Buying Lux for Less: Italist

Background

Italist is a website that allows you to shop for luxury goods at Italian prices- and if any of you know I am always talking about luxury shopping in Europe to save money! With luxury goods at Italian prices, Italist brings together over 1,000 luxury brands and passes on the Italian retail price savings to the customer. The typically equites to consistent savings of 30-40% on the hottest luxury designers. All of their items are new and are not preloved (even though as you all know I have nothing against preloved).

I personally have been buying from Italist for four years. My first purchase was in 2017 and it was the Valentino Rockstud Spike Bag. I still have that bag and every time I use it I think about the fabulous deal I got on it. Since then I have bought various different pieces from Italist including a Bottega Veneta mini pouch bag and a Burberry Scarf- both of which you have probably seen on my Instagram.

Pros

  1. The Savings: The biggest pro of shopping on Italist is the savings. Especially during covid times when we cannot travel to get deals finding good deals online is important for all of us trying to save some money!
  2. Great Sales: Italist often has sales when items get discounted even more, often up to 70% off. I would sale they probably have at least one sale a month. Though I will say if you see an item you want at a really good price snatch it up quickly.
  3. Wide Variety of Brands: Italist currently carries over 1,000 brands. I go to Italist to shop for luxury items from Bottega Veneta, Burberry, Celine, Gucci, Balenciaga, and Saint Laurent.
  4. All Duties are Included In the Price At Checkout: You still pay taxes and duties on top of the initial price you see but the final amount you pay for the good is what you see on the checkout screen. There will be no more duties do when DHL or FedEx delivers the package which can be an unpleasant surprise.
Example of a sale happening on Feb. 25th

Cons

  1. You are Charge Both Taxes and Duties: You not only pay import duties you also pay your local tax rate (at least if you live in CA). For a lot of European websites you only pay duties (or sometime nothing on top of the purchase prices which is great!). This just means thats the savings are not always as high as they appear.
  2. Limited Selection and Sizes: Most sized items do not have a full size run, especially in shoes. Unfortunately I have very big feet and I have not been able to find the shoes in my size on the site. Also they will not have all colors or variations of an item. Lastly a lot of times when they have an item they only have one and it will go quick!
  3. Returns are Not Free: Since the goods are being directly imported from Italy, all returns must be processed through Italian customs. Because of this, returns have additional shipping costs and customs duties. Honestly if the deal is good and the size just doesn’t work for you it is often easier to resell the good then pay for the returns process. This is obviously less of an issue for something that does not include a size like a handbag or scarf.

BHB Picks

I own all of these so I highly recommend them!