How to save 20% on your shopping at Le Bon Marché in Paris, France? Loyalty card & VAT refund

Le Bon Marché might not be as well known as Galeries Lafayette for tourists visiting France. However, it is one of the most popular shopping destinations for local Parisians.

In fact, Le Bon Marché Rive Gauche was the first department store in the world! It opened in 1852 in Paris at the instigation of Aristide Boucicaut and his wife Marguerite. Now the property of LVMH, it sells a wide range of high-end goods, including food in an adjacent building at 38, rue de Sèvres, called La Grande Épicerie de Paris. They offer the best of designer luxury fashion and accessories, culinary arts and gastronomy. And what’s more, the store is open 7 days a week! This is definitely a bonus point for tourists!

You can find a top-notch selection of French and international brands and also a range of souvenirs if you want to bring a bit of Paris back home. Especially during Christmas, the windows of this quintessential Rive Gauche store are adorned with beautiful decorations which never fail to delight everyone who passes by. This blog will show you how to save money if you shop in Le Bon Marché when you travel to Paris, France.

How to utilize loyalty program to enjoy 10% cashback when shopping in Le Bon Marche?

Step 1: Apply for a loyalty card: Carte 24 Sèvres

Le Bon Marche, La Grande Épicerie and online shopping website 24 Sèvres are all from LVMH group. It means if you used to shop on 24 Sèvres website, you might already be eligible to join their program Carte 24 Sèvres. If you are not sure, check with their customer support. If you haven’t shopped at 24 Sèvres before, you can apply it in the store before you begin shopping in Le Bon Marche

When you use your Carte 24 Sèvres, all your purchases at Le Bon Marché Rive Gauche are rewarded. €1 spent equals one Point earned. The accumulation of these Points gives you access to specific advantages depending on the status reached.

Step 2: Activate your Journée Privilège (privilege day) to enjoy 10% cashback

When you've earned 500 Points no matter in Le Bon Marche or 24 Sèvres, you will be sent an invitation by post or email to enjoy a Journée Privilège. You have six months to activate your Journée Privilège on the day of your choice. On that day, 10% of the total cost of the purchases you make in Le Bon Marché Rive Gauche and La Grande Épicerie de Paris will be credited to your Carte 24 Sèvres in the form of a Gift Voucher. You can spend this amount from the day after the Journée Privilège, in Le Bon Marché Rive Gauche and La Grande Épicerie de Paris. Your Gift Vouchers will be valid for six months after your Journée Privilège.

Tips:

Please ensure you present your card before paying for your purchases in store, or your Carte 24 Sèvres has been linked with your online account before placing an order on 24 Sèvres, on lebonmarche.com or on lagrandeepicerie.com. More questions? Check here for Carte 24 Sèvres FAQs.

How to get a tax refund when shopping at Le Bon Marché

Non-EU citizens, including British travellers as a result of Brexit, can now reclaim VAT on purchases made on a majority of items such as clothing, jewellery, electronics, beauty products and much more. Check out our other blogs and help section for more information on what can or cannot be claimed for. As a general rule, things you will use on your trip like tickets and food are excluded.

There are two main ways you can get a tax-refund – using a traditional in-store paper method, or a digital app like Wevat. The main perk of using a digitalised method with Wevat is the higher refund rates you can enjoy compared with the in-store method. The refund process and payment received is also much quicker. Plus, you only have to spend a total of €100 across all your purchases rather than €100 per store. You also don’t need to remember to bring your passport around with you when shopping, much more convenient, especially if you want to avoid theft or losing it while you stroll along the streets of Paris.

Simpler tax refunds with Wevat at Le Bon Marché

Choosing to use Wevat over the in-store method means less fee, less paperwork to keep track of and a quicker refund in the currency you want. Compared to the 12% offered by traditional methods, Wevat instead offers customers up to 13% tax refund and is fully backed and regulated by the French government. Our five-step process below shows how much simpler life can be with Wevat!

DOWNLOAD WEVAT APP – make sure you get set up before visiting the store
REQUEST A ‘FACTURE’ (invoice) - Show the ”request an invoice” in the app to get an invoice addressed to Wevat and not yourself
SNAP YOUR INVOICE – upload this straight to the app while in store
VERIFY YOUR CLAIM – follow the prompts on screen to get your digital refund form
SCAN AND GO – visit the tax refund kiosk within customs departure areas, scan the barcode on the Wevat app and off you go! Make sure to keep goods claimed on hand in case of checking (in unused and original packaging).

Examples of a valid facture and Wevat address can be found in the app. We also have helpful step-by-step videos on our YouTube channel.

Tips for getting an invoice:

Ask for a “facture” (Invoice in French) addressed to Wevat (Click our mascot on the app homepage where you will see our request on an invoice screen. Show this screen to the store staff where it has Wevat’s info.
Do not mention tax refund form otherwise they will issue you a paper tax refund form from a traditional tax refund company.
FYI: Tourists have the right to use their own tax refund provider and stores are obligated to provide invoices upon request.

Bonus: Wevat is launching our service for tax refunds on online purchases for all eligible tourists travelling to France. This means If you shop on 24 Sèvres before your trip, you can get a tax refund and save up to 13% if you deliver them to a France address and take them back home out of the EU. Here’s what you need to know before shopping and a guide to how to get a tax refund for online shopping step by step: here.

Here you go! Sounds too good to be true? With the knowledge of the loyalty programme and tax refund, you can save 20% when you shop in Le Bon Marche when you travel to Paris, France.

About Wevat App:

Wevat - a new digital tax refund app that makes it easy for travellers to save money on their shopping in France! We are a community of people who love travelling, shopping and saving money. Since our launch in 2019, we've helped refund travellers from 88 countries more than €18 million on their shopping!

Compared with in-store VAT refund providers, Wevat gives you up to 23% more VAT back and with no minimum spending requirements on each purchase. With Wevat, you can simply snap a picture of your purchase invoices then generate and scan your barcode when you leave France. There are no paper forms, repeated scanning or dropping off forms required with us. Our super-friendly, multilingual customer support team will be always on hand to support you throughout your trip via our app.

We are fully regulated by both French and UK customs.

Download our app now to start saving money on your shopping in France!

Download Wevat