Here are a few thumb rules for sensible duty-free shopping:

• Avoid impulse buys
Check prices of your favourite liquor, cigarettes, perfumes, etc in local stores. Look for those items in the duty-free shop and then decide whether the saving is worth it; whether in fact, there is a saving at all!

• Buy at the end of the trip
Shop at the end of the trip. Bulky purchases can slow you down. Also, it gives you time to do some price comparison.

• Know the rules before you go
The European Union (EU) for instance, has done away with duty-free shopping within its borders. The EU is now considered a single market, so you can do your duty-free shopping only while leaving the EU.

• Search the web to screen merchants. Go to the airline, airport or cruise line's web page for more information about duty-free offerings.

• Handicrafts are not very good purchases
Such goods are locally made, so they have no duty placed on them - with no possible savings to be passed on. Moreover, you can often buy these same handicrafts for less at local markets in the relevant city, where shop rentals are likely to be less. Mostly, you end up buying handicrafts at duty-free stores because the airport is your last opportunity to pick up a souvenir, or to get rid of some leftover foreign currency.

• Making a wise purchase requires considerable savvy
Some countries sell crystal, china and silverware at attractively discounted rates. The same applies to watches, designer accessories and items in these categories that appear to be great bargains. Be careful. The designer bag could even be a counterfeit rip-off! Be wary, too, of heavily advertised discounted items such as cameras and electronic goods. Many of these may be available for a lower price at ordinary discount stores back home.

• A duty-free item may not be duty free!
It's wise not to simply assume that a duty-free sign means what it says, no matter how prominently it may be displayed at a store. Some businesses have been known to use this label very loosely.

• Don’t be greedy!
And, of course, remember that you may still have to pay duty on any ‘’duty-free’’ purchases that exceed the import ceiling upon return to your own country.

Safe Entry
According to the law, the following goods may be imported into India by passengers over 17 years of age without incurring customs duty:
200 cigarettes or 50 cigars or 250 g of tobacco; 1 bottle of alcoholic beverage; 250 ml of eau de toilette; goods for personal use or gifts to a value of Rs 600 (foreign passport holders) or Rs 3,000 (Indian passport holders).

Prohibited items: Narcotics, plants, and gold and silver bullion.

FUN FACTS
• The concept of duty-free shopping began with the development of Shannon Airport near Limerick, Ireland, during the 1940s. Shannon Airport's position was ideal for a gateway between the US and Europe for duty-free cargo shipments and for passenger flights in the future.
• In 1947, the Irish Government passed the Customs Free Airport Act permitting duty- free to commence. In that same year Sean Lomass opened the world's first duty-free kiosk, where else but at Shannon Airport. The advent of this first duty-free airport shop set the trend throughout the world as the benefits of duty-free shopping were realised and this service spread from airport ground shops to in-flight services.
• The duty-free business enjoyed several decades of success. However in July 1999, intra-EU (European Community) duty-free shopping was abolished at the airports and on intra-European Community flights.