The founder of a company which charters private jets has revealed some of the shopping habits of the super rich – describing some of the eye-watering amounts of money they spend on clothes, wine, and other luxury goods.
Ameerh Naran is the founder and CEO of Vimana Private Jets, according to the Times. His company works for ‘ultra high net worth individuals’, brokering opulent private planes for them.
Speaking to the outlet, he discussed how these wealthy individuals spend their money – and where.
According to Ameerh, more and more high net worth people are choosing to splash the cash abroad, meaning fewer are spending it in the UK.
And the sums of money he is discussing are significant, with Vimana’s average client spending a staggering around $1,000,000 monthly on ‘personal family travel’.
Extremely high net worth individuals can charter private jets to go shopping – and splash out on millions (stock image)
The extravagance does not stop there, according to Ameerh, who said: ‘We focus on the very, very top end of private jet travel. The amount they spend on shopping is far in excess of what they pay to travel there.’
One major change Ameerh spoke about when it comes to the spending habits of the super rich is not what they splash the cash out on – but where.
According to the CEO, Paris and Geneva are among the top destinations for Vimana clients, who mainly come from Asia, the Middle East and the US.
This marks a departure from another popular shopping destination – London.
In 2021, then-chancellor Rishi Sunak scrapped tax-free shopping for foreign visitors, which meant that many of these big spenders decided to do their luxury shopping elsewhere.
This decision, The Office of Budget Responsibility estimated, would cost the exchequer £2 billion.
However, according to the Centre for Economics and Business Research, the cost of the loss of high-spending shoppers was £11 billion annually.
According to Ameerh, because ‘it’s very easy to travel to another destination where you can get the tax back’, he knew this move would likely affect where high net worth individuals would choose to shop.
Members of the private jetterati who come to shop in London are often enticed by upmarket department stores like Harrods (pictured)
However, there is a solution for the uber wealthy, which Ameerh offers to his clients who are members of the private jetterati.
Using a freight forwarding licence to transport clients’ purchases means that while shoppers pay VAT on goods as they buy them, when the items are taken to their destination outside the European Economic Area, the tax is reimbursed by a company called SkyBlue Exports, which earns a percentage of the VAT as a fee.
Vimana works with a number of luxury brands, offering the kind of lavish goods that the ultra wealthy are likely to purchase.
Among the companies the private airline broker works with are top-end jewellers like Ferrara Diamonds and Catherine Best among others, as well as pricy department store Harrods and British stalwart Asprey London, which sells luxury versions of items like jewellery, home wear, and handbags.
While customers can have purchases directly shipped, and then reclaim the VAT, using the freight forwarding licence option means that shoppers do not have to wait for their new treats to arrive, and instead can take them immediately.
While forwarding the purchases via freight may appear like a convoluted way to save 20 per cent, the eye-watering sums of money spent by individuals who use services like Ameerh’s makes the service financially worthwhile for them.
According to Ameerh, he has one client who receives a monthly budget from her husband to spend on clothes of $2,000,000.
While describing the kind of clients who use private jobs to fly to shopping destinations, a flight broker revealed one client has a monthly $2 million budget for clothes (stock image)
As he explained, 20 per cent of that figure is $400,000, so if a wealthy shopper opts to splash out in Paris instead of London, without using this kind of service, they would save hundreds of thousands of dollars – an amount the majority of people do not earn in a year.
In addition to the tax implications of shopping, Ameerh also discussed some of the types of purchases these uber wealthy individuals buy.
As well as designer clothing, watches are popular, and he described the ones his clients buy as costing ‘a quarter of a million to tens of million of dollars’.
In addition to accessories, he revealed that people also charter private jets to shop for home wear, like home movie systems, sound equipment, and furnishings.
Expensive wine also featured on the list, with the CEO name checking Pétrus – a prestige brand which usually costs between €2,000 to upwards of €6,000 a bottle.
Speaking about its services, Ben Amri, CEO of SkyBlue, told the Times that the company’s service is ‘most beneficial to customers living outside the EEA’ as it saves time on shipping goods to those areas.
Among the purchases made by some of these uber wealthy shoppers are high-end wine, like Pétrus – a prestige brand which usually costs between €2,000 to upwards of €6,000 per bottle
He added: ‘The SBE service was set up to give customers the choice on how they export the goods they buy in the UK. Our service allows the customer to retain possession and control of their goods, whilst still benefiting from having the VAT they have paid reimbursed.’
In addition to clothing brands, jewellers, wine shops and other retailers feeling the downturn in foreign high-end purchases, service providers like hotels, restaurants, theatres and museums have also reportedly seen lowered footfall.
Among the luxury brands who have complained about loss of revenue due to tax-free shopping for international visitors being scrapped are shoe giant Christian Louboutin and fashion house Burberry.
Meanwhile celebrated theatre producer Sonia Friedman, known for The Book of Mormon and Harry Potter and the Cursed Child among other major shows, has also criticised how the tax-free scheme has been scrapped, describing it using theatre parlance, and branding it ‘a flop’.
While Ameeth has pledged to fly his uber wealthy clients to whatever shopping destination they want, he too lamented the end of the scheme, saying he wants to see the private jettari splashing their millions in London, describing it as ‘the best city in the world’.