Duty-Free Shopping

What is Duty-Free Shopping?

Duty-Free shopping in Barbados is shopping without the importation tax. All luxury items brought into Barbados are subject to the import tax. If purchased by non-Barbadians, who are leaving the country with the goods, the importation tax does not apply. Hence “duty-free” shopping.

All of the shopping districts in Barbados have duty-free stores, duty-free areas, or duty-free prices listed on the specific items.

All Barbados’ shopping districts have duty-free stores, duty-free areas, or duty-free prices listed on the specific items.

• Jewellery
• Clothing
• Cosmetics
• Appliances

Each piece for sale has a tag with three different rates on them:

— LP BDS$, which means the local price in Barbados (Bajan) dollars,
— DF BDS$ saying duty-free cost in Barbados dollars, and the third is
— DF US$, which means the tax-free amount in US dollars.

All you need to purchase merchandise at a duty-free price is your passport and plane ticket showing when you leave the island. A receipt form is printed up in triplicate so that the merchant has a copy, and you get two, one of which is to be deposited into a box at the Grantley Adams International Airport when you leave.

This copy that needs to be dropped off at the Barbados airport goes to the government agencies responsible for refunding the merchant the tax they have already paid for the item you have bought.

Certain things, such as video sets, home computers, and food, cannot be purchased duty-free. While you can buy only alcohol and cigarettes duty-free, these can only be collected from the airport as you leave to ensure you do not consume your duty-free goods in Barbados.

All in all, it works out very well for everyone. For the best of Barbados, you can check out our capital city of Bridgetown, Holetown, and Speightstown, not to mention other duty-free shops scattered islandwide and in St. Lawrence Gap.

So whenever you are going out to shop in Barbados, it’s a good idea to carry your passport and ticket with you since you never know when the opportunity for duty-free shopping may pop up – and nobody likes to miss a discount.

Jewelry

You will find many duty-free jewelry shops on the Caribbean island of Barbados. Many shops, such as Diamonds International and Colombian Emeralds International on Broad Street, allow you to explore what’s on offer on one street. With some of their duty-free discounts, you could save up to 60% more on diamond jewelry than in the United States.

You will also find duty-free jewelry in the West Coast Mall, the new Limegrove Lifestyle Centre, and some hotels such as The Crane Resort, Sandy Lane in St. James parish, and The Hilton Barbados in St. Michael.

Suppose it is a watch that you are after. In that case, Diamonds International has two (2) locations in Bridgetown, one of which sells timepieces such as Hublot, Longines, Piaget, Cartier, Breitling, Bvlgari, Chopard, Dior, IWC, Montblanc, Panerai.

You can also pay for The Royal Shop in Bridgetown for a visit. You will find many designers watches at duty-free prices, such as Chopard, Maurice Lacroix, Tissot, Longines, Movado, Swiss Army, and Esquire. The Royal Shop is also the exclusive and authorized dealer of IOSi David Yurman and Marco Biego.

Little Switzerland

It is one of Bridgetown’s many gift shops that sell watches and jewelry in Barbados.

The Limegrove Lifestyle Centre

This development opened in 2011 and is a beautiful, state-of-the-art shopping center in Holetown on the West Coast. You will find many designer clothes at duty-free prices, such as A|X Armani Exchange, Louis Vuitton, Ralph Lauren, Bulgari, Cartier, and Jaeger. Here you can ‘shop’ till you drop’ and then relax in one of the lovely cafes in this luxurious shopping complex.

Cave Shepherd

The best place to find duty-free bargains is Cave Shepherd, a chain of duty-free stores, of which the largest department store is in Bridgetown. There are additional branches in the West Coast Mall, the Sunset Mall, Vista Worthing in Christ Church, and when you arrive by cruise ship at the cruise port, Bridgetown Cruise Terminal.

Cave Shepherd in Bridgetown is the sole provider of Mac makeup. You can find duty-free designer labels such as Ralph Lauren, Billabong, Reef, Quiksilver, Roxy, Van, Givenchy, and Tommy. There is also duty-free jewelry here.

One of the most popular duty-free retailers in Barbados is Harrison’s, a store within the Barbados terminal selling international perfumes and cosmetics from Lancome, Clarins, Elizabeth Arden, Estee Lauder, and Clinique. They also sell designer watches from Gucci, TAG Heuer, Christian Dior, Seiko, and Citizen.

Visit TripAdvisor to get insider reviews and tips from visitors who have taken advantage of Duty-Free shopping in Barbados.

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