I’m off on a school trip to New York in a few weeks time (I’m a teacher and yes, it’s free for me 8) ) and I’m starting to think about a shopping list of sorts. I’m not after spending serious money and I’ve only a limited amount of time to shop, we will be visiting Macy’s as part of the trip too.

I’m not fussed about bike hardware, I’ve everything I need at the moment.
On my list so far are Vans trainers, and general tshirts/hoodies/sweatshirts. I quite like the look of the GoPro Session 4, but amazon.com vs .co.uk comparison is only £15 difference, hardly worth it, in terms of any warranty issues.

What would you buy for yourself or your wife/GF/OH, and do any of you have any top recommendations for cheap places to buy?

school trip

New York

Macy’s

Eh? What the hell happened to a wet tuesday up to your armpits in the river throwing dog biscuits to record flow speeds?

kids today. sheesh. etc etc

There aren’t really any cheap places in New York city if you’re after genuine goods, you would be better going out of town to get cheaper goods.

Be wary of the prices listed as the yanks often list a price without the state sales tax so you get a shock when you go to the till.

Walmart is cheap, excellent for Clif bars by the boxload and G-Force watches from about £30

If you can stand the crowds, Century 21 by the World Trade Centre has lots of cheap stuff – some good, some absolute garbage.

Stoner: that’s for the geographers! Business and Economics students demand more!

I think Century 21 might already have been mentioned by colleagues and students, and yes, state sales tax are bloody annoying!

Macy’s for cheap poor quality stuff… Bloomingdales for proper bargains (expensive stuff cheap)

My neice wanted some Converse. I eventually managed to find some for the same price as over here.
Don’t forget to add all the taxes to the price on the label.

if you’re going to MOMA become a member before you go in. This let’s you jump the queue, get in free, and pertinent to your question, get a good discount in their very good shop. Which contains usual museum shop stuff but nice. We bought a couple of watches (cost less than a car so nothing to excite anyone on here) and other knick knacks.

For my A-Level Geography I did my coursework on social housing in Hackney. It was something of a prophetic work, saying it was ripe for Islington overspill and gentrification (this was back in the 90s). I did get to see some tower blocks blown up but tbh a trip to New York would have been better!

Diamonds! 8)

very cheap prices compared to London.

I was there in August and to be honest there wasn’t really anything that I noticed in the NY that was noticeably cheaper than back home, especially with the exchange rate. Advice I would give though is

1. The metro cards for the busses and subway are good value (although the system is lacking compared to the Oyster card system that London has)

2. If you are going to do the tourist bus thing then buy your tickets there, don’t buy in advance. We got a much much better deal by doing that.

3. I wish we’d spent more time in Brooklyn.

Levi’s. Lots cheaper than the UK if they’re your denim of choice.

a big apple

If you need to ask people on here what to buy, then you don’t need to buy anything. The biggest savings will come from not buying stuff you don’t need, just because it’s cheaper.

So maybe a pair of jeans as well then…in a way I’m kind of glad because I’m not really a big fan of shopping.

What’s good about Brooklyn then gonefishin?

And this looks quite cool on the MOMA shop website:

https://www.momastore.org/museum/moma/ProductDisplay_AuraBox%20Clock%20Speaker_10451_10001_220918_-1_11470_11470_220923

Although I’d fancy a visit to MOMA, I’m not sure my colleagues are quite as cultured

I can’t imagine it is worth buying anything right now with the exchange rate as it is. Remember to add sales tax on the prices you see too.

PS. We went to Walton on the Naze for our school trip to study coastal erosion. We weren’t even allowed an Ice Cream as the coach driver was a miserable bastard.

Just come back from 5 days there over new year. We were time limited and its a big place, so trying to get to the shops you want requires planning, and stumbling across stuff is unlikely.

Got some Levi’s in Macy’s, 2nd pair 50% off so a lot cheaper, but trying to find ones you like in right colour and size was a mare. Other stuff in there might have been cheaper but didnt find much we liked (american fashion is odd).

The GF got a Marc Jacobs bag from their store with a big discount, bloomingdales seemed more expensive for much of the brand stuff than the brands own shops elsewhere.

Vans, didnt find anywhere selling any significant range.

Rapha shop is moving to Soho (is/was at end of highline walk), just mentioning in case you wanted to go.

GoPro session, good luck. I wanted one and didnt see a single shop with one the entire time. In JFK they are $199 if you want to pick up on the way back.

Sales tax varies but seemed to be about 8% on average, its less on smaller things.

Macy’s was really good for shopping. If you scan your passport there you get a 10% off voucher.

When I tried to use it the sales assistant, told me to keep it and gave me a friends and family discount, iirc it was about 25%.

Same happened two more times with different sales assistant’s.

I’d want to go to Paul’s Boutique, but I doubt I’d buy anything.

weren’t asked for sales tax in moma, or any of the highstreet clothes shops, only in the Patagonia shop. Where I’d made a specific trip to buy one of their top end wetsuits. After struggling in and out of a couple – they’re suits of armour compared to a decent xcel – my wife getting increasingly anxious about flights, I went to pay.

Don’t ask an already wound up yorkshireman at the till for an extra $40 that’s not on the price tag. Doesn’t matter how much of a laid back surf dude you are. I almost said something.

B+H Photographic. The best camera shop in the world.

What’s good about Brooklyn then gonefishin?

We hardly spent any time there but unlike the other parts of NY we stayed it actually looked like America and a cool place to wander round. Very different to the rest of the NYC. The Pizza’s supposed to be good too.

Did this as a school trip back in October. Only bought a couple of pairs of Levi’s at Macy’s, nothing else was cheap or worth buying abroad.

Recommend signing up to MoMa tickets as a group before you go or they charge loads.

Good luck getting decent shopping time away from the shops the kids want to go to.

If shes into shoes then a pair of Manolo Blahnik – save about a 1/3 on UK prices. still not cheap though, but if thats her thing then you’ll have bagged some brownie points.

Tiffanys for the missus is always a good shout.

Is this trip related in any way to the module on consumerism?

I was in San Francisco before Christmas and couldn’t find anything that was significantly cheaper enough to be worth buying, and I checked out GoPro, Garmin, Oakley etc. I did get some very good local cold-pressed olive oil, though.

American clothing brands are a good shout however have you seen the exchange rate at the moment! $1.46 = £1 today. Not many things are going to be a bargain at that level.

the domestic brands can be cheap and often on offer, Levis,Ralph Lauren, oakleys etc

Birthday and christmas presents for the Mrs depending on what she likes but Tiffanys, Michael Kors stuff is a lot cheaper out there.

I found the only thing worth buying was bits of clothes or trainers.

Only worth buying stuff you can’t buy here.

The pricing is closer than you may think in most cases. I’d stop worrying about trainers and soak up the incredible sights and sounds of Manhattan instead.

Property

Coke and hookers.

Think I’ll go with beefheart’s suggestion, after all I believe he is a deputy headteacher or the similar?

Cheers all, I’ll of course be doing this 95% of the time:

I’d stop worrying about trainers and soak up the incredible sights and sounds of Manhattan instead.

new york? go to ‘other music’ on 15 E. 4th St and spend all your money.

well thats what id do.

headfirst – that Aurabox thingy is available from Amazon for £38 delivered, so not really worth picking up in NY either!

I’ve found my new number 1 thing to buy in New York: practical, yet classy

Can anyone find anything to beat this?

(Yes, it is the middle of the school day, but I’ve already done my one hour of teaching for today, all my other students are on mock exam leave. “Teaching:Hardest Job in the World” still holds true).

Can anyone find anything to beat this?