what to bring

I was just looking into this a little bit yesterday. I think I will sell pretty much all the large items in my house and give away the cheap things that are easily replaceable. It is pretty expensive to move your things in a shipping container, but maybe if you are well off and have a lot of expensive things it would be worth it. $3500 dollars is the price I found online for a fairly small container, and you pretty much have to figure out how to get everything to and from a port. I think eBay/yard sale and then mailing some boxes of clothes and less heavy things will be the route we will take. I'm interested in other ideas as well, so that's why I'm here.

To be honest the only regrets are 2 things
1st linen.  We have horrible linen, mostly micofiber crap or polyester.   If you are lucky you might 100% cotton but its way over priced.   You can order some on amazon at a reasonable price but you never know what you are getting.
2nd we are big halloween people and the only place to buy props is home depot, which is a small selection and not the greatest quality.    Shipping good quality item here cost about $100 or more just for shipping.
Everything else is available here

If you have super nice expensive furniture I will say ship it, but one warning. We have comejen which is very fond of wood, so you should tread the wood and spray around the house.

Otherwise buy local and save the cost and headache of shipping, lost or damaged items.

We shipped 90 boxes mostly tools, clothes, some computer equipment using a mover at a cost of 35 per box so our total cost was around 2,300 for the 90 boxes. (35 for their Large box, with each box under 70 pounds)

If you live close to the beach you will be dealing with salty air which is corrosive to metal, concrete, and most things, clothes and linen should be given space in the closet so there is air getting to everything and avoid mold. Keep chocolate in the refrigerator. But most days you will be in t-shirts, shorts and sandals, laying in a hammock sipping on a cold drink. PS. T-shirts, shorts and sandals are standard at most restaurants also.

As someone else also pointed out, if it is expensive, I would bring it.  Mainly because if you try to sell it before you move, you won't get much.  As we all know, used furniture doesn't have a good ROI
There are also certain styles & quality that you can't get in PR

I put pencil to paper with regards to:

How much I thought I could get if I sold everything
Replacement cost on the island & could we get what we wanted
Cost of shipping container/containers
PR Excise tax on my stuff upon arrival

Things I also considered:

The hassle of selling
The quality of my stuff vs what I would/could purchase in PR
Possible damage to my stuff during transport
Was my stuff viable in PR with salt & moisture (we live close to the sea)

So in the end, we ended up selling certain things that we didn't feel was needed in PR or things that would be difficult to transport.  PR wanted a ridiculous amount of excise tax on my truck so I sold it in Texas as well.  Wife's SUV was a lease that was ending soon so that was easy.  We brought 2 containers worth of stuff and don't regret it.

What I wish I didn't sell and brought to PR?  My Scag zero-turn mower!!  Now I'm mowing an acre with a little push mower I bought in PR at Home Depot!  Every time I mention to my sweet wife that I should go look at a zero-turn, I get the look that without saying a word says..."I told you to bring that mower" lol  In all honesty, she did.  I should listen more

Hope some of this might help

Brian

Rey,

I seem to recall you mentioning using 55 Gal. drums shipped through Rosa de Monte a few months ago, and paying $40 in customs. Do I recall this correctly?  I will be moving in a couple of months. I'm trying to figure out how to get started. Can you please elaborate on this specific type of move for personal effects?

Thanks very much.

We have been researching moving options, including the Services section of this website.  Are you able to share the name of the moving company you used?  There are few companies that service the remote area where we live now, and the prices I've received are cost prohibitive.  We are willing to pair down our belongings substantially, and are willing to transport them to a major city, and even to a port for transportation if necessary. Thanks.

We used Rosa Del Monte, if you put a down on the move you can pickup free boxes from them. Any size you need. However I recommend the large boxes, they charge 35 dollars per box to move them to PR, just keep them under 70 pounds. They also charge a pickup and delivery charge on top of the charge for the transport of the boxes. You can pack or they pack, but they charge for the packing. There are no taxes in PR, only individual items whose value is above 3,500 are taxable when they arrive in PR.

I got like 60 large free boxes from them and another 35 from home depot because I did not want to drive to the mover that was farther away.

my move was about 2k for 95 boxes.