Today (August 5th), the work tasks are not heavy, and we plan to explore the clothing stores in Paris to experience the charm of this romantic fashion capital. The Marais district is a more artistic area in Paris, where cultural and artistic centers such as the Paris City Hall, Place des Vosges, Pompidou Center, Picasso Museum, and Paris Historical Museum are all located. There are many independent designer brands and boutiques here that serve as fashion trendsetters, as well as numerous vintage shops, also known as "second-hand clothing stores," specializing in selling second-hand clothing with a sense of age. In recent years, vintage shops have been increasingly popular in our country, becoming an important element of many artistic alleys and favored by many young people. The vintage shops in the Marais district range from more affordable stores for the general consumer to luxury second-hand shops. We visited a European well-known chain vintage store called "Kiloshop." The name comes from the fact that the clothes, shoes, and accessories inside are sold "by weight." Each piece of clothing has a tag of a different color, each corresponding to a different price. After selecting the products, customers weigh and pay at the front desk. The store is filled with color indicators everywhere, for example, red for 20 euros per kilogram, blue for 40 euros per kilogram, and customers can weigh the approximate weight themselves; Photography/Xin Xiaotong A bag with a red tag is also a product "made in China";
Visiting vintage shops requires patience. There is almost every kind of clothing here, from everyday wear to performance costumes, bikinis, and so on. We even found traditional Chinese robes and Japanese kimonos. A variety of clothes are hung together, mostly sorted by color and material, with each style available in only one piece, making them "one-of-a-kind" items. The color coordination in the store is very eye-catching; while browsing, we noticed that in addition to young people, there are also quite a few middle-aged and elderly people. There are even tourists like us who come for the reputation, speaking Spanish and selecting items from the shelves. The civilian vintage shops in Paris are like a big mix, with no distinction between brands and themes. As long as you have enough patience to pick through each item, you can always find something suitable. However, even with the weight-based pricing, the clothing here is not very cheap, at least more expensive than many clothes on domestic Taobao. The quality of the clothes is also uneven, with some materials and workmanship not being very good, but most of the designs are quite good. Next to it is a store called "FreeStar," which is a locally well-known internet-famous shop. A colleague picked up two suits here for only 5 euros each (approximately 39 RMB). The owner has three FreeStar stores in the area, shuttling between them to busy himself with checking out for customers. So much so that when we paid, we found no one at the cash register in the store. After a while, the owner came over from the FreeStar store across the street and took us to the store across the road to pay. Perhaps he is also worried that some people will leave without paying, so he has installed surveillance cameras in the store, in a very conspicuous position, it is unknown whether it is effective or not. There are also luxury vintage shops around, similar to boutiques. At around 7 pm, when it is still quite bright outside, many stores have already closed. According to the locals, these are also favorite shops for both them and tourists, but some light luxury clothing and bags are more expensive than online, and the quality of the clothes needs to be considered. On social media, some people remind everyone to carefully identify to prevent buying counterfeit goods. Among the many shopping malls and shopping centers in Paris, the most famous is the Galeries Lafayette department store. The first floor is filled with high-end luxury brands, and here, more than half of the salesgirls are of Asian descent and can speak Chinese. Chinese Visa and UnionPay advertisements have also appeared in the mall. Chinese customers must be an important group for them. Non-EU residents, including tourists and business travelers, can get a certain percentage of tax refund when shopping in France under specific conditions. A tax refund can be applied for if the total value of goods purchased on the same day and in the same store reaches 175 euros or more (including tax). Galeries Lafayette can provide immediate tax refunds. Most tourists coming to Paris will choose to "shop" here, so mastering the skill of tax refunds is particularly necessary. For Chinese tourists, tax refunds can be realized through cash, credit card, online payment, and other methods. Currently, the cash refund rate is 10.8%, and the credit card refund rate is 11.8%. If you shop at Galeries Lafayette, you can handle the tax refund form at the tax refund center on the second floor and complete the final tax refund at the airport before leaving Europe. However, even after the tax refund, the price of cosmetics here is still a bit higher than in domestic duty-free shops, and the price of shoes and bags is not necessarily.
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