Essentials to live in Dominican Republic

Wow huge subject.  I will have to think on this one a bit before posting a "list".  However it is much easier to obtain things here now than it was when I arrived 10 years ago.

The biggest thing to pack really does not weigh a thing or take up any room in your luggage or container and that is a good ATTITUDE!.  Things here work differently than "back home" and you really will not be able to change that.  Those that cannot adapt do not make it here.  You need to be flexible and to accept the local ways for the most part.

Bob K

Hello!  We just received our container from Canada and now I realize we have brought way too much stuff!  We have been living here for two months now and making do with what we have in the furnished home we purchased......Every thing you need and could ever want is available here!  We could have saved thousands of dollars of shipping costs and purchased anything else we needed here......sometimes we get so attached to our "stuff"...........  learn from my mistake........

Great subject and two good posts!!!

I agree with Bob, attitude is everything.  That said well you can get most things here these days. Some are more expensive and what you don't find here you can often buy online.

Many things are adapted for this climate and culture. Much of what you think you need, well you find you don't really need. 

One thing that is good to bring with you: electronics, computers, high end cell phones etc. They are expensive here and often the latest greatest isn't here yet.

Our choices in many things are expanding and increased competition is helping prices.  Shipping is expensive and the process is time consuming so really do your homework.

When we shipped our container 10 years ago you could not get many things here. So we shipped ceiling fans, washer, dryer, dishwasher, stove, light fixtures, better quality electronics and way too much house hold stuff. 

If doing it today with the availability of many more products here I would probably just shipped my clothes, pots, knives and electronics.  Everything else I would buy here.

Bob K

It has always been my policy living here in the Caribbean for 28 years, 16 in the DR, when you go up to the land of plenty you go up empty and come back full. Here's a list of the items I always stock up on;
Aspirin
Tums
Polarized sun glasses
Clothes
Ziplock bags
Bed linens
Electronics i.e. Stereo, cel phones, Bluetooth  devices, etc.
pots and pans
Mosquito repellent
Bathroom accessories
Tools
More and more things are available here but with the 18% tax and prices in general, I can get things that are better quality and cheaper up north. There are some cheap shipping companies that are Dominican owned that you can use to ship stuff down cheap. If you have it coming from a Dominican to a Dominican customs seems to overlook the high tariff items.
I just returned from a trip up north and I also brought back a blender and smart TV.
I hope this helps.
Dryaimi

After ten months here a few things come to mind immediately: any vitamin or supplement, contact lenses, good mosquito repellent, all electronics, all sheets and towels you may need, pots and pans, cotton T shirts, shoes, protein bars or any specialty diet foods (gluten free, etc.), flea/tick meds for the pets, make-up and toiletries (especially if you prefer higher quality items.) My husband would add tools and a "VPN" router. We buy many things on Amazon and have it shipped to a local cargo handler. Of course, this is expensive if the items are heavy. All things listed above are available to some degree, but after shopping in the capital and Santiago, I find either limited selection or very high prices if these items can be found, and if you want something specific, you REALLY have to hunt for things here. Best wishes!

I agree with a lot of what you said and most of the time when we travel to the US we return with a suitcase or two filled with many of the items  you mentioned.
Bob K

Go up North fairly empty come back  full. Use a Dominican door to door shipping company. Adapting is key. Be kind and  patient. Por favor, gracias and smiling help a lot.  Be smart research.  Things basically go slow and slower. I say go slow and enjoy.

Hi guys (DiMarsha)!    Might we ask, where from Canada did you move?    We're out in Alberta and we're still trying to decide whether to ship a container or not........ the approximate cost to ship a container was____?

Thanks!!

We used Bekins Moving (international 100 year old company).  We pad $5000 for 300 cubic feet.  Brought 2 bikes, treadmill,tons of  kitchen gear- I love to cook and bake, toaster oven mix master,food processer,blenders,  framed art, clothes, 2 large Samsung TVs. Computer equipment, the good china (should have left behind)  the good wine  and scotch glasses (should have left behind)  books, CD's- should have left behind-all music is available on youtube now and we use a Bose Speaker.....2 dvd players,  free weights, and more gym equipment ; a mattress topper- should have left behind- too hot for use here.....   I can highly recommend Bekins,  they packed everything and stored it until we were ready to move....Very Reliable Professional Service....not a single item broken or lost!  Good Luck!

We moved from Victoria BC

Thank you so very much for the information   We're over here in Edmonton and hoping to do our final move within the next 1-2 years.  We bought a small home so we're downsizing and we are deciding 'what' is necessary/wanted vs what we can get rid of here.   I'm assuming your items were placed in a 20 ft or 40 ft sea can?    Did they pickup from you home and deliver to DR?    Any problems with customs?      Thanks again !!


David

IF you pay for residencia then you can bring in a container duty free. There are rules attached to this so.make sure you understand them.

Yes read the fine print a couple of times.  You need to ship within 6 months of your residency and I am not sure if the clock starts when you apply or when you are approved.

We shipped our container duty free with the residency paper work only but that was many years ago.

Bob K

It's not 6 months from application Bob as there is no guarantee of approval.  It is likely 6 months from approval.  I will try to find out.

I believe yes it is from approval.  That is what I meant to covey.  Just filing will not cut it with the container.
Bob K

There very well may be a lag time between getting approval and actually getting your cards.

Bob K

I think once you have approval  and the lawyer gets confirmation in writing then you can go ahead with your container.

What some are calling "essentials"" should be renamed "personal preferences".  I actually tried a few experiments on this topic, and discovered I was able to live here for years on end with no gym equipment at all!

Hahahaha now that was funny!!!!

Hi David

Yes they picked up from our home and delivered to our door.    We have been working on getting our residents status one year before moving to the DR , first with the Domincan Consulate in Canada ( they are not up to date with policies and we were lacking required documents once we got here....(After paying the Canadian consulate $1000.)  Once in the DR.  our lawyer started helping us with the process.  It will cost another $1000. each......Our container arrived before we had residents status, so we had to hurry up and go down to Immigration in Santo Domingo , a four hour bus ride, sit in the immigration office for 4.5 hours with 200 other people ( boring) to get a piece of paper with a file # to show that our residency process is started.   Customs had  our container, and they wanted $800 in fees.  The fees would be waived if we went down to Santo Domingo personally with our residencey file #.  we just did not want to make that trip again.  They only take cash, no credit cards.  Rather than go all the way back to Santo Domingo in one day -  an eight hour trip, we opted to pay the $800.00 . We gave $800 cash to our lawyer here in Sosua and  her associate  lawyer in Santo Domingo took the cash to customs and then  our crate was delivered.  I would recommend having your storage company holding your crate until you have your residency file # number or the actual card in your hand.   We don't have our residency card yet,  we will get in 3 months.....but if you can show a file # , the duty fees will be waived.  Bekins, the storage company was holding our crate in Vancouver at the low charge of $100 per month......We had them ship our container too soon, never realizing how long it can take to get the actual residency card in your hand.....

We did the same thing, downsized a huge house after living in it as a family of four for many years.....  our new home here was fully furnished and decorated by an interior decorator  before we even arrived here....so we really did not need to  bring any thing at all......

Sometimes its hard to let go of stuff when you are moving.....but once you get here you realize how little you really need....we could have used the money we paid shipping everything and bought the same stuff here and have money left over........!!

Great post, thank you for all the details.

Thanks All! I have found this thread to be ever so helpful. I guess I've done things backwards! I got my residency before I was ready to move and my time ran out on shipping the container duty free.

I'm so happy to hear that perhaps I won't need it at all! I'd be more than happy to spend the shipping funds on goods in the DR. I certainly plan to leave my exercise equipment behind!  lol

Yes almost everything you could need you can now find here.

Bob K

Wow, thought I'd lost contact with this site unless this is a new one that I had also joined this summer but never posted on....sorry...

We had a container shipped here from the US but were horribly deceived by the company. They really weren't honest so won't ever do that again....And even though I gave away almost half our stuff, we had a small 3 bedroom, 1000' sq fr house I see now that we could have left even more stuff behind! 

We are in the Las Terrenas area.  I have found that medicines are essential especially if something you  use alot like Ibuprofen, or kids vitamins.  We do alot of homeopathic stuff so we brought that also. Tools are good but they do sell the same manner of them here.... Electronics are definitely something you need to bring along with extra chargers as you may not find them here (our problem).  I did bring a little food stuff in cans like canned pumpkin because to date can't find it here and love my pumpkin! Also brought a can of cherry pie filling so as to make a friend a black forest cake as a huge thank you....But all in all the food choices are great and the local products are usually fresh and healthier than what we are used to. Here we have two "American style" grocery stores with some very familiar products for those looking. We usually hit the local colmado and fruit stands however.

I have found gluten free foods here and also a local bakery that will bake gluten free bread with advance notice.

One thing that I noticed  is that this time of year is alot of humidity.  That translates into mildew. So if I had to do it again I would probably leave the dressers at home because am getting tired of rewashing clean clothes because of the musty smells. Also our closets here which have doors are a haven for this so if you can have open closets! Lots of air for your things. The humidity seems to love leather! SO  ladies your purses, shoes, jackets....oh my field day! I also brought down two western saddles for our future horses and its a constant battle to find a way to keep the mildew off of them. Also the wood furniture I brought has to be cleaned frequently due to the mildew. Not sure but am wondering if the furniture here is treated so as not to have that issue....Just a thought before you bring down wooden furrniture.

We did ship some sheets and towels but have recently found decent ones here.

One thing I just remembered, I like BPA free plastic containers for food and water bottles. To date I cannot find that here so I brought some back. Also I don't like cooking with aluminum so I brought some steel pots and some cast iron. I recently found the cast iron here however so could have left that too! Also silverware brought steel from states again due to not knowing what was in the stuff here....

Hope that helps.

And someone mentioned a Dominican shipper but gave no name....Could you share?

Good post and glad to see you are sorting things out.

Are you looking to ship small stuff or a couple of boxes?

Bob K

Not much just perhaps a couple of smaller boxes with perhaps some meds or food products that I can't find here like the pumpkin... 

Check with CPS for shipping.  We  use them all the time with no problems.

Bob K

Thanks Bob,

We have the CPS here and also a MailBoxEtc. store which is supposed to be less expensive...How long does it usually take? I am waiting on my pocket calendar to arrive. Was wondering who the Dominican Company mentioned was....

Also wanted to make another comment on "stuff" to bring or not... regarding furniture from other places.  When you come here its a different climate and culture and if you want a home to reflect that your "stuff" from "home" may not quite look right here.... Yes, I am saying that from personal experience. However in my case I really don't care what others may think because its my space and I/we really wanted the things that were sentimental to us and made us feel like "yeah, this is our home"...We have moved alot in the past four years and so this was important to us but it may not and good chance won't be your situation. So I say go with the flow, leave your stuff behind and get something local here that will look appropriate, be new for your new life and will be fun! I have seen lots of decent tropical style furnishings here and have been told for what I paid to ship stuff I could have furnished the house a couple of times over....Just a thought....

Also a plug for this area, we are so close to places where you can travel to get stuff, Ikea in the capital will even deliver here if you choose....Nagua I've heard has lots of things much cheaper than here and is close enough...Plus right here in Las Terrenas we have alot also due to so many expats bringing things in....Just a  thought, hope it helps.

With CPS it usually takes less than a week for packages to arrive once they have gotten to Miami. Many times less.  Again we are very happy with them.  The largest thing we have shipped was a large BBQ and it got here no problem.

As to what to bring.  We brought too much stuff but a lot of it was not available here at the time.  If doing it over again we would have cut our shipment in half ... at least.

Bob K

I am also happy with CPS  remember its about US 5 per pound of weight so canned goods add up very fast.

I noticed the comment on humidity - you must be near the water because honey it is not even close to humid yet.  Wait until August and September......

Your comments are good though about managing it -  air flow!!  I also keep all my leather items in my room where I sometimes run air conditioning!

So is THAT the reason?!!!! We are between two rivers! And also built into a bit of mountainside also with new construction (cement floors)....Glad to be clued in!  We are going to convert to ceramic floors. And LOVE the AC idea....been contemplating that for when have the extra funds....

PS How long does it normally take with CPS AND is that being sent FED EX or some other speedwagon way?  Someone sent me something small but with two stamps only so the guy told me it will be awhile???? They never mentioned any of that before. Can someone educate me please?

Thanks!

Ok with CPS and many others you get an address in Miami. Have whatever you want sent there.  From there CPS brings the item to the DR to whichever office is closest to you.

You can FedEx to.Miami  or whatever you want.  From Miami to you is 3 - 5 working days normally.

Talk to your CPS manager and you might be able to ship UPS directly to the store here in the DR.  We did this with some credit cards and got them in 2 days.

Bob K

Awsome Bob! Thanks!  Planner...thanks too, We do have the account with the Miami address but the store here never said if you don't Fed Ex or UPS then it will take forever to arrive...  The item shipped is of no value to anyone but me is.... So the next thing shipped needs to be shipped with some sort of UPS or such then I would guess if I really need it soon, right?

Thanks!

PS. Just thought of another small item that I did bring back this last time...Plastic shopping bags, you know the kind everyone either recycles or throws away?  We use them here to collect trash and always seem to run out....They don't weigh anything or take up space. I sure was glad to have them here.... Just saying in case anyone else might want to do the same.

we sent a Fed Ex letter last week to Virginia , USA ( Via CPS) and it only took 2 days !
CPS is definitively great !

Wow, so whats my issue then?  Hope my little package comes soon....been two weeks now....Maybe we need to use  Fed Ex then.

Hi me again....very confused.

Had a small letter size sent to Miami Feb 19.....it is not here yet. Then last Monday so a week ago my mom paid $18 to Fed Ex another small envelope to me and was told it would be here Wed past....NOT.  Finally I got notice that its en route but still not here.... What company are you using to get it in two days? I don't understand yet. Is there a CPS in the states or does the office here give you an address in Miami that they handle to get stuff here faster? Its my first attempt to try this system out and just a little frustrated....

Thanks!