[ardenbrink]

[quote=”writersam”]Should I just sell all my things here and start over in CR? [/quote]

Hi, Sandra,

If you want to drop me a note at arden@mainersincostarica.com I can send you a book excerpt that addresses this very question. You’ll also find many articles on this site that I’ve written on the various aspects of shipping.

As a disclaimer — I *am* in the shipping business, but I held the view(s) I have on the matter long before I got into the business, and I think I’m actually very good about giving non-biased advice. (Well, that is, biased only by my “opinion” as virtually all advice is!!) 🙂

I also, though, completely agree with the suggestion that before you do anything potentially irrevocable (like sell it all) or expensive (like ship it all) you need to come check it out for yourself and get a clearer sense of whether you really want to live here, where, what kind of “lifestyle” and so forth.

Good luck!
–arden–

[ardenbrink]

[quote=”waggoner41″]We wish we had brought the appliances and used them until they wouldn’t function and then opt for Tico type appliances which are smaller but durable.

Electrical spikes would be tough on any appliance no matter what. Some electiians here can better answer your concerns about that.[/quote]

Hi, Arden Brink here. Yes, I can recommend you bring upholstered furniture, appliances, things like dehumidifiers, vacuum cleaners, linens… tons of stuff. It’s not just the “big stuff” — lots of the “little stuff” here is either of bad quality or very high-priced, so it’s worth really thinking about what to bring.

If you’d like to email me at arden@mainersincostarica.com I can send you a free book excerpt that will give you LOTS of suggestions, and you can also search on this site for other articles I’ve written which will give some good insights.

–arden–

[ardenbrink]

[quote=”ottfog”]When you purchase a vehicle and bring it in to Costa Rica and register it, you must pay taxes. [/quote]

Jerry is correct. All cars imported pay the same taxes, regardless of where they originated.

You often hear that “cars in Panama are cheaper” but that is ONLY a valid comparison if you’re comparing it to buying the same car in the U.S. In BOTH cases you will have to get it here to Costa Rica and then pay the exact same costs to “nationalize” it here. To compare a price for a car in Panama to a car here in Costa Rica is a meaningless comparison.

(Of course, if you’re going to LIVE in Panama, that is one of the “benefits” — cars do cost less there than they do in Costa Rica. But if you’re going to live in Costa Rica, well, that just doesn’t mean much!)

IF, in fact, you found a car in Panama that cost significantly less than the same car in the U.S. AND you had the time/energy/patience/etc. to go to Panama, buy it, and drive it back, it is conceivable that you would save money — i.e. the difference in the purchase price (between Panama and the U.S.) and presumed savings in driving it from Panama vs. shipping it from the U.S. Once it arrives here, you will have to pay the duty, the inscription tax, the marchamo, the RTV, brokerage, legal costs, fees, etc. Those will be the same REGARDLESS of where the vehicle came from.

As Jerry alludes to, broadly speaking cars here will cost about as much (and with older cars often more) as their “value” in the U.S. (and probably Panama!) to nationalize here. Despite everyone searching for the “magic bullet” way to get around this, it doesn’t exist. At least not at this time. This is what cars cost here.

Hope that helps and feel free to get in touch if you need more specific help.
–arden–
ShipCostaRica

[ardenbrink]

For us, weather is a huge factor. Twenty years in Maine had made “year round spring” seem pretty appealing. And even with the rainy season (our fifth one now) we still find the weather to be wonderful. Here in the mountains, around 3,000 ft. elevation, it’s essentially never either too hot or too cool. And yet it’s warm enough for swimming and cool enough for an occasional fire in the fireplace. As close to perfect as we’ve ever found, for us at least.

We also enjoy that the cost of living is lower, while still offering a good standard of living. It is not “cheap” in our view to live here — not if you expect to maintain anything like most gringos would consider a “normal” lifestyle — but we’re still able to live quite nicely for less that we could in the states. The savings on utility costs alone –compared to our heating oil bill in Maine!– makes a significant difference. (And there are few places in the U.S. where you don’t have either substantial heating or air conditioning costs, so it isn’t just those of us from the far north that save money on utilities.)

We like the people here — we have many wonderful friends, both Ticos and gringos. We like the “nature” — although we live less than a 10 minute drive from a nice-sized town (San Ramon) we also have monkeys right outside our door, birds of amazing variety along with butterflies. (Oh sure, and spiders and snakes and those nasty leaf-cutter ants!) We get up every day and marvel at the sheer physical beauty outside our windows.

So… there’s a few reasons why we live here.

[ardenbrink]

[quote=”sstarkey”]I looked through my files and on my most recent move, (Italy to the UK), we used a company called UNIRISC. ==snip== On at least one of my French moves I used Interconex / Interdean for shipping & insurance and they were fine.[/quote]

Thanks much. I’ll start doing some investigating so we have some recommendations to offer clients in the future.

Thanks again!
–arden–

[ardenbrink]

[quote=”sstarkey”]I have made five international moves and have always purchased insurance policies ==snip== In each case a few things have been lost / broken, and they have always been promptly compensated / repaired.
[/quote]

Would you have some recommendations you could make about companies that you’ve used for such insurance that you’ve been happy with? I know there’s lots of folks who would welcome being pointed in the right direction.

Thanks!

[ardenbrink]

[quote=”maravilla”]a lot of people who return to the States don’t ship a container. they sell everything here [snip] so of course, the shipping company wouldn’t necessarily have any accurate stats because that isn’t how it usually goes.[/quote]

Actually, the person you’re referring to who “sold everything instead of shipping it back” DID ship a smaller amount back, as do most people. It’s not accurate that we don’t know who goes back since we tend to stay in touch with our clients and almost everyone who shipped a full container down will have SOME things that are personal and important to them, and they do want to ship those back. So while I agree that many people do not send back a full container due to cost, I don’t think it’s accurate to say that “shipping companies don’t have accurate stats.”

Ironically, just as with shipping down here, the logic of selling everything here (at large discount since that’s the only way people will buy) is misguided since then after returning to Canada or the states, they will have to replace everything for more money than they got for it here.

I *do* wholeheartedly agree (and have an article being published here on the very subject) that some people, especially those who might be in “higher risk groups” should consider putting their stuff in storage “up north” and spend time to come down for a substantial “trial run” to see if it’s a good fit. Yes storage costs a bit of money, but much less than shipping both ways.

I discuss this at length in my book Unraveling the Mysteries of Moving (due out in August) and it’s an important topic. Those of us who really love it here can accidentally leave the impression that everyone’s experience will be the same, and that’s doing a huge disservice to those doing their research.

Interesting discussion.

[ardenbrink]

[quote=”DavidCMurray”] How would a car shopper be able to tell the difference between that duded up clunker and the good car you imported? Why would they pay the difference?[/quote]

I have to second this comment. While there IS a real need here for good solid cars, Dave hit the most salient point for those trying to bring cars in for re-sale: the local market has come to expect cheap cars, so you face a very real issue of having to “educate” the potential buyer about how your car is different and WHY that car that looks the same in the Grecia used car lots costs several thousand dollars less.

Not to say it couldn’t be done, but we’ve brought cars in for folks who thought they were going to make a quick buck, and most have found themselves sitting with unsold cars many months later.

Just some food for thought. (You can search Scott’s site here for an article I wrote about “Buyer Beware” on the local cheap cars for more information.)

[ardenbrink]

HI! Arden Brink here. VERY sorry you’ve had trouble — we had strange internet problems last week, and I’ve also found (and heard of other’s experiencing this) that emails in Costa Rica simply vanish in cyberspace now and then — but, George, I don’t have anything in my inbox unanswered by you. Can you send it again and I’ll keep watch? I’m definitely here and certainly NOT “non-responsive” intentionally!!

[ardenbrink]

We’re in San Ramon, not San Jose, but we do have a Small Business Alliance of Costa Rica here that has monthly “mixers” for networking, special presentations, and is generally oriented toward supporting ex-pat entrepreneurs. VERY fledgling website at http://www.sbacostarica.com for anyone who’d like to take a look.

[ardenbrink]

[quote=”costaricafinca”]
I do [i]know[/i] that weight does enter into the equation…
As I mentioned, I hope that Arden Brink can give us her take on the question, since she deals with these every day.[/quote]

Hello all — Arden here. Weight DOES NOT MATTER when shipping a container to Costa Rica from North America, although “the big guys” when they provide a quote will try to tell you that it does. Our quote is, for example, NOT affected by weight other than the extremely unusual situation when something is SO unusually heavy that it’s simply a matter of providing proper people and equipment to safely handle it. It NEVER affects the actual shipping charge.

Within the U.S. it is true that tariffs for trucking CAN be affected by weight, so there’s a mindset in domestic moving that’s all about the weight. They’ll actually “measure” your household goods by weight and quote accordingly. But this is simply NOT the case with shipping to Costa Rica and any shipper who tries to tell you otherwise should be immediately suspect!

I believe I can safely say that — contrary to some folks’ experiences with other shippers — that we have NEVER come back at a client with additional charges for WEIGHT of the shipment.

As always, anyone is free to contact me directly for quote information or a wealth of other answers to questions about moving.

[ardenbrink]

Hey, David,

WELL DONE! *Exactly* the case I’m often making to folks, so it’s great to hear someone else (who isn’t “selling” shipping services) saying the same thing. I have to completely agree!

Chet has written to me and we’re in communication already, but to others who might be reading this thread, we *do* have some ways to send shared containers which can be a cost-effective alternative if you’re really completely sure you don’t want to send everything down, or maybe you’re coming on a “trial” basis and you want to send *some* of your stuff, but not everything yet. Weight doesn’t matter (see my recent article here on the WLCR site) — it’s priced by the cubic footage and there are some discounts for greater volume. It’s *possible* to send anything from a few boxes to 1000 cubic feet (or more) so it can be a good option if you really don’t need to send a container full.
–arden–
Ship Costa Rica

[ardenbrink]

So, if a *small* BGE meets your needs, sounds like you’re all set! Just to add a last bit of info to this discussion, I wanted to confirm and even emphasize the comment made about weight not being important in a shipping container. From my own experience this is really something many folks don’t realize — it’s virtually impossible to exceed the weight limit of a container with household goods — not with vehicles, tools, heavy antiques, cast iron furniture, stone garden sculptures, grand pianos, tractors, etc. It’s just NOT an issue. Really, truly.

Henry — if you’re really longing for a larger than small BGE and can ship it to Savannah in the next few days or L.A. in the next couple of weeks, you’ve got a reasonably priced option for getting it here. Put a bunch of lump charcoal in there, too. Sue — too bad you sold yours, after reading about it they looked pretty cool!

–arden–

[ardenbrink]

Hi, Henry,

If I could ask, WHERE is this medium big green egg at the moment? I’m wondering if it might work to put it in one of our shipping containers? It wouldn’t be the *fastest* way to get it here, but it would be safe and WAY cheaper than something like Aerocasillas or JetBox. We have containers loading up in the Los Angeles area and in Savannah soon, or just possibly I could get it included with someone else’s stuff if I knew where you were and if you were flexible about when you shipped it. Just a thought…

You could contact me via this site: shipping@welovecostarica.com

Hope that helps!

Arden Rembert Brink
Ship Costa Rica

[ardenbrink]

Arden Brink here — of Ship Costa Rica — and since I think I’m the only “she” that’s been writing articles on shipping on this site, I think the original poster must have been referring to me. To my knowledge I have NO unanswered emails (and MANY from this site will be able to affirm that I normally answer very quickly) so if the original poster would like to provide some kind of further information, I’d be delighted to get in touch. There *was* a time in the past when we had some email problems but to my knowledge they’ve all been sorted out. I have NO idea why I would not have received emails from you, but perhaps you would like to send something to Scott and he’ll certainly send it on to me. I know it’s important to him, too, of course, that his recommended company answer their inquiries.

I’d also like to just make clear that while David Murray prefers NOT to name the company with which he was so unhappy — his choice, of course, — he *has* posted this name elsewhere in the past and it was DEFINITELY NOT Ship Costa Rica. Just in case his posting here created any possible confusion that we were the ones that he was so unhappy with.

Thanks and I look forward to connecting in order to see if we can help you with your shipping needs.

[Author]

Posts