USA Shopping Guide

Best Cities for Shopping

New York (Fifth Avenue, SoHo) and Los Angeles (Rodeo Drive, The Grove) are the two biggest draws for fashion and luxury shopping, while cities like Chicago and Las Vegas combine large shopping districts with entertainment, making a shopping day easy to build into a broader trip.

Outlet malls on the edge of most major cities offer significant discounts on well-known brands and are a popular half-day trip from cities like Orlando, Las Vegas and New York.

Understanding Sales Tax

Unlike many countries, the USA doesn't include sales tax in the displayed price — it's added at checkout and varies by state (and sometimes city), ranging from 0% in states like Delaware and Oregon to over 9% in parts of California and Louisiana.

If tax-free shopping matters to your trip, states like Oregon, Montana, New Hampshire and Delaware have no state sales tax at all.

Tax-Free Shopping for International Visitors

The USA generally doesn't offer VAT-style refunds for international tourists the way many other countries do, since sales tax works differently — a small number of states have limited exceptions, so it's worth checking specifics if this is a priority for your trip.

Black Friday (the day after Thanksgiving in late November) and the following Cyber Monday are the country's biggest annual discount events, though stores get extremely crowded.

Outlet Malls Worth the Trip

Woodbury Common (near New York), Desert Hills Premium Outlets (near Palm Springs/LA), and Las Vegas North Premium Outlets are among the most visited, offering a wide range of brands at discounted prices, often with organized bus tours from nearby major cities.

Outlet shopping works best as a planned half-day or full-day trip rather than a quick stop, since the malls themselves are large and spread out.