A few days ago, on a quickie New York work trip, I found myself doing what you only can do in the midst of a historic 25-year routing of the dollar. I pulled out my schedule to see what meetings could be dumped – sorry, streamlined – to shoehorn in four hours or so of quality shopping. Then I made a list of all the things I needed and wanted, all the things my family needed and wanted and all the things my friends needed and wanted.

Not being able to come up with anything that it wouldn’t be more convenient to buy back home, I fell into a panic that I might end up being the one Brit in New York not to take advantage of the mother of all retail opportunities. Then it struck me. Ah ha! Why don’t I buy everyone half-price Woolrich parkas for Christmas on the basis that, although some of them really weren’t the parka-wearing type and would probably prefer a Burberry cashmere jumper, I would be saving a fortune.

Mind you, the Burberry jumper, despite being nominally British, might well be cheaper in the US. Many British brands have adjusted their prices in the States this year so as not to price themselves out of the market, which ultimately means their profits will be lower. Strangely, the reverse seems to be true of American brands selling to the UK. Not content with getting a nice return in sterling, some American brands put a lot of energy into pitching their product as a much classier commodity here than it is back in the US. Exotic and sexy advertising obviously helps. Which is why teenagers queue round the block in London for Abercrombie & Fitch despite it costing the same in pounds here as it does in dollars over there – sometimes more, as I discovered when I found a garment in London with a US price tag still attached.

Then again, imports have always seemed more glamorous and therefore able to charge a premium, from Flemish lace in 14th-century Europe to Levi’s in 20th-century Russia. And entrepreneurially speaking, if people are prepared to pay a price hike for imports, then all I can say is, good luck to the brands in question. But when the discrepancy is so brazen, with zero attempt to add any extra value (although some brands attempting to carve themselves an upmarket image abroad do at least make special pieces or, failing that, only send the cream of their product), it smacks of contempt on the part of the retailers. Personally, I’d like to boycott Abercrombie & Fitch in the UK, not that it would care – its London branch is its third most profitable in the world.

The good thing about cheap travel is that it helps take the exotic gloss off goods, enabling us to see them for what they really are, which should in the long run make us better, more discerning shoppers. If you really want to prove this, try visiting an outlet shop at the end of a busy day: if a dress you once coveted still looks good on a wire hanger (or on the floor) under harsh strip lighting, then it’s a genuinely great piece of design.

Meanwhile, back in New York, imagine the relief when I remembered that I badly needed (as you do) some MBT trainers. Having eventually tracked down a pair in my size, I got in line to pay, only realising two minutes from the till that they were the only product in New York to cost the same as in London.

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