Shopping on the RS tours

Should not be a problem. Been on six RS tours and those that wanted to shop / buy / browse gift shops at attractions visited by the group had plenty of time to do so. When the tours are referred to as not "shopping tours" is simply means that you are not taken to shop after shop after shop where you are expected to buy something as is the case on some tours. TC

On most of the organized tours within the RS tour, there will be time with a guide (and the local guides are amazing) followed by some time on your own to visit other areas of the site, stop at the gift shop, etc. There is also free time built into the tours, and you can spend that however you choose ... visiting additional sights, finding the best gelato in town, shopping, etc. If there is something you are interested in finding, your guide will probably even be able to give you some suggestions of where to find it. You can also put your purchases into deep storage on the bus so you don't have to carry them in and out of each hotel along the way.

My experience has been the same as TC's. People always find time to shop and in nearly every museum the exit is thru the gift shop, lol! You can also create more time to shop if you don't spend a long time on meals at various locations. I am not much of a shopper and just had to laugh at how much stuff got carted onto the bus at every stop! Plus people had big stuff like cuckoo clocks mailed home. If you are on a longer tour your bus driver may have a big box for people to put stuff in for deep storage (not off loaded every stop).

editing to add: I just realized you are considering the Venice, Florence, Rome trip so there may not be an opportunity for deep storage as you will only have the bus twice. In Venice you will be assaulted by stores on every front, lol. (In fact in teaching us to orient ourselves in Venice our guide always pointed out stores to use as our keys to make a turn to the hotel.) In Florence your guide will doubtless show you the San Lorenzo leather market where you can shop to your heart's content. This is where you can pick up inexpensive scarves!

Check the item to be sure it is made in Italy.

You will have time to shop. We just returned from the Heart of Italy tour and you are on your own for about half a day in each place.

If you are looking at the Rome Venice Florence tour buy your scarves and leather in Florence. The scarves you can get on the street are crazy beautiful, cheap and easy to pack. The leather isn't cheap but not a day has gone by since we got back by where someone didn't stop and ask where I bought my purse. And I love saying "oh this little shop in Florence"

china,

All of the tours include both free afternoons or evenings, and some have a complete free day, so you should be able to do as much shopping as you want. There will also be opportunities for shopping during the rest stops, as many of the Auto Grills or similar have lots of things like postcards.

I'll just add that if you see it and like it, BUY IT!!! DON'T think you'll see it cheaper in the next town, or that you'll pass that shop again tomorrow; they will be closed - no matter what the door sign says. Trust me.