Brazil Shopping

Shopping

It's wise to pack light and acquire a Brazilian wardrobe within a couple of days of arrival. It will make you less obvious as a tourist, and give you months of satisfied gloating back home about the great bargains you got whenever you are complimented on your clothing. Brazilians of almost any economic status tend to dress quite stylishly. This makes tourists, particularly Americans, stand out in the crowd. Have some fun shopping, and blend in. Another good reason for buying clothes and shoes in Brazil is that the quality is usually good and the prices often cheap. To figure your Brazilian pants size, measure your waist in centimeters, divide by 2, and round up to the next even number.

Store windows will often display a price followed by 'X 5' or 'X 10', etc. This is an installment-sale price. The price displayed is the per-installment price, so that, 'R$50 X 10', for example, means 10 payments (typically monthly) of R$50 each. The actual price is almost always lower if you pay in cash.

Make sure any appliances you buy are either dual voltage or the same as in your home country. Brazil is 60Hz, so do not buy electric clocks or non-battery operated motorized items if you live in Europe or Australia. The voltage, however, varies by state (see Electricity below).

Brazil uses a hybrid video system called 'PAL-M.' It is NOT at all compatible with the PAL system of Europe and Australia. Television began in black and white using the NTSC system of the USA and Canada, then years later, using PAL for its analogue colour -- making a totally unique system. Nowadays, most new TV sets are NTSC compatible. Digital video such as DVDs are also compatible with NTSC (all digital colour is the same worldwide), but make sure the DVD region code(s), if any, matches your home country (Brazil is part of region 4). Another option is to buy a good cheap region-free DVD player (preferably in your home country), and never have to worry about that sort of problem again. Prices for imported electronic goods can be quite high, and the choice of domestic electronic gadgets may not be as wide as in developed countries.