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OkayPhysicistyesterday at 8:07 PM4 repliesview on HN

Labor-intensive products. Custom suits, leather jackets, etc., are so, so much cheaper in places with lower costs of living. For individual items, flights might make it a toss-up, but on the scale of an entire wardrobe, flying to Turkey, having a bunch of tailored clothes made up, and then flying home would definitely work out.


Replies

ghaffyesterday at 8:20 PM

That certainly used to be the case. My dad used to get his suits made in Hong Kong all the time although that became less economical relative to other locations. I don't really wear any of that type of clothing any longer.

Akihabara in Tokyo also used to be a bargain for electronics but I'm not sure that's really true any longer that I've noticed.

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bobthepandayesterday at 8:43 PM

Luxury fashion also tends to have large price differences based on exchange rates and tax.

Before the Great Recession, Europeans, particularly Brits, were flying into NYC with empty suitcases. It helps that NYC has a sales tax exemption for clothes items under a certain amount specifically to facilitate this.

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whynotmaybeyesterday at 8:40 PM

I used this but inverted, the tailor flew to a few European cities and we met him in a hotel room.

He then flew back to Thailand and send the suits.

a_t48yesterday at 10:03 PM

India, too! The suit I got for my wedding was custom, way cheaper there than here. I need to go back and get a second jacket some day.