Across 177 products from 34 brands, we put duty free
prices at Istanbul Airport and Sabiha Gökçen next to Turkish high-street retail prices.
Sale effect
For 120 of the compared products the Turkish price is a sale price (a struck-through
list price is shown). Using the Turkish list price instead, duty free is dearer for
13 products. During sale periods this number rises markedly.
For 64 products (36%), duty free was MORE EXPENSIVE.
Duty free was cheaper for 113 products (64%); median gap 6.8%.
95% confidence interval for the "duty free is cheaper" share:
56.5% – 70.6%.
By category
Category
Products
Median gap
Duty free dearer
Kadın parfüm
100
6.8%
37 (37.0%)
Erkek parfüm
65
10.8%
21 (32.3%)
Only categories with 30 or more products are listed;
smaller groups cannot carry a claim on their own.
How we measured it
On the duty free side we took the lower of Istanbul (IST) and
Sabiha Gökçen (SAW); on the Turkish side, the lowest retail price
(source in this calculation: Boyner).
Both sides must come from the operator's own catalogue and be purchasable.
Duty free prices must be at most 31 days old, Turkish retail prices at most 14 days;
expired sale prices are excluded.
Currency conversion uses European Central Bank reference rates
(2026-10-16). VAT refund is not included.
Calculated on 2026-10-16. Prices were observed within the freshness windows
before that date; they are not all from the same day.
Read these alongside the numbers 1. Both sides are online prices (duty free: click & collect catalogue).
The shelf price at the airport may differ. 2. This is a dated snapshot, not a standing rule. Turkish retail prices move
often; the same measurement on another day can differ. 3. Sample size is 177 products. We are not claiming the interval is narrow. 4.Fragrance and cosmetics only. Spirits and tobacco are out of scope. 5. The Turkish side in this calculation rests on a single retailer (Boyner);
prices at other shops may differ.
A wider cut
Applying the same calculation to the whole network (the cheapest of about
30 airports), duty free is cheaper for 228 of 312 products
(73%). That figure is more optimistic, because it counts an
option the traveller does not actually have — "the cheapest airport in Europe". That is why
the headline number here is the Istanbul-departure one.
Check it yourself
Every price on the site carries the date it was collected and a link to the
operator's source page. You can verify the claim above item by item; our method is
on the How we collect the data page.
DutyFree