United States Postal Service and Customs

I received a similar shock when considering how best to bring my clothing.  I was told that I could not ship used clothing into Ecuador.  My personal clothes are considered "used clothing" unless I have receipts and/or there are tags attached.  To those that complain of expats acting like walking ATM machines, seems almost like the government is at the head of the line of those who treat us as such.  There was a website that at one time I thought might be of help:  BringItToEcuador.com

Why send clothes???? You can buy very inexpensive clothes here. Do you need special kings court clothes??

guess not if they're easy to obtain. someone said they had a problem with American sizes
no worries then

Courier service to/from ecuador is very expensive, there's many restrictions too. Not worth it.

Ypu can bring your used clothes with you, no problem. You don't need the invoices. The only limit is you can't bring more than 400 pounds of clothes.

About sizes, is true. Not easy to find big sizes like xxl or xxl. Also clothes in the States are cheaper than here. Any clothes in Walmart or Target are cheaper and better quality. Ecuadorian made clothes are expensive if you look for quality, imported chinese clothes are terrible and imported brand clothes are twice or more the value than in the States.

Shoes, for example, good quality expect to pay around $60 to $90.

Vinny

We found two shops in the old colonial district of Quito that had handmade boots. Thousands of boots in each shop and very good quality. Priced about $100 to $200. We wanted to buy. There were no boots - zero - in the gardeners'1 size. Neither one of us could find a pair of boots big enough out of all those thousands.

Mrs. Gardener1 wears a US women's size 10 (bigfoot). Mr. Gardener1 wears a men's US size 13. Nothing. We left empty handed.

If we'd had more time I'm sure we could have ordered boots in our size made, but we were leaving Quito in a couple of days.

Ecuadorans have tiny little feet. 

Well, I sure don't need 400 pounds of clothes, but I thought it might be easier. They're giving me another bag of 50 pounds on the airline for 70 bucks. I should be fine. It's about knowing quality and pricing to say the least!

FYI. I shipped 22 large, heavy cartons (2 pallets) to Trinidad last yr via Freight Company. Don't recall the cost but remember I thought it was reasonable. Therefore, you might consider a freight company which ships to EC.

If you have an airline credit card (e.g. American Visa) you're allowed an extra suitcase without charge.  I came down with four large suitcases and only had to pay $70.

I'm flying via American Airlines soon, bringing 4 bags at 50 lbs each, the first two bags free, $150 for bag 3 and $200 for bag #4 (5 bag maximum) for a total of $350 for 200 lbs, with few restrictions (oh plus a 25 pound carry-on!)...not bad as a way to slowly bring clothes, tools, household goods, books, etc.

Recommend bringing the clothing you like with you on the trip. I brought two bags of 70 pounds each with clothes and other personal items. One bag's worth sits in the bottom of my closet mostly unused. Had so many clothes while working but now that I am retired I could have gotten by with much less. If have found the need to order online for a few things I did not think of. We use a third party shipper called Club Correos, who works with the Ecuadorian Postal Service. Amazon or Ebay sends it to our account address in Miami with Club Correos and they forward to the Ecuadorian Postal Service who delivers the items. You can ship a max of 4 kilos and up to $400 value for about $10.00 per pound and no customs fee. Not cheap but has come in handy. Package must contain an invoice or they will hold it until you fax/email a copy to them

Hello,
I wanted to know how is the weather in Cuenca all the year ?
I'm going to move in Cuenca for at least one year and I don't know which kind of clothes I have to bring. Is it cold during winter ?
Thanks.

Cool and rainy most of the year.

I came here with 5 suitcases from the U.S. and that includes household and books. I was overweight and did not use a credit card with bennies.  I paid about $450 -- a fair price for moving myself to another country! 

I always buy clothing, shoes in the U.S. once a year or in emergency here , I use CLub Correos and buy online. KEEP IT SIMPLE --- and if you are frugal, this way works fine...   Sue in QUito

I do not recommend sending anything to EC via USPS. The duty you will pay upon claiming your package in EC and the hassles in locating at which bank to pay the steep fees just is not worth it. I speak from personal experience. Just downsize to as few pieces of luggage as possible and pay the excess airline baggage fees and arrive with your possessions.
regina

In reality, things are not as bad as it may sound. Disinformation is the main problem.

You can bring use clothing and many other items. Showing up with several bags filled with "Tags On" clothes will surely result in customs attention. ie. Fees.

When I came down I brought 8 Military sea bags of items. It was easier and more cost effective to pay the extra bag fees of the airlines. You of course may not need that amount of "Stuff", it was my call. Shipping to here can have a variety of issues to deal with.

There is one thing I can assure a would Expat, if you are searching for information of any kind, this is the place to get it. There is not another site that contains as much relevant, factual, current information out there. I have looked.

This is a very active site in which you can find information past, present and future in short order. If you post a question or concern you can expect a reply in mere hour or minutes, unlike some sites. It is all here, you simply have to seek it out. If you go to the "Forums" area and look through the topics you will quickly find answers to almost any question you may have.

If it is not there, simply ask and you will get a reply quickly.

Kings clothes?

With due respect, we just spent 2 weeks in Cuenca (and surrounding areas) and Quito shopping extensively and doing research about what to bring and what to leave behind when we make our move to Ecuador. And yes, we shopped for cloths too. Most of what we found was of either poor quality or very expensive for the "price tag."

While I have never been particularly picky about "labels" per se, I expect our clothes to withstand normal wear and tear!

We did however, find a LEVI store that sold jeans for the same prices you would find in America. However, there is no guarantee that they were not knock offs that were made cheaply in China. The "fakes" are so good, you can hardly tell the difference.

Based on our conversations with NUMEROUS people who just went to Ecuador with their suit cases, they ALL said the same thing: "We wished we would have brought our "stuff" when we had the chance!

We are being proactive and brining EVERYTHING, including our furniture (though old, we like it much better than anything we saw in the stores), beds and bedding, towels (even the expensive ones we find in the "high end" stores were of very poor quality), new appliances, lighting fixtures, and canned goods that we could not seem to find in the SUPERMAXI's. Peanut butter (local brand) was $9.00! Seriously???

We are also bringing several months-worth of cat food (because it is prohibitively expensive - $2.17 per can of the local brand v. $.52 per can for FRISKIES) that will last (hopefully) until I can come up with a healthy "home-made" alternative our 4 cats can live with.

In our extensive research, we found that "shipping" (and mailing) is very expensive, so we are anticipating our needs ahead of time.

If you pay the excess airline fees to bring your favorite clothes with you on your flight....

1.  You reduce or eliminate the likelihood of delays in getting your clothing.

2.  You avoid the outrageous courier fees.

3.  Once you clear the EC arrival airport, you're finished with the bureaucracy -- at least for clothing.

cccmedia

This topic contains very valuable info, gracias. I wonder how one maneuvers all the luggage to one's front door once on the ground? Can taxis accommodate 4-5 suitcases or do you hire a van? Do hotels have storage areas?
ccmedia is right about courier fees - Even within the US, domestic postal fees are invariably much more than the actual cost of the item being sent.  I can see how vital it would be to have already established a place to reside. Thank you in advance for any advice.
PS

For anyone interested, we used aero shuttle. I emailed them with flight info, number of passenger and suitcases. Unlike other shuttle services online, this company doesn’t ask for payment beforehand or credit card info. Sure enough we were greeted by a driver with my name on a sign. We rode in a minivan to our hotel in central Quito for $55.

Excellent service, the driver helped with the luggage, it was as effortless as could be with a family and numerous luggage.

Opps this is for Quito Airport, didn't realize until after I posted that it's a Cuenca forum.


http://www.aeroshuttle.com.ec/

Hi, thanks. No problem with Cuenca vs. Quito. Vsimple and cccmedia - you offered very helpful information.
cccmedia - HA ha, yes, I remember asking the manager to keep my personal belongings and coveted passport in a lock box at the hotel or hostel where I stayed in Thailand, too for obvious reasons. I always travel with multiple copies of passport, too!
This really is the best forum for up-to-date, accurate info. KUDOS to both of you!
Cheers,
PS