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I was thinking the other day about all the stuff we’ve brought into Costa Rica since we moved here almost five years ago. Taken together, it’s a substantial list. We brought most of our household goods in a container when we made the move and we’d do that again if we had the chance. Others feel it’s better to liquidate everything in the States and begin anew here. To be sure, there are pros and cons to each argument.
That said, I thought it might be useful to folks anticipating moving here if those of us who have already made the move reflected on what we wish we had brought or what we’ve imported since we got here. We could reflect, too, on what we did bring but wish we hadn’t. Maybe it would provide some hints for the newcomers-to-be.
because i made so many trips down here while building the house (16 altogether) i was able to figure out what i needed from home and what i could get here. i brought good bed linens and towels (although the are available here), and i brought some calphalon cookware (they have good stainless steel here now), and i brought some of my art, photographs, and african baskets. i bought everything else here and most of it was custom-made — a lot better quality that the stuff i had in the states for a fraction of the price. i bought mattresses here (good quality), and furniture, including a solid wood dining set with 6 chairs that would’ve cost $4000 in the States but was only $700 here. i bought all my dishes here — many of them handmade and much more beautiful than ordinary stuff, my lamps are all handmade by a potter and they are really beautiful and weren’t expensive at all. so basically you can get everything you want and need here, far cheaper than shipping stuff. now i still have a house full of furniture and household items in the states that i don’t need at all down here, so i will just be getting rid of those things. i know so many people who shipped a container of stuff that just wasn’t suitable for here. their furniture molded and fell apart, the veneered wood pieces came unglued, so unless you have really top top quality furniture, i’d leave it all behind and get stuff made here for here. one of my neighbors just moved back to the states after spending $12,000 3 years ago to ship all her stuff. she wound up selling 99% of it before she moved back, and i doubt she got more than a few grand for her things. for $12,000 she could’ve bought far better stuff here for less money.
It would be helpful to know what it costs to ship household items in a container. Are there different sizes of containers? What are the prices? From what port is it shipped from the US and to what port in Costa Rica? Do they charge duty on used household items and personal belongings? Are there any weight limits on the container or can you just fill it up? Most of what we have brought to Costa Rica, we have brought in our luggage and consists mostly of sheet sets, blankets, memory foam mattress toppers, mattress protectors, mosquito nets, portable solar panels with charge controlers and connectors, gardening/herb/nature books, cordless electric tools, various teflon cooking pans, certain spices, and a Doulton water filter. As a result, we have very little room in our luggage for clothing. We find the Ropa Americana stores in Costa Rica a great inexpensive resource for good usable clothing. One thing we never buy in Costa Rica is shoes. With the exception of work boots, the shoes in Costa Rica tend to fall apart very quickly especially after they get wet.
There are 20- and 40-foot containers. They’re shipped from the port nearest your home in the U.S. or Canada. The costs vary with size and distance but not weight. Full or empty, a container costs the same. To get a meaningful answer, you need to contact Arden Brink who can quote a very good number.
Used household goods (everything is “used”) are subject to Customs duty but the typical assessment is minimal. It’s no obstacle to bringing your things.
Thanks for opening this important topic…all depends on your personal situation…however I am leaning toward leaving most everything in the states and only bringing essentials. After living in CR part time (some trips for one week, other trips for one month at a time) you get a feel for what you really need. If your plan is to retain a place in your homeland, then consider leaving most of your stuff there. In round figures, the current estimates of moving household goods to Costa Rica from the USA varies between about $8000 for a 20 foot container to $9000+ for a 40 foot container. If you are pulling the plug and moving all your stuff here, then filter through all your stuff to get down to the essentials, and as others have recommended, take only the durables. Remember that many parts of Costa Rica are rain forest, therefore many items can mold and get ruined pretty quickly. Things such as leather goods, camera lenses, artwork, papers, heirloom photos, etc are going to take a hit, if not become destroyed. Folks try and combat this by using dessicants and dehumidifiers, but results can vary, meaning it is hard to get humidity under control. Getting down to essentials is an interesting exercise, as you realize how much excess you really have, and how much did all this cost over the years??? Hard to justify spending another $10 grand moving it south…it’s a balance of “needs” which only you will know…however this is a great exercise to consider carefully before making a committment. It may be better to use that $10 grand as a budget for new “essential” purchases in Costa Rica. The way I’m looking at it, the big categories are furniture, electronics, housewares, linens, appliances, books, movies, clothing and automobile. Actually, if all fails and you must move everything back, your budget is now $20 grand. Interesting…
I’ve moved so many times that the only things that are really important to me are my books, my cameras and my computers which also hold all my treasured music.
Furniture can be made here for a fraction of the price you would buy it for “back home.” Appliances may be a bit more expensive but for me, the hassle of importing is expensive.
“If I knew then what I know now… I would have moved to Costa Rica ten years earlier than I did …”
Okay, so maravilla made sixteen trips and brought linens and a few other bits and pieces (I can’t recall the list). Scott brought books, cameras and a computer. What else does anyone else feel they should have brought or did bring and are glad they did?
For us, we should have brought more garden hoses. Decent ones here are frightfully expensive and the rest are crap that kinks and becomes useless almost immediately.
I’ve found good use for a pressure washer which we subsequently imported. And a two-wheeled garden cart, also imported after the move. Most shovels here are too flat. The dirt won’t stay on the shovel while you pull it out of the hole. And the Costa Ricans favor short-handled shovels over long-handled ones which we prefer (gives me a sore back).
The selection of small hand tools (wrenches, screwdrivers, socket wrenches, etc) here is limited in scope and quality and very expensive. I’m sure glad I can do small jobs around the house without having to go to the fereteria to try to find an acceptable tool. And my more capable friends insist that you cannot buy a decent electric drill or saw here.
I sit in front of this computer much of the day. Thank heaven I brought a “bungee cord” chair, which I’ve not seen here at any price, or I’d have pressure sores. And I routinely import ink cartridges for the printer much cheaper than buying them locally.
We brought a Hoover commercial handheld vacuum cleaner that has made keeping the floors free of pet hair and dead bugs much easier. Haven’t seen one of those here.
The list goes on . . .
EPA has a lot of the items you mentioned, including the vacuum cleaner. i bought a 100 foot hose there — US quality — for $20. had it three years now and no breaks or cracks. i found a place for printer cartridges for my canon printer — C700 colones each for black ink, and C1400 for color. can’t beat those prices with a stick. my husband brought down basic tools — hammer, screw driver, drill, bits, etc. those things ARE expensive here and chinese made so they don’t last long. in 5 years, i have either found everything i need here or have made substitutes. all the exotic oriental food items i like i’ve found in San Jose at the Asian market, so i’ve stopped having people bring me those things, except for 70% chocolate, and some lettuce seeds (mesclun mix and llola rosa). i do miss all my books but the few boxes i did bring with me all smell musty now, so i don’t know if i will bring my expensive art books or not. would hate to have them ruined.
I just went through a car buying ordeal and ended up buying in the states and shipping here because the cars are sfer and I wanted all the airbags and crash protection I could get. I did not save any money though. I did get what i wanted. I wish i would have shipped my used 99 4runner here. It had 165K miles but I bought it new and it was in perfect shape. I cannot find a 2001 in as good shape as it. The cost to ship it was steep $8K, but in retrospect I wish I wouls have done it.
Good cookware here is almost double and the quality is less.
Vacumes cost way more and don’t seem to be as good. Beds here are a fortune if you are picky and want top of the line more or less. Shoes here tend to all be fake. Does anybody know where to get real brand name shoes beside multiplaza?
Carpets are a fortune here. The one good thing about shipping stuff here is that you do save time shopping as it really is a time consuming job finding quality items here.
To bad there are not some sort of mini containers because I would like to ship a load of stuff here but probally not more than a small moving pod’s worth.
Weed eaters and lawn mowers are expensive but they are good quality.
Yes, Arden and David Brink can bring almost anything you want in their consolidated container. We’re using them right now for the second time. Nothing not to like . . .
David…..We agree with you on using Arden for the consolidated container. We were not happy with the quality and high price of the major appliances here…..so we decided to buy in the states and use Arden to ship them to us. We were going to Houston anyway on business so we purchased
the s.s. stove, s.s.frig , s.s.hood for stove, patio furniture and some small odds and ends. The savings on the frig alone paid for the shipping to CR and delivered to our front door. Life is good.Bob
San ramonRE: If I knew then.
My husband and I were talking about the very subject the other night. We have down-sized since we were recently married. Sounds like we should just pack suitcases and come on down. Thanks for all the comments and suggestions.let’s put it this way, you can get whatever you need here — this is not Uganda, or Eritrea. there are some pretty high end stores here for basic things — dishes, pots and pans, baking stuff, utensils. bamboo sheets are available here at the same price they are in the States. you can have custom furniture made out of beautiful hardwoods that will endure the humidity here. and they can upholster anything you want from a photo, so unless you have priceless antiques, or grandma’s this or that, my personal advice is to have beautiful things made here for a fraction of the cost of shipping what you have that may not work in whatever place you live. i don’t know about you, but i have no emotional attachment to a sofa, or a coffee table, and it really is a lot of fun to design the things you need to fit the space you have out of materials you could (maybe) never afford in the U.S. as an example, i wanted a glass-top, wrought iron coffee table. the price for what i wanted on line ranged from $800 – $1600. i had my favorite wrought iron person make what i wanted from a photo and the total cost was just under $300, AND i didn’t have to ship it. if you view this move as an adventure, ,then part of that adventure is taking advantage of the wonderful craftspeople here who can make anything.
the one thing that I have found to be totally over-priced here, and I can not understand or explain it, are all things PLASTIC….big garbage cans, small garbage cans, plastic shelving units, plastic storage tubs (like RubberMade) and especially coolers (Igloo, Coleman, etc.). Had I known at the time of my move I would have loaded up on these things buying more than I needed, using them to pack things in and then upon arrival I could unpack them, determine how many I really needed, and then sold the remainder for up to 50% more than I paid and still save the buyer 25%-40% of the price available in CR.
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