I was travelling to an African country a few weeks ago and was buying two bottles of wine from the Big Five Duty Free store to take to friends I was visiting. When browsing through the wines, I noticed that the Haute Cabriere Chardonnay/Pinot Noir blend was on sale for R99 a bottle. I know that this wine is much cheaper in JHB stores. For example at UltraLiquor it is for sale at R69. Even at the estate itself, it is for sale at R80 a bottle. When I enquired to a gentleman at the store, why the Big Five price was so high, he replied, that although they are duty free, they are "not profit free". Well the Big Five price of R99 in this case is 43% higher than the price from Ultraliquor - I think that this is excessive considering it is a duty free store. I now assume that all the other wines at Big Five are priced well above normal JHB prices. So my suggestion; if you don't have a weight issue with your luggage, buy wine from a local outlet and pack it in your suitcase.
Further, by advertising themselves as duty free, any reasonable person expects prices to be lower than normal retail outlets. To then add on excessive profit margins is extremely misleading and immoral in my opinion.
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