Items worth bringing from home opposed to buying in DR

Where is the villa located?

Cabarete

I imported all my major appliances.... via a mudanza- door to door delivery

Frre ship to mudanza.... arrives taxes paid at your door
Available along the east coast

WillieWeb wrote:

I imported all my major appliances.... via a mudanza- door to door delivery

Frre ship to mudanza.... arrives taxes paid at your door
Available along the east coast

Taxes paid? How much do you pay in taxes? What about import duty?

It's all covered in the fee the shipper charges.  For most appliances you can do the same or better here now. 

I would bring good quality knives.

planner wrote:

It's all covered in the fee the shipper charges.  For most appliances you can do the same or better here now. 

I would bring good quality knives.

So you pay the taxes, they are just built into what is paid to the shipper rather than being paid to Aduanas once they arrive.

Yeah...we've decided to buy all of ours here.

Agree on knives! And bring extra charging cables for all your electronics! The salt air and humidity have ruined so many of our lightning chargers!

Don't bring books - they do not do well here. I've got almost 3000 books in my Kindle library, so we only brought a couple of dozen cookbooks and other reference books. The pages and covers get soft and mold and mildew don't take long to set in.

I take the view you can and will find what you want here in most instances and what is available suits the country and its electricity supply.

But the most choice and availability is in Santo Domingo and that is a long 4 hours from Cabarete. And shopping in the capital is a pain due to traffic.

We have not had a problem with knives. Intrigued. Nor chargers. But controls yes. And you can find at Corripio in SD.

There is always a solution in DR if you adapt to live DR. Import foreign expect problems foreign.

All good comments!!  Everything we buy here is built for here - so true!

Hi.
We came a few weeks/month ago.
Super HAPPY of bringing my instant pod... we like to cook. We missed bringing a handle vacuum... luckily we found one here, but it would be smarter to bring one. Any kind of robot/vacuum that works good on hard surfaces would be smart too.
More specific things... hilti hammer (I don't really know how to spell that brand) and good driller... super useful!!

Nice places to buy stuff... ikea, casa cuesta... la sirena in my opinion has the better home things.
Having a nice blender is a MUST if u enjoy fruits and juice!!

I hope this helps!

Thank you for all the input. For most part most items will be purchased in DR. Was wanting to take advantage of bringing items in my checked luggages that were harder to find there. Look forward to any more ideas if any anyone has!

Also bring extras of high end skin care and cosmetics.  Almost impossible to find and will be expensive.

planner wrote:

Also bring extras of high end skin care and cosmetics.  Almost impossible to find and will be expensive.

Yes - and reserve space in your refrigerator or your bedroom (if you use the AC in there). Heat and humidity can break down ingredients, so best to keep them as cool and dry as possible!

I was just in Cabarete furnishing my condo's with small stuff like fans, bedding, etc.  Go to Sabanette, which is about 7 miles opposite way from Sosua.  They have a huge store just before you get to town and they sell everything at good prices.  Store is like 3 giant levels.  I must have went there 5 times.

ddmcghee wrote:

WillieWeb wrote:

I imported all my major appliances.... via a mudanza- door to door delivery

Frre ship to mudanza.... arrives taxes paid at your door
Available along the east coast

Taxes paid? How much do you pay in taxes? What about import duty?

It's been a while but as I remember A fridge was about $400.... shipped/delivered & taxed
TV's = the same - flat rate by the inch... and cheaper than doing yourself

Not the full Aduana charge .....

ddmcghee wrote:

WillieWeb wrote:

I imported all my major appliances.... via a mudanza- door to door delivery

Frre ship to mudanza.... arrives taxes paid at your door
Available along the east coast

Taxes paid? How much do you pay in taxes? What about import duty?

It's been a while but as I remember A fridge was about $400.... shipped/delivered & taxed
$400 for a NEW fridge--- $300 for used (mine was scratch'n'dent.... therefore deemed used
TV's = the same - flat rate by the inch... and cheaper than doing yourself

Not the full Aduana charge .....

Yeap, I am going with the container this way i bring what I want and not settle.
thanks friends
I was quoted 3300 for a 20x8x8 and charges include
so based on  my calculations of dimensions I can bring my fridge, stove, washer and dryer, 2 TVs, wine cooler and a generator lol

God bless

So it's very different with and without residency, with or without being a Dominican and depending what you are buying and shipping.  It's all getting jumbled up and that isn't helpful to those who don't fully understand.

What to bring in your luggage depends on what you value and what you need.

Personal Electronics:
For your carry on luggage and personal bag, I recommend expensive personal electronics such as cameras (allowed to wear on your person), laptops, tablets, phones, etc. If you use multiple computers, or external monitors, it may be less stressful to escort your devices.

In your checked luggage, if you have large photography drones, or studio lights, you may consider bringing them.

Appliances:
If you want a specific water filtration system, you could even pack that in a box and bring it as checked luggage. It is possible they may give you a problem, but for myself, they asked what was inside and did not give any problems.

If you have specific light bulbs you like the light output from, you might bring them.

Batteries:
Be careful taking too many lithium batteries as they have limits.
If you have a specific security camera system you use and like, you may also prefer to take this with you. Power reliability isn't that great, so you may want to take a battery backup in your checked luggage for sensitive electronics. I converted one of mine to use lithium iron phosphate which cannot catch on fire in the same way as lithium ion. Most battery backups use a form of lead acid batteries which makes them both heavy and have poor deep cycle life.

Sports:
If you have an expensive road bike and plan to use it, some airlines allow you to take a bike for low/no cost if it's light enough and is packed in a case. I took a bike which was disassembled and just packed in a cardboard box, but I was comfortable w/ the risks.

Procedures:
If you check a lot of luggage, be sure to know the rules ahead as it can save you a lot of money & frustration. For example, when my wife and I went with a lot of checked luggage, I assumed that it would add the luggage to the "party" and not to the individual. I was wrong. The checked luggage prices started low, then ramp up as you add more, so it was best to split them among us evenly. We ended up overcharged, so it caused more headaches later, to try to complain and get a refund. When you are in the line, every 10 minutes there's a message on the loudspeaker telling you to follow the rules or be banned for life, you're kind of stressed out and just want to get done as fast as you can. Research ahead can lower those stress levels.

Reevaluate:
In personal reflection, one thing I've spent a lot of time doing in my move to the DR is reflecting on what I actually want the burden of keeping up with, instead of assuming that just because I already have it, that it must be important and therefore should be moved to the DR with me.

Good fortune to you on your adventure.

awesome information
thanks

ours is coming fast, first week of Jan, but will have time to deal with the rest of stuff as we will rent month to month and look for a condo to buy. I need to be back in the US by June to renew my passport and then start the residency process as well.
thanks again for the info.
I am leaning towards a container once I find the condo

God bless

@oscarsahony Can I ask what shipping company you used?

Why not TV's

bkoepsell wrote:

Why not TV's

If you're referring to the OP comment "I know TVs are out of the question", I think that meant in luggage. You wouldn't be able to securely carry a decent size television in checked luggage.

Some people have brought them in within the original box or a box made for shipping TVs. I know American Airlines states that boxes aren't allowed as checked baggage to the Caribbean.

Whatwhy9696 wrote:

customs charges for tvs are crazy, best to buy local!

If you import with residency and exoneration, that isn't an issue!

What about shipping the TV's

bkoepsell wrote:

What about shipping the TV's

What about shipping them? Logistics? Taxes? Shipping fees?

If you import outside of your container of personal items allowed with residency, you will pay taxes and import duty, which will likely make it cost prohibitive.

We are looking at a shipping container and using a shipping company from door to door for our furniture, large appliances and tv's along with other items once we have a retirement visa. But what about scooters and atv's can we bring them? And if so is their a age restriction on them as they are on vehicles? I have heard that the furniture packages that the builder offers run around $35,000 and I can ship all we need for $4000.00.

bkoepsell wrote:

We are looking at a shipping container and using a shipping company from door to door for our furniture, large appliances and tv's along with other items once we have a retirement visa. But what about scooters and atv's can we bring them? And if so is their a age restriction on them as they are on vehicles? I have heard that the furniture packages that the builder offers run around $35,000 and I can ship all we need for $4000.00.

Just to clarify - once you have your RESIDENCY VISA, you have 60 days to enter the country and complete your application for temporary residency. You are then allowed to legally remain in the country (and come and go) while your application is being processed. Once your application is approved, you will receive your TEMPORARY RESIDENCIA (think of it like a green card) and CEDULA (national ID). You must have your Residencia, not just the visa before you can get the exoneration on your container.

Will you be doing this shipment with the residencial exemption?  If not it's way way more than that price!!!

Scooters and atv's are not included in the exemption but one regular vehicle or SUV is. There are restrictions on this though so make sure you understand them all!

This may be a dumb question but....... I keep seeing that it is one regular vehicle or SUV but, is that per person or per container? In other words, can my husband and I each bring a car or we are limited to bringing just one with the exoneration?

I believe its  just one.

I think each person qualifies.... each resident

If you want to be sure.... plan your residencies a couple of weeks apart.
Two separate entries

WillieWeb wrote:

I think each person qualifies.... each resident

If you want to be sure.... plan your residencies a couple of weeks apart.
Two separate entries

I think it depends on how you get residency. I'm not collecting a pension yet, so I was an "add-on" with Dave's residency qualification and we applied as a couple.  I think if you each qualify for residency individually, you could probably each get your own exoneration - but you'd need to confirm that and start the process that way.

My wife and I applied individually.....

I understand what you're saying & agree

Ok perfect. My husband is Dominican, born in the DR, but grew up in NY. Will be getting his Dominican passport again, etc. Then, from what I understand, I can start my own process. I appreciate the information. This forum is excellent! :-)

Hi there Planner,
Could  you please explain to me what’s the difference between with and without residences,when you want to import your household from the country you live to DR.
We have a property but we are not a residents.
Thank you rayna

renikg wrote:

Hi there Planner,
Could  you please explain to me what’s the difference between with and without residences,when you want to import your household from the country you live to DR.
We have a property but we are not a residents.
Thank you rayna

The primary difference is that as a new resident, you can bring in a container of household items duty free. If you bring those items in without residency, you will have to pay tax and import duty based on the assessed value of your belongings.

We received our initial residency last September and imported our container in November. We received full exoneration (no taxes or duty) on our household items, and received a discount on the import duty for our vehicle.

We have also heard, though it's impossible to prove, that without residency, both the assessed value of your items and the level of scrutiny are increased. I understand this to mean that Aduanas (Customs) understands that if you are coming here as a resident, you need to furnish your home, but if you are here on a tourist card, why do you need to import a bunch of stuff unless you are planning to sell it.

Totally logical.
thanks everyone

Thank you so much 😊

Hi ddmcghee,

..... and received a discount on the import duty for our vehicle.

I am curious about that discount on vehicles, how much is it ? The Dominican Customs website mentions the discount but does not say how much . I wrote to the customs but they never answered ...
I saw many to be expats think they will receive a 100% discount ...

Thanks