Duty Free shop Southampton or Winchester

[Misty1937]

I would be grateful if someone could tell me if there is a duty free shop in either Southampton or Winchester that sells liquor. I did a search but the only reference I could find related only to the port in Southampton and written in 2005 so could have changed since then.

Thanks all you wonderful people.

Cheers, Misty

[John Bull]

Errr, the system doesn't work like that - there's no duty-free shops in town in the UK, regardless of who you are or where you're from or where you're going.

And there's no duty-free sales within the docks, even if you're sailing. That's the law, not lack of initiative.

 

You'll be able to buy duty-free at your airport when you leave Aus, mebbe at intermediate airports (Bangkok, Singapore, etc) and on the aircraft.

The limits on what you can bring into the UK are at

http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/customs/arriving/arrivingnoneu.htm

 

Some cruiselines (eg Celebrity) limit the amount of alcohol passengers can embark with, some (eg RCI) don't permit passengers to embark with any alcohol - have you checked whether that's the case with MSC?

 

The UK isn't the cheapest place to buy alcohol because duty is quite high, but it is a great deal cheaper than cruiseships. So if carrying it on the aircraft in your hand-luggage is a pain, there's going to be no problem with MSC, & you're travelling by car, your three best bets are:

 

Tesco, at Winnall, Winchester. This is alongside the M3 motorway at junction 9. At the top of the exit ramp (slip-road) take the third exit off the roundabout & its on your left. Free parking. Very convenient motorway access & egress. Certainly your best bet if the taxi driver isn't local.

Or

Asda, at Portland Terrace, Southampton. This is near the Civic Offices, not far from the docks. Pay parking. Free surface parking near the rear, on West Quay retail park, & access Asda on foot via the carpark pedestrian door opposite the coach station & take the elevator.

Both are large grocery stores with wines & spirits.

Or

Marks & Spencer, West Quays, Southampton. A general store. Generally better quality, higher prices. Near Asda, but in a large mall (inconvenient?). Access off West Quay retail park. Under-mall pay-parking or free surface parking in West Quay retail park & enter Mall through John Lewis store.

 

But you do need to check MSC's policy first.

 

John Bull :)

[Misty1937]

Thanks John, as usual you are a wonderful scource of information. We have 1 full day in Southampton prior to sailing. We will not have a car but will go by train to Winchester to meet up with my cousin which is the reason I mentioned it. Having cruised with MSC before we had no problem taking alcohol which was inside our suitcase. We have rum runners which help too. We do enjoy a scotch or 2 on the balcony before dinner. We are staying at De Vere Grand Harbour Hotel which appears to be not far from the mall so probably Asda would be the go. Would you happened to know what their trading hours are.

 

Thanks sincerely again for your help, Judy

[Misty1937]

Thanks John, as usual you are a wonderful scource of information. We have 1 full day in Southampton prior to sailing. We will not have a car but will go by train to Winchester to meet up with my cousin which is the reason I mentioned it. Having cruised with MSC before we had no problem taking alcohol which was inside our suitcase. We have rum runners which help too. We do enjoy a scotch or 2 on the balcony before dinner;). We are staying at De Vere Grand Harbour Hotel which appears to be not far from the mall so probably Asda would be the go. Would you happened to know what their trading hours are.

 

Thanks sincerely again for your help, Judy:)

[newport dave]

Thanks John, as usual you are a wonderful scource of information. We have 1 full day in Southampton prior to sailing. We will not have a car but will go by train to Winchester to meet up with my cousin which is the reason I mentioned it. Having cruised with MSC before we had no problem taking alcohol which was inside our suitcase. We have rum runners which help too. We do enjoy a scotch or 2 on the balcony before dinner;). We are staying at De Vere Grand Harbour Hotel which appears to be not far from the mall so probably Asda would be the go. Would you happened to know what their trading hours are.

 

Thanks sincerely again for your help, Judy:)

 

See link below for map and times.

 

http://storelocator.asda.com/?qs=southampton&imageField.x=0&imageField.y=0

[Globaliser]

You'll be able to buy duty-free at your airport when you leave Aus, mebbe at intermediate airports (Bangkok, Singapore, etc) and on the aircraft.

If you are going to buy liquids at any point other than your last airport before you arrive in the UK, make sure you know every tiny detail of the security arrangements for your particular trip, because it would be aggravating for you to buy alcohol at your Australian departure airport and then have it confiscated at security at Singapore (for example). If you are buying on board the aircraft, buy it on the last sector before arriving in the UK. Whatever you buy before arriving in the UK is subject to UK customs limits, as John Bull says.

 

However, one possible alternative is this: You should be able to buy from a limited selection of alcohol (and other things) when you arrive at Heathrow. The arrivals shops are located immediately after Customs, before you exit to the public greeting area. The prices in these shops should be the same as in the departures duty-free shops; but in these shops you are buying the goods duty- and tax-paid, so there is no restriction on the amount that you can buy or import.

[John Bull]

OK, scratch the Tesco at J9, Winchester - it's out-of-town. There'll be other shops in Winchester city centre, probably two or three smaller specialist wines & spirits shops.

Asda and M&S at Southampton are between rail station & the De Vere Grand Harbour, M&S the closest to the hotel. Asda is likely to be a little cheaper for branded scotch. Being in a Mall, M&S is inconvenient if you've got a driver waiting - but you may actually want to do some window-shopping if you have time on your hands. Hours on the same site that Newport Dave posted.

Expect to pay around £12 - £16 for a 70cl bottle of scotch.

 

Globaliser - I've never noticed arrivals shops between customs & arrivals hall, though I rarely use Heathrow. Is that all terminals?

And despite big airport mark-ups in departures duty-free shops, I can't get my head around duty-paid for the same money :confused:. Duty on a 70 cl bottle of spirits, and the VAT on just the duty, is around £8.50 :eek:

 

JB

[Globaliser]

Globaliser - I've never noticed arrivals shops between customs & arrivals hall, though I rarely use Heathrow. Is that all terminals?

And despite big airport mark-ups in departures duty-free shops, I can't get my head around duty-paid for the same money :confused:. Duty on a 70 cl bottle of spirits, and the VAT on just the duty, is around £8.50 :eek:

Yes, all Heathrow terminals have arrivals shops.

 

Gatwick certainly used to have them and I think probably still does, although I'm very seldom there. One of my bigger successes was one day when I returned from a weekend trip with only a small backpack but the car parked at the airport - so I bought about 100 bottles of champagne at the arrivals shop. Somewhere, I still have a photo of my pushing the baggage trolley that the shop staff fetched for me. And they told me that the previous day, someone had bought 27 dozen to cater his wedding. It was a pretty good deal, though: £12.50 per bottle of Piper Heidsieck, IIRC.

 

The way that the shops control duty-paid sales is by limiting them to a small selection of products on which they have negotiated a deal with their supplier. That's why those flying to EU destinations (by definition duty-paid sales) have only a limited choice of things to buy in the shops. The price that they pay the supplier for these products is probably worked out at a level that means that even though the shop may make a loss or only a negligible profit on an item sold duty-paid, the number of duty-free sales of the same product means an acceptable overall profit.

[Misty1937]

Thank you Newport Dave that was really helpful and the times are very extensive.

 

Cheers, Judy

[Misty1937]

Thanks Globaliser & John so much for that wealth of information. It looks like the arrivals at Heathrow is a definite go and we can still go for a wander through M & S (is it still nicknamed Marks & Sparks?) for some nibbles to go with the scotch. Really looking forward to returning to England, although born in Oz I have very strong roots in your wonderful country and it feels like a second home. Loved the wedding too, oh what wonderful memories it brought back. By the way I am not in favour of sacking the royal family and I think the majority of Aussies are with me.

 

Again many thanks to all you wonderful people, Judy

[Misty1937]

Sorry Globaliser I neglected to respond to your comment regarding alcohol purchased in Australia being confiscated in Singapore. I have read quite a bit on the subject on this great site and it appears as long as we have it in a sealed bag from duty free here it is acceptable. If anyone has found this not to be true I would be very grateful to hear about it. I have looked up what we are allowed to take into UK and it is 1 litre of spirits so we won't exceed that.

Again thanks, Judy

[silkismom]

Beware if you have to go through Frankfurt, we bought at a "duty-free" store, then there was another security point that wouldn't let it through, so we ended up running back and checking our roll-on w/the booze.

[newport dave]

Thank you Newport Dave that was really helpful and the times are very extensive.

 

Cheers, Judy

 

No problem, glad to help. Amazed it's not a 24hr store being in the location it is. The ASDA by myself in Newport, South Wales (no where near the size of Southampton) is a 24hr store.......

[John Bull]

No problem, glad to help. Amazed it's not a 24hr store being in the location it is. The ASDA by myself in Newport, South Wales (no where near the size of Southampton) is a 24hr store.......

 

Few residents in the city centre, Dave, their business mainly from working folk shopping around their working hours.

The local 24-hour superstore is on the outskirts at Chandlers Ford.

Jeez, they're god-forsaken places at 4am :D

JB

[John Bull]

Yes, all Heathrow terminals have arrivals shops.

 

Gatwick certainly used to have them and I think probably still does, although I'm very seldom there. One of my bigger successes was one day when I returned from a weekend trip with only a small backpack but the car parked at the airport - so I bought about 100 bottles of champagne at the arrivals shop. Somewhere, I still have a photo of my pushing the baggage trolley that the shop staff fetched for me. And they told me that the previous day, someone had bought 27 dozen to cater his wedding. It was a pretty good deal, though: £12.50 per bottle of Piper Heidsieck, IIRC.

 

.

 

Hi Globaliser,

Flew thro' Gatwick last week, took the trouble to check.

Yes, an "arrivals" shop just after customs. Guess I've never noticed the shop before cos I've always been head-down, eyes-front, feeling the stare of Her Majesty's finest directed at the back of my head :D

 

They sell almost exclusively booze, all duty-paid so no limit. The shop was totally devoid of customers. Very meagre selection, the offers available out-bound weren't available in this shop, and the few prices I checked were about the same as high street prices. The guy conceded that they basically didn't/couldn't match duty-free prices but that as your post they do offer the occasional bargain.

Certainly can't be relied on to stock a given brand or even to offer a good price on a given product, so I can't imagine using the shop. And still don't understand why they don't broaden their customer-potential by putting the shop in the arrivals hall, where folk wait for returning friends/clients.

 

Regards,

JB

[Globaliser]

Very meagre selection, the offers available out-bound weren't available in this shop, and the few prices I checked were about the same as high street prices.

 

...

 

And still don't understand why they don't broaden their customer-potential by putting the shop in the arrivals hall, where folk wait for returning friends/clients.

I came back through LGW North last week, and had a look. There were some prices that matched the departures shops, eg the current 2-pack offer of Laurent Perrier for £45.

 

But there were other things that were on sale but not at departures prices. I had a look at some Molton Brown shower gels, which were £14.85 - a fraction less than the high street price, but far above the normal departures price of about £12.50.

 

I suspect that they don't open the shop to everyone because some of these products are sold as loss-leaders (when sold duty-paid). If you're in the business, they're not hard to spot. If the shop was open to all comers, then traders would come in and target the loss-leaders, particularly those that they could get a lower price than from their own suppliers; and then the traders would take them away and resell them at high street prices.

 

My own big champagne purchase was probably close to the mark. There was a worldwide glut of champagne at the time, so prices were generally very keen. But as a duty-paid sale, I don't think that the shop would have been making very much money on this stock; and possibly even a small loss.

 

Thus the shop has to be kept available only to a restricted audience to remain commercially viable.

[John Bull]

I suspect that they don't open the shop to everyone because some of these products are sold as loss-leaders (when sold duty-paid). If you're in the business, they're not hard to spot. If the shop was open to all comers, then traders would come in and target the loss-leaders, particularly those that they could get a lower price than from their own suppliers; and then the traders would take them away and resell them at high street prices.

.

 

I can see the logic in avoiding bulk sales of loss-leaders, though limiting quantities, as supermarkets have done, would achieve much the same result

 

But what a cracking deal for traders.

To access the shop in order to buy stock, you have to fly somewhere & fly back. So take a holiday, buy stock on your return, & set the travel exes against corp tax / income tax ;)

Not so far-fetched as it sounds. I had a number of customers who'd holiday when there was an appropriate international trade show ( Vegas, Munich, F'furt, etc) & put the airline tickets through the books. And not a whimper from the dreaded tax inspector :)

JB