Itajai, Santa Catarina

Hello Debs.....

I live in Rio de Janeiro, not BC, but, to address your concerns about the purchases of household items, when my wife and I moved here back in 2024 we priced out the replacement cost of everything we'd need to set up house, and found that purchasing NEW things here, would be about 1/3 the cost of buying them new back in Canada.

In other words, it's way cheaper here by a large margin for most items except certain electronics, and you probably won't find "used" things for sale anywhere either (except for clothes in stores called a "Brecho") as that is not really the Brasilian way. I'd suggest scouring the website Mercadolivre dot com dot br for anything you need, as frankly, most of things we buy are online.

We only use physical stores the majority of the time for clothes/shoes, etc, and as far as household goods go, we usually visit a physical store to look at the actual product if it is available, check prices, then we order it online for less money in many cases. Hope that helps.

BTW you'll need a Brasilian address, CPF number, and a Brasilian bank account with a C/C or debit card to shop online or use PIX.

@Debs27

Where I live (northeast) it is not usual to find second hand anything. I think it is mostly because people pass along unused goods to family or people in need..... or just hang on to things until they are beyond repair.

If you shop around and use Internet vendors (not necessarily the international favorites) you can keep your costs down.

A frugal shopper here can do quite well and remember to try to bargain prices. Cash and PIX payments almost always equate to a good discount.

mberigan