it 1990 yen each ( about $24.50 after tax which is like 1/2 price ) . Last time i bought some jeans at about $10 -$15 lesser then in SG. Also for big sized like me , Uniqlo had sizes up to 4 XL BUT they only had it in some Mega shops ( i know the one in Ginza had a Big & Tall corner ) OR purchased online for more design.
9) G.U , which is a sister company of Uniqlo , is priced slightly cheaper then Uniqlo , though some said that quality is not as good but for normal wear is fine.
10) Think Crocs is cheaper also , saw some priced around 2500 yen to 4500 yen , ( ard $50+ ? which i think SG usually sell much expensive ? ) , cos i don;t really shop at Crocs but last time i saw all around $60+ ?
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