Shopping and Bringing It Home

What to buy in Italy

The best things to bring home from Italy are the ones still made by hand in a particular place: leather from Florence, ceramics from Deruta or Vietri, glass from Murano, paper from Amalfi, balsamic vinegar from Modena. Each comes with a counterfeit or mass-produced version sold next to the real thing, usually for less than the real thing could ever cost. The rule of thumb is simple: buy from the person who made it, or from a shop that can tell you who did.

Italy is also good for clothing and shoes at the end of a season, when the saldi (official sales) start on dates set by each region, typically early January and early July. Designer outlets near the big cities, such as The Mall Firenze outside Florence, Serravalle Designer Outlet between Milan and Genoa, Castel Romano near Rome and Noventa di Piave near Venice, draw bus tours for that reason.

VAT refunds for non-EU visitors

Italian prices include IVA (VAT) at 22% on most goods, 10% on some items. If you live outside the European Union, you can claim that tax back on goods you take home in your luggage. It is your country of residence that counts, not your passport, so an American living in Milan does not qualify, and an Italian citizen living in Chicago does.

The rules

• Minimum spend. More than €70 (about $78), VAT included, in a single store in a single transaction. You cannot add up receipts from different shops, or from the same shop on different days. The threshold was €154.94 until the end of 2024, so smaller purchases now qualify.
• Personal use, in your luggage. The goods must leave the EU with you, unused, as personal or family purchases. Services (hotels, meals, tours) never qualify.
• Deadline to leave. The goods must leave the EU by the end of the third month after the month you bought them. A purchase in March has to be out by June 30. Miss it and the refund is lost.
• Electronic invoices. Italy runs tax-free shopping through a national digital system called OTELLO. The shop issues an electronic tax-free invoice linked to your passport, so bring your passport (a photo of it is often not enough) when you shop.

Most stores that offer tax-free shopping work with a refund company such as Global Blue or Planet, which handle the paperwork and pay you the refund minus a commission. Some shops instead deduct the VAT at the till, which saves you the airport step for the refund, though customs validation is still required.

Recent changes

Two changes from the 2026 budget law help travelers. Since July 1, 2026, customs can validate all of one traveler's electronic tax-free invoices in a single step, even from different shops and refund companies, where the operators take part in the system. And for purchases from January 1, 2026, the window to get the stamped invoice back to the retailer is six months instead of four. Neither change alters the €70 minimum or the three-month deadline to leave the EU.

How to claim the refund at the airport

The step that matters is the customs stamp. In Italy it is now digital: the customs officer finds your invoices in OTELLO and stamps them electronically. Without that validation there is no refund, no matter what the shop promised. Validation happens at your final point of departure from the EU.

1. At the shop. Show your passport, ask for the tax-free invoice or form (Posso avere il modulo tax free?), and keep the paperwork and receipt together with the goods.
2. Pack smart. Keep tax-free purchases in your carry-on if you can, or in one checked bag you can open for an officer. Customs may ask to see the goods, unused and with tags.
3. Arrive early. Allow an extra 45–60 minutes at Rome Fiumicino or Milan Malpensa in summer and before Christmas, when lines at the customs and refund desks get long.
4. Validate before checking bags. If the goods are in a bag you are checking, go to the customs office (Dogana) or the tax-free validation point in departures first, then check in. If they are in your carry-on, you can usually validate after security.
5. Collect the refund. Take validated forms to the refund company's desk for cash or a card credit, or use its app or drop box to have the refund sent to your card. At Fiumicino, Planet has a landside desk in the check-in area for goods in checked luggage and an airside desk in Terminal 3 near the C and D gates; at Malpensa, Terminal 1 has a landside desk on the second floor.

Cash refunds take a cut and are capped; card refunds usually arrive within a few weeks. Photograph every form and receipt before you hand them in. If nothing has arrived after two months, contact the refund company with the form number.

Buying leather

Florence has worked leather since the Middle Ages, and you can still buy superb bags, jackets, gloves and shoes made in the city. You can also buy a great deal of imported leather sold as Florentine. The San Lorenzo market stalls are the classic example: some sell decent goods at fair prices, many sell machine-made imports, and the vendors are skilled negotiators.

How to tell good leather

• Ask where it was made, and by whom. A workshop owner will tell you, and often show you the bench.
• Look for vera pelle (genuine leather) and "Made in Italy" on the label, but know that labels can be faked. Italian law penalizes false origin claims, which is why shops that make their own goods display them proudly.
• Smell it and feel it. Real leather smells like leather, not chemicals, and has small, irregular grain and pores. Very uniform, plastic-like surfaces suggest heavily coated or bonded leather.
• Check the edges and stitching. Painted, smooth edges and tight, even stitches mean care; frayed or glued edges mean shortcuts.
• Be skeptical of prices that seem too good. A properly made leather jacket in Florence typically costs several hundred euros.

Ceramics and Murano glass

Each pottery town has its own look. Deruta in Umbria, 20 minutes south of Perugia, paints majolica with Renaissance patterns in blue, yellow and green. Vietri sul Mare, at the eastern end of the Amalfi Coast, makes cheerful plates and tiles with lemons, fish and donkeys. Caltagirone in Sicily is famous for its ceramic staircase and for heads used as planters. Faenza in Emilia-Romagna gave its name to faience, and Montelupo Fiorentino near Florence and Grottaglie in Puglia have long pottery traditions too.

• Hand-painted versus printed. Hand-painted pieces show brush strokes, slight variations and often the painter's signature on the back. Uniform patterns and perfectly crisp lines usually mean a decal.
• Food safety. Ask whether a piece is for food use (per uso alimentare). Pieces made for the table follow EU limits on lead and cadmium in glazes; purely decorative pieces may not, and the US FDA warns against using decorative traditional pottery for food.
• Getting it home. Shops in Deruta and Vietri pack for checked luggage or ship. Ask for bubble wrap and a box, and carry small pieces on board.

For Murano glass, look for the Vetro Artistico Murano trademark, the guarantee of the consortium of island glassmakers. Furnace visits on Murano are often free, but many end in a showroom with heavy sales pressure. A vaporetto to Murano and a walk along the Fondamenta dei Vetrai lets you choose your own shops. See Venice for the islands.

Shipping purchases home

Many shops will ship ceramics, wine, furniture and large leather pieces to the US. Shipping costs are high for heavy or fragile items, so get the price, the insurance terms and the carrier in writing. If the shop ships directly to you outside the EU, it should not charge Italian VAT, which saves you the airport step.

Wine shipping depends on US state law as well as federal rules; some states bar direct shipments to residents. Wineries that export regularly will know which states they can ship to.

Counterfeit goods and fines

Street vendors selling fake designer bags, sunglasses and watches work the tourist centers of Rome, Florence and Venice and many beaches. Buying from them is illegal in Italy, and the law targets the buyer as well as the seller. Buyers of counterfeit goods face administrative fines that can reach €7,000 (about $7,840), and the goods are confiscated. Police enforce it unevenly, but they do enforce it, especially in summer campaigns on beaches and in historic centers.

• Vendors who lay goods on a sheet with cords at the corners, ready to scoop up when police appear, are selling fakes.
• Fake goods also turn up in shops. A designer bag at a fraction of the boutique price is not a lucky find.
• Bringing counterfeit goods into the US can also lead to seizure by CBP.

Markets worth your time

Italian markets are mostly about food, and the best time is morning; many close by 1 or 2 pm. Bring small bills and coins, keep your bag in front of you in crowds, and let vendors choose produce for you rather than handling it yourself.

For food shopping beyond markets, see Food and Wine; for haggling phrases, see Italian phrases.

Clothing and shoe sizes

Italian sizes differ from US sizes, and they also run small. Try things on, and use this as a starting point only.

US customs: what you can bring home

Returning US residents get a duty-free personal exemption of $800 per person for goods acquired abroad and brought back with them, if they have been away at least 48 hours and have not used the exemption in the previous 30 days. A family traveling together can combine its allowances on one declaration. Above $800, the next $1,000 of goods is charged at a flat duty rate, and anything beyond that at the regular rates for each product.

• Alcohol. Adults 21 and over can bring 1 liter of alcohol duty-free. You can bring more for personal use, but it is subject to duty and tax and to the laws of the state where you land.
• Tobacco. Up to 200 cigarettes and 100 cigars within the exemption.
• Value. Declare goods at the price you paid, and keep receipts handy. Items you are wearing or using count too.
• Liquids on the plane. Olive oil, wine, limoncello and balsamic over 3.4 oz (100 ml) go in checked luggage. Duty-free liquids sealed in a security bag can travel in your carry-on to the US, but if you connect after clearing customs, move them into your checked bag before rescreening.

The fastest way through is the CBP Mobile Passport Control app or Global Entry. The Entry page covers arrival in Italy; this section is about coming home.

Food rules coming home

You must declare all food, plant and animal products on arrival, even a sandwich. If you declare it, the worst case is usually that an officer takes it. If you do not and it is prohibited, CBP confiscates it and can charge a civil penalty of up to $1,000 for a first offense. Food-sniffing beagles patrol baggage claim at major airports.

The meat rule surprises Americans most. Most meat products from Italy are barred because of animal diseases, including African swine fever, which has been found in Italian wild boar and some pig farms in recent years. It does not matter that the prosciutto is sealed and labeled for export: in passenger baggage, it is generally seized. Eat it in Italy.

Before you shop: a checklist

• Carry your passport for tax-free purchases over €70.
• Keep tax-free goods unused and reachable for customs at your last EU airport.
• Allow extra time at the airport for validation and refund desks.
• Buy leather, ceramics and glass from makers or shops that can name the maker.
• Never buy from street vendors with goods on a sheet.
• Ask whether shipping prices include US duties.
• Leave cured meats and fresh fruit in Italy; declare everything else.
• Pack liquids over 3.4 oz (100 ml) in checked bags, wrapped well.

For cards, cash and the euro, see Money; for daily costs, try the budget tool, and for luggage space, the packing list.