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I want to send my friend some vitamin supplements bought through an online merchant. He lives in Alajuela. What is the best way to go about this? He believes the product will get tied up in customs.
I’ve ordered nutritional supplements and cosmetics (toothpaste, etc) from on-line retailers based in the U.S. (www.puritan.com and http://www.drugstore.com). The latter also sells vitamins. They were sent to my mail forwarding address (physical street address) in Miami, Florida and then forwarded to me care of the Association of Residents of Costa Rica in San Jose.
There are two problems. First, the transshipment cost from Miami to San Jose ain’t cheap. If the vitamins are available here in Costa Rica, it will be cheaper to buy them here.
Second, I can assure you that virtually anything shipped from the U.S. will end up being massaged by Costa Rican Customs and there’s no telling how long that will take. For example, I ordered a CPAP-machine mask to manage my sleep apnea. It was delivered to Miami on August 31. I have yet to see it in San Jose.
And there is one more obstacle with sending stuff here. Each six months, every person gets a $500 Customs duty exemption. But if you have already used that benefit this half-year, then you must pay the duty. And your “recipient” here in Costa Rica (say, ARCR) will get a form from Customs asking if you want to pay the duty or not. You must complete the form, pay the duty, and then wait for Customs to release the shipment.
It all takes a while.
If you can’t find an domestic source of what you need, see if you can get someone who’s coming to Costa Rica to be your “mule” (in the good sense of the term) and bring it in his or her luggage. It’s faster. It’s surer. And even if they bring it as an additional piece of luggage, it may be cheaper.
David,
I have received things here(US) sent via DHL from CR, are there any obstacles sending from the US to CR?
To clarify, I would be sending this to a Tico for his use. The package would weigh less than 1 pound. US Postal Service shipping small packages internationally does not appear to be very expensive. But from what you are saying, once the product arrives in Costa Rica, customs will open the package and examine the contents, then wait for an unspecified amount of time to release. Will my friend then have to pay duty, and what would the duty be? The product itself would cost no more than 40 US dollars.
Lotus and Robert,
I think the obstacles to shipping virtually anything from the U.S. to Costa Rica are pretty much as I stated above. Costa Rica reserves the right to impose import duties on most items and to know what’s being imported. So does every other soverign nation. I don’t think the size of the package makes a lot of difference. But remember, everyone here has a semi-annual $500 import duty exemption, so if the recipient hasn’t received other merchandise from outside Costa Rica in excess of $500 in value during the previous six months, there should be no duty imposed.
Just how Costa Rican Customs keeps track of the value of what I’ve imported in the past six months is a mystery to me. My guess is that recordkeeping isn’t too good and that a lot of stuff slips through untaxed. But that doesn’t mean it won’t get hung up awaiting inspection.
Robert, if what you’re proposing to send weighs less than a pound, what’s special about it that the same or an equivalent product can’t be obtained in-country? There are lots of health food stores, a GNC store in the MultiPlaza in Escazu, farmacias on most street corners. In short, why bother? (Maybe there’s an excellent reason.)
David,
I guess what I mean is in regard to mailing to Costa Rica, If I do send you something via DHL, and just write gift or cd or something like that. Will it just go through to you or does customs look/hold everything? I read how difficult it is to receive a package there, but if it is sent through a private courier such as DHL won’t it just show up at your door in the 3 or 4 days DHL has promised to deliver it in?
DHL will deliver door to door in both directions as promised. They’ve always had the edge over Fed Ex in this regard (international shipments – getting things through customs). Customs doesn’t open everything, they just go by the bill of lading, and DHL takes responsability for getting it though.
Regarding the exemption every 6 month, they keep track of it by a rubber stamp in your passport.
” . . . a rubber stamp in your passport . . .”? I’ve had a fair amount of stuff shipped to me here from the U.S. and nobody’s ever offered to stamp my passport or anything else.
DHL may have an “in” with Customs, but I can’t imagine that the legal processes which Customs imposes on imports can possibly be sidestepped just because you ship with one shipper or another. Somehow, the issues of the legality and taxability of whatever’s being imported must be addressed. Were this not true, then DHL would become the world’s largest transshipper of illegal drugs, no? What would be there to stop them?
All that said, a year ago we had a large envelope full of residency-related documents shipped from North Carolina to our attorney in San Jose via UPS “expedited” delivery (maybe Next Day, maybe Second Day, etc). We shipped in on Thursday afternoon and it arrived Friday mid-morning. (For about $50.00)
David, They only stamp your passport if you bring it in with you. I have several such stamps of “bonificación” at the back of old passports. I don’t know how they keep track of things that are shipped. As a matter of fact, I’ve always had the impression that the exemption only applied if you brought it in with you. Since we’re talking about appliances, the airline might have a problem with that additional piece of luggage… Has anyone out there received duty expemtions for shipped items?
I also don’t think CR customs gives preferential treatment to DHL, I just think DHL knows how to deal with customs much better than Fed Ex. They’ve been doing it for much longer.
Regarding shipping illegal items, just like US ports, there’s no way every package is inspected by customs. Customs depends on the shipping company for accurate information. These companies have too much to lose if something slips by, so you can bet they’re keeping tabs on it as well as they can.
I have had things shipped directly from on-line e-tailers to my Miami shipping address. The “receiver” in Miami then forwards that stuff to me. In some cases, taxable goods have come through untaxed but “processed” by Customs.
In at least one instance, my shipment was held up in Customs while they sent an inquiry to ARCR asking if I was willing to pay the duty. When I said I was, they then informed ARCR of what that duty would be, I paid it, and (just several weeks later) my package arrived!
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