Practical information : Treat yourself (& others) Hungary
Timetable
Outside shopping centers, which are generally open from 8am to 8pm, boutiques open early (8am) and close early (6pm), including on Saturday afternoons (1pm or 2pm), and are not open on Sundays. Designers are often closed on Mondays and open Tuesday to Friday from 10am to 6pm, and on Saturdays from 10am to 2pm. Some boutiques are not open on Saturdays.
Budget & Tips
As far as food is concerned, shopping in traditional market halls is inexpensive (even in Budapest's large central market, admittedly touristy, where you'll find fruit and vegetables at Hungarian prices). Go in the morning, especially early on Saturdays, to take advantage of the presence of small producers.
Sales
Summer and winter sales (in Hungarian: árengedményekszezonjá/leárazás) take place in Hungary at periods similar to those in France, from late December to late January and from mid-July to late August, and are mainly held by major international brands in shopping malls. Clothing prices are much the same as in Western Europe.
What's very local
Do your Saturday morning market and designer shopping in downtown Budapest: most stores and markets are concentrated within a 3 km radius, and you can always stop off at a patisserie or café on the way.
Two traditional Hungarian products, not cheap, but superb: ceramics from Herend or Zsolnay, to be bought in stamped stores or on the spot. Embroidered garments with floral motifs are undoubtedly the jewel in the crown of Hungarian craftsmanship. The best-known are from Kalocsa. You can buy beautiful placemats, aprons, skirts and other accessories in indigo fabric, a deep, distinguished blue decorated with white motifs. You can also (treat yourself to) beautiful carved wooden objects. The bottle of szóda (sparkling water), in colored glass, with its integrated atomizer, is sure to create a sensation on your Sunday table! Don't forget a bottle of Unicum, some good Hungarian wines, real paprika powder (make sure it doesn't come from Spain or China), two or three salamis and/or kolbász (dry sausage with paprika).
Tourist traps
In Budapest, avoid most of the tourist stores in Váci utca, upstairs in the Central Market or around the Basilica, which tend to sell souvenirs made in China.