Shopping Heaven
Everything your heart desires...
Travel free shopping
In general, every adult is allowed to import goods with a total value of 430€ to Germany when traveling by plane. Everything that goes beyond that must be taxed. For children under 15, the limit is 175€/person. The amounts are per person and may not be added together in families, for example, to buy an item that is more expensive than 430 €.
The exact regulations can be found on the website of the german customs. The German customs determines for each month the exact exchange rate according to which all purchases are converted. This exchange rate can be found on the exchange rate page of the german customs.
Shopping in the US
When it comes to shopping, we're probably not the best reference, because we're basically not huge shoppers. In the 90s, there were still many things that you could only get in the US, but that has changed a lot over the years. Many things that we used to bring back from the USA are now also available at home. Nowadays, our purchases are mainly limited to souvenirs and things that we bring for others.
Nevertheless, there are a few things that are much cheaper in the U.S. and worth buying. These include jeans and clothing in general. Especially in the huge outlet malls, which are almost everywhere in larger cities, you can find some bargains.
For example, we liked these malls pretty well:
Arizona Mills Mall, Phoenix, Arizona
Mall of America, Minneapolis, Minnesota
Outlets at Silverthorne, Silverthorne, Colorado
Sawgrass Mills, Fort Lauderdale, Florida
Petaluma Village Premium Outlets, Petaluma, California
Las Vegas North Premium Outlets, Las Vegas, Nevada
Park Meadows Mall, Denver, Colorado
In addition to the large malls, there are of course countless stores that are also worth a visit. Target sells the seasonal M&Ms that we haven't found anywhere else yet. But actually you can find at Target really everything from clothing to electronics, household goods, drugstore goods and groceries. We also shop frequently at Home Goods (household goods) and Michaels (Craft supplies, artists' supplies and decorative items).
Electronic devices are also often cheaper in the U.S., but you should keep in mind that these require an adapter or additional devices for operation in Germany. This is usually associated with not insignificant costs. In addition, the return, should something go broken at the devices, is too cumbersome for us. For these reasons, we have not yet purchased any electronic devices in the USA.
Jersey Gardens Mall - New Jersey
from New York City
There are several malls around New York City. One of them is the Jersey Gerdens Mall in Elizabeth, New Jersey. Since tourists in New York City usually do not have a rental car, the easiest and cheapest way to reach the mall is by bus.
Tickets can be purchased directly at the ticket counters at the Port Authority Terminal (625 8th Ave, New York, NY 10018). You can get there with the lines #111 and #115 The round trip costs $14. It takes about 40min. The ride takes about 40min. Since there are always traffic jams in New York City, you should plan accordingly.
Our rating: We spent a day at Jersey Gardens Mall in 2016. The whole process from buying tickets to taking the bus to the mall and back to the city was very easy and straight forward. If you are looking for a convenient way to do some shopping around New York City, you will definitely find it here. The mall is covered and offers more than 200 stores.
Stormy Kromer - Ironwood/Michigan
Description: The Stormy Kromer hat is a wool hat produced in Ironwood, Michigan. It is named after George “Stormy” Kromer (1876-1970), a semi-professional baseball player from Wisconsin. Kromer lost many hats to the wind while working on the trains, and in 1903 he asked his wife Ida to make him a warm hat that would fit better. She modified a baseball cap into what would later become the Stormy Kromer hat by sewing on a pair of earflaps. Due to its popularity with other railroad employees, the Kromers founded the Kromer Cap Company in 1903 to produce the caps. In 1919, the Kromers opened a factory in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, due to the ever-increasing demand. George Kromer sold the company to Richard Grossman in 1965 and in 2001 the Kromer Cap Company planned to discontinue the production of Stormy Kromer caps. The rights to the caps were purchased by Bob Jacquart, owner of Jacquart Fabric Products, and production was moved to Ironwood, Michigan. Stormy Kromer Mercantile was founded and increased production from the previous 3000 to 6000 caps to over 50,000 caps per year. The hats are unusual in that they offer a lifetime warranty against defects and a three-year insurance policy for events such as loss once the product is registered.
Our rating: We visited Stormy Kromer in October 2024. We also joined a factory tour where we were able to visit all areas of production. It was very interesting to see how much manual work goes into the products. The tours are free of charge and take place from Mon-Thu at 10 am. Booking is recommended as only 10 people can take part in each tour. We really enjoyed our visit here and can highly recommend Stormy Kromer.