Shopping in Italy Question

Nope -- that is because the Value Add Tax is around the 20% or more. Even if you back that out, given the weak dollars there are few deals in Europe anymore.

The only chance you have of scoring a deal on a Luis Vuitton bag is if you go during the twice yearly sales (Jan-Feb and July-August). Still, they tend to put only the seasonal collections on 50% off, while many of the classic bags stay full price :(

Prices are high, high, high over there even when subtracting the VAT, especially when the dollar is so weak against the Euro. Try reading this book: "Suzy Gershman's Born to Shop Italy". It will give you good advice on how and where to shop to get the best deals. There are outlet stores on the outskirts of some of the cities where the regular folks shop, and I believe that this guide covers them.

Agreed with all. The name brand -- e.g. internationally marketed -- stuff isn't very deal oriented, largely due to exchange rates and the VAT.

Now... for general deals on leather, Florence is hard to beat IF* you educate yourself on leather before you go. Even at current exchange rates I'd speculate you can still get nearly double the value for the money (comparing Italy price to GA price) if you're not concerned about the designer.

Now that the world is small again (thanks to internet shopping), the bargains you're most likely to find in Italy are in smaller stores and not on name-brands.