We are relocating to Geneva in one week.
A rather mundane question (but for a family of 5 it might out of this world, should we not ask): should we buy hiking gear in the States or in Switzerland? From EF, I know clothes in general are much cheaper in the States but...
Don't know about prices in the US but if in Geneva you might want to have a look a the Decathlon stores in France where prices will be much lower than in similar Swiss stores. You can get an idea of the prices on their website http://www.decathlon.fr
Buy it in the US. Expensive here by comparison. Just make sure you remove any labels (or anything else that makes it look new) before you pack for Geneva.
Cheers,
Nick
Alaind beat me to it -- Decathalon is exactly where I was going to recommend as well.
The gear in Switzerland is top quality, but it is very expensive.
Prices for quite a lot of brands seemed 20% cheaper in the US when we were there in 2010 (SFO).
Agree. Buy in the US. Much cheaper.
We just bought e.g. a North Face jacket for $129 in the US albeit heavily discounted in a Memorial Day sale - the closest equivalent here sells for CHF 329 ($385). Similar story with boots, shirts... The exchange rate has become so extreme (30% more USDs for the CHF than this time last year) that there really is no question of anything being cheaper here than there.
Another example is those useful Sigg drinking bottles - $7.49 v. best price shown on top-preise.ch of CHF 11.50 ($13.50) - and they are made here!
US of A every time. Hiking gear costs a fortune here unless you wait until sale time and then they never seem have any normal human being sizes anyway. Bächli in Zürich-Oerlikon have two departments, the flashy one upstairs with prices to match and their underground dungeon which has marked down articles for example. Transa have great stores, but their prices are not competitive.
I get my buddies to bring back stuff from the States whenever possible.
I always factor in a couple of hours at REI if I'm in Seattle, Portland or SF (or indeed anywhere else that has one).
The U.K. has bargains too, if you every visit.
BUY BUY BUY in the US if you can. Not only are things more expensive here, but the US & CDN currencies are so weak right now, that your money will go a fraction of the distance in terms of quality. The Canadian dollar has lost almost 20 cents per dollar since December....oh hindsight.
Yes, shop in the US! In fact, I wouldn't stop with hiking gear. Buy as much as you can of everything before you come, as US prices are super cheap compared to Swiss prices, especially with the current exchange rate. As someone mentioned, don't forget to take the tags etc off, just in case. Happy shopping!
Hiking gear, skiing gear, MTBing gear or ANY outdoor gear would will be waaaay cheaper in the U.S. And buy GOOD shoes/boots. Preferably boots as they are much more stable than hiking shoes. I can highly recomend these Salomon boots. Lighter than most of my shoes and climb like a goat with tons of grip and they were comfortable right out of the box. No break in or blisters needed. Take a visit to an REI if you have one in your area, or any outdoors specialty store and avoid Coleman at all costs. You get what you pay for and the Alps are no place for cheap gear.
Buy in the US, but take into account the cost of the extra luggage you will be bringing as you may have to pay extra when you fly and work that into your calculations
Even while you are here, it's very often cheaper to buy something on ebay and have it shipped.... So, if you have space in your luggage buy everything in the States
I agree with all the others, the US is always cheaper and especially now with the exchange rate. If you don't need to try stuff on, I highly recommend Sierra Trading post - closeouts on top brands: http://www.sierratradingpost.com/
I also agree about removing all the tags so everything does not look new. Here is the quote from Swiss customs "Everyone is entitled to a duty-free limit of CHF 300 once per day. The conditions are that all goods (including animals and plants) are intended for personal use or as gifts"