NorteAmericano moving to Buenos Aires...firsthand advice on container

Terry,

I cannot comment specifically on Argentina because I have not YET shipped items there.  I did ship items to Mexico and have been involved in Shipping for over 15 years.  So let me give you some pointers.

You can use a full service moving company with Agents in Argentina.  Its easy quick and convient.  You will pay for this ease and convience.  If anything gets damaged please be aware that they usually pay by the pound and depreciate the value.

You can also do what the Moving Companies will do with your household goods.  Google FREIGHT FORWARDERS.  These are companies that will coordinate the shipping of your container from the front door of your house in the US to front door of your new place in Argentina.  Basically a truck will come with your container, you will load it or have someone load it, then the truck will take your container to the port for shipment which could entail one, two, maybe three different vessels.  Once in Argentina your container will get cleared thru Customs and you will have to pay whatever duties the Argentinian Government wants.  Once thru customs then your container will be shipped via truck to your new home in Argentina.

The key thing here is to find a Good Customs Broker and that can get tricky.  Large Freight Forwarding Companies such as Geo Logistics will have brokers in their local offices in Argentina.  Talk to a store that has lots of imported goods.  Sometimes the US Embassy will have a list.  Talk to expats that have moved on their manifest will be the name of the broker.   You want a broker that has experience with Household Goods because there are a lot exemptions.  A good broker can save you lots of money that is his-her job.  This is a lot of work but for example when I moved to Mexico the cheapest price I got was $19500.00 I moved it myself for around $5000.00.  To me it was worth the savings but I had experience in the business.  I think anyone can do it but it will take time.  You should also familarize yourself with what allowances you will be allowed.  Remember because a publication says you are allowed $10,000.00 in household goods doesnt mean what you say they are worth it is what the Customs Officer says they are worth.

I hope this helps feel free to contact me.  Im currently checking out three countries in South America and once I have decided I will be going thru this whole experience again.  Finally do a real good complete chuck before you move.  Good Luck.

Terry,
I live in Buenos Aires and just completed an ebook about moving here. It's not easy to ship things to Argentina unless you have the proper visas and most people don't realize that. However that said, because your wife is Argentine you will be allowed to ship a container in as well as you'll be allowed to bring a car in as well if you choose ( and I would consider if you won't end up with a high tax because cars here are impossibly expensive).
For a freight company try contacting Lily at Universal Cargo in Buenos Aires. They handled our friends shipment from France and did an excellent job. Lily speaks fluent English and is really helpful.
4331-5145 / 4342-3557
* Email: [email protected]
http://www.universalcargo.com.ar

One last thing, when you go to pack your things, really think carefully about what you MUST have and what you just DESIRE to take with you. You will want to bring electronics because they're insanely expensive here (but be sure TVs and DVD players will work on the signals here). But things like furniture are not so expensive, decorations aren't either. If you want to bring things like washer/dryer I would definately think twice because of the current and volts.

Hope this helps.
Laura
http://movingtoargentina.typepad.com

Thanks to DC_20833 for your very informative reply. We'll weigh the pros and cons...we really don't have enough valuable items to make this worthwhile. Really, it was the shipping of say, a minivan, that is the cornerstone of the container idea. The prices of that type of vehicle are so expensive in Argentina, I was hoping in the way of shipping that and possibly a TV, DVD/VCR, bed and mattress to be the whole extent of it, maybe the desktop computer also. But hoping to ship for maybe $8-9000 dollars total, nothing in the double digits would be palatable to me.
But, I really want to say how much I appreciate this blog for putting people in touch with good information to make decisions. Thanks again everybody.
Terry            tallyman1886

Terry,
        I helped a friend of mine, he moved to Argentina in Sep. 2006, He paid $6000 for a 40 feet container wich got loaded with his household items,one caravan and a buick sedan, all of wich we took to the freight company, the household items in a rental truck ($150) the freight co. people did all the loading, at their premises.My friend did his homework and did shop around,He got an argentinean company that's in the long beach area,it is called surexpress they have ads in various argentinean community magazines. Your wife could get a quote from them.

Wow,
That's the best news I've heard yet regarding shipping to Argentina via containers.
Thanks so much I will pass that onto to my esposa and will mull it over.
Thanks to all readers who volunteer really helpful info!!!

Here's another one for our astute and helpful audience of expats and their experiences.
We have some Argentine friends living here in the U.S.
One gentleman has been here for 5 years now....says he owned a Honda CRV suv...the insurance in BS AS is higher if your car is of more value, makes sense. However, the price of 237 pesos a month seemed a little steep to me when the people there make less than a fifth of what we make here in the states. My God, that's a serious chunk of change....also, you have to renew/or just pay for your drivers license quarterly/4 times a year, to the tune of much more than our $15-25 dollars every 4 years. Quarterly, are you nuts???   
The people there cannot afford that...anybody out there know if that's true?? 
That's enough to make one think about owning a vehicle.
Please contribute if you know something.. These two situations are way out of whack. And this friend is really level-headed and intelligent man...no reason to bullshit me.
Waiting to hear friends.
Tallyman

Tallyman, first you have to realize that all cars hold value in Argentina but the cars that are made in Argentina are the cheapest. 237 for a Honda CRV is about right. Even a used CRV old style can run you around 50,000 pesos. We know someone who has a honda accord, quite a bit older, they paid around 6,000 dollars for it and pay around 150 pesos a month.

Some people will drive uninsured.

hope this helps.

Laura
Moving to Argentina Ebook