Tips for shopping St Maarten Shopping.
If you plan on visiting the sunny island of St Maarten as part of an upcoming vacation such as a Caribbean cruise, simply continue reading to discover a few invaluable St Maarten shopping tips.
Philipsburg Shopping
1. Choose to shop at a store which offers duty-free shopping
In order to ensure that you get the best deal possible on your souvenirs, it’s well worth shopping at a store which offers duty-free shopping. As an example, if you pop into our St Maarten jewelry store you’ll be able to purchase gold and silver pieces of jewelry for a fraction of the price, which you’d expect to pay for a comparable item in your home city. Better yet, if you opt to take home a diamond jewelry piece, you can expect to save hundreds of dollars off your purchase, by purchasing it duty-free.
2. Try and choose a high-quality item over a cheap impulse purchase
If you travel overseas on a frequent basis, chances are that you’ve made a few cheap impulse purchases, which you don’t use and which have ended up collecting dust in your spare room. So when you visit St Maarten it’s well worth avoiding purchasing gimmicky or tacky souvenirs which have been made in China in favor of purchasing high-quality items, which you are confident that you’ll use on a regular basis.
As an example, you can’t go wrong opting to buy a gold necklace or bracelet as a souvenir as you’ll be likely to wear a quality piece of jewelry on a regular basis.
3. If possible try to purchase the vast majority of your gifts and souvenirs in one store
Unless you really enjoy shopping, it’s well worth trying to get all your souvenir and gift shopping completed on your first morning in St Maarten as it would be a shame to visit St Maarten without spending an afternoon at one of the island’s popular world class beaches. Examples of which include Maho Beach, Mullet Bay, Grand Case Beach and Little Bay Beach. So it pays to remember to use your time on St Maarten wisely!
4. Make sure to shop at proper brick and mortar stores over market stalls
It’s well worth avoiding purchasing items from the myriad of market stalls which line some of downtown St Maarten’s streets as if you find that a product which you’ve purchased from a market stall is faulty, you’re unlikely to receive a refund on the item which you’ve purchased. Whereas if you purchase an item from a traditional store such as our jewelry store, you’ll receive a receipt, which will allow you to return an item you’ve purchased if you’re unhappy with it.
However, if you do spot an item from a market stall which only costs a couple of dollars, you may want to go ahead and purchase the item which you’ve got your eye on as even if it’s faulty, you only spent a couple of dollars on your purchase.
Another reason to avoid purchasing souvenirs from a market stall is that many of the items which you may see for sale may be knock-off or fake versions of genuine products. As an example, a stall vendor may pretend that they’re selling you a genuine gold necklace but the item which they may be trying to sell you may be a cheap metal necklace, which may turn your skin green.
5. Choose to shop at a store which boasts knowledgeable employees
If an employee at a store can’t answer basic questions about their product range, you may want to move on and find an alternate shop to purchase your St Maarten souvenirs and gifts from. As employees who are passionate about their job and helping their customers find the best possible souvenirs will be more than happy to demonstrate their wealth of knowledge when it comes to their store’s products.
St Maarten Shopping
As an example, if you visit our store, our experienced sales assistants will be able to tell you everything you need to know about any of the fine jewelry pieces in our store.
So if you plan on visiting St Maarten in the near future, it’s well worth using this handy shopping guide in order to ensure that you enjoy the best possible value for your money!
