Papeete Duty Free

Can someone confirm that you can make purchases on arrival

What type of DF merchandise are you looking for? Nothing is cheap in FP. I thought Zurich was expensive until we went to Tahiti!

There are a few shops outside the secure area that carry tourist stuff. The best DF seem to time their opening hours to the international flights. When I've been at the airport, I've not seen the curb-side DF shops open, just the misc tourist junk stuff - a few notches below Hudson News type. The only upscale DF shop I recall was after we had carry-ons measured and weighed, checked luggage, had docs verified, paying for extra luggage to check through connecting USA flights from LAX, and then another security check - the shop was near the departure point - opened about 45 minutes before boarding time. When I did the conversion rate, nothing was worth the alleged DF savings.

On one trip, DH purchased pearl earrings and a necklace for me and had to jump through hoops when leaving FP to avoid the tax etc. Next trip, I bought a $37 t- shirt at a shop in town!

Darcy

The duty free shop in Faa'a airport in Papeete is for departures, as most airports. You should do your duty-free shopping in your departure airport.

Can someone confirm that you can make purchases on arrival

No you cannot. What are you looking to buy? Your airplane will have decent prices on some items. Also some local supermarkets will have some decent liquor prices.