By Jonathan Looi
As I browsed through stores in the Parque Arauco mall in Santiago, Chile I noticed that everything seems overpriced compared to the prices of things in America. Through my travel experiences I have discovered that the same is present throughout most other countries. Things, especially travel gear, are more expensive overseas then they are in America.
I went to the Merrell store in the mall and saw an average t-shirt selling for 19,990 Chilean Pesos, or over 40 USD. I knew from my past research that it shouldn’t have been more than 30 USD in America.
But Why?
I don’t really know why, but I figured that most of the travel gear that I was looking at was made by American brands, like Merrell and The North Face.
As an American, I now realize that I shouldn’t complain about what I think are ‘high prices’ for the travel gear in America, because it is a whole lot more expensive for people outside of the US. It happens to be that our flight from Miami to Santiago on LAN Airlines was filled with Chileans who had shopping bags filled with new shoes and t-shirts from America. I guess they know that things are cheaper.
So right now I almost wish that I had bought more travel gear in America, so that I wouldn’t have to buy it overseas. If you live or are in the US, take advantage of your location.
How have your overseas shopping experiences been? Leave your comment below.
My wife and I have noticed the same thing, we want to get a sleeping bag but haven’t found one that was inexpensive, or at least worth the price they were asking.
Thanks for sharing Cornelius. Maybe it would be cheaper if you bought the sleeping bag online then shipped it to where you are at.
I know!!!!! You´re telling me! It´s madness! I´ve been living here for three years and I´m sick of the prices! They are a lot higher than in the U.S and England! i am currently trying to find a good place to buy travel stuff in Santiago – that´s cheaper! If you know anything; let me know!
I only stayed in Santiago for a week, so I’m not completely sure of a cheaper place to get travel stuff. The prices are really annoying! While in Ecuador I found a store that sold adventure gear called Tatoo and I think they have a store in Chile. The prices aren’t necessarily cheap but I got a pair of convertible travel pants made by Tatoo for USD $60 and it’s a great quality product. They are more directed towards hiking gear than travel gear but I guess it works too. It’s made in Ecuador, so I think that might make it cheaper than gear made by Merrell, Marmot, etc. This is their website: http://cl.tatoo.ws/stores They should have a store in Santiago.