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Moving to Costa Rica has involved a lot of research and number crunching. We’ve had to determine not only the cost to move our goods overseas but also the import taxes versus buying items new over there. It’s quite a formula and the formula never seems to be exactly right.
As most of you know, Mike and I have been selling off our household goods for a few years now in preparation for making this move. Believe me; you never know how much “stuff” you have until you actually go to sell it. Take a look in just ONE of your kitchen drawers and try to price it all, take pictures, put it up on a website or sell it at a yard sale. It’s not easy.
And forget about going through your holiday items! I must have had 6 sets of Christmas ornaments and we actually had 3 Christmas tree stands. When I asked myself, “Why on Earth did we need 3 Christmas tree stands”? My answer was simple and pathetic - one is a cheap metal stand that was all I could afford when I bought my first house, the other was an improved plastic version of
the exact same stand which served no additional purpose other than it was plastic instead of metal and looked nicer. Never did I consider that the stand is covered during Christmas anyway. The third and most ridiculous stand has a convenient water pouring spout so you can easily water the tree… I mean, come on. Is all that necessary? While standing quietly staring at these 3 tree stands now cluttering up my garage and knowing I’d now get about a buck a piece for each of them at the yard sale, I realized how ridiculous my thinking had been. The simple cheap metal one did the job just fine. In all reality, I really didn’t need a special pouring spout. When you realize the amount of money you’ve spent for things you simply don’t need and then you realize the price you’ll actually get for these same items either on e-bay, craig’s list or a yard sale, it really makes you evaluate your thought process. I look forward to minimalist living….
There are some items we know we should bring with us from the States simply because they are much more expensive in Costa Rica or the quality is
much better here in the States. Costa Rica imports pretty much everything with the exception of teakwood, coffee and bananas. So if you want a nice TV, laptop, etc. you’re going to pay a lot more for it over there. If you buy it here and ship it, you’re still going to pay a pretty penny to get it into the country via import taxes but at least you know you’ve got a good item that’ll last long.
All items have some sort of import tax associated with them however the exact formula on that isn’t easy to hammer out. For instance, used books, clothes and non-electric hand tools are not taxed at all. Those you get lucky on. Everything else, you’ll pay an import tax on while getting your crate through customs. New appliances are heavily taxed however those are a good example of an item that may be worth bringing over since the prices and quality of these products in Costa Rica are not the best.
Import taxes work off this basic formula: You pay a percentage of the total Cost of the item + Insurance + Freight. Yes, that’s right - you will actually pay
more duty if you carry high insurance on your items and you’ll pay even more if you paid a lot in freight costs. Interesting, isn’t it? Every item we have decided to take with us had to be evaluated to determine it's worth, how much insurance the item would need and freight costs. Then you have to determine if it’s worth shipping it or not. This, of course could be additionally swayed if you can’t really buy that item in Costa Rica. You may be also be ABLE to buy it in CR but it’s ridiculously expensive or last but not least, you can buy it but the quality is terrible. Lots to consider, especially when you have to go through this process with every little item - go back again and look at that one kitchen drawer. No fun.
We have also decided not to take our truck with us (yes, my beloved XTerra will be staying behind) as that’s another interesting area of import taxation. Used cars can be taxed about 64% of their total value. So basically, on a $20,000 used car, you’re going to pay about $13, 000 in import taxes and that’s not including
the cost to ship it, get it inspected and register it. I’ll take my chances with the trucks in Costa Rica. Obviously there are some risks with buying cars over there. First off, as a gringo, you're going to automatically be expected to pay more. Second, some cars can have rolled back odometers. Other scams we've heard about include folks buying up cars here at auction that have extensive damage. These cars are shipped to CR at a reduced rate, fixed up and sold as though they were newer cars. I read one article that said some of the cars destroyed by Katrina were showing up on car lots in Costa Rica. Still, I'll take my chances with the trucks there. If, when I get to Costa Rica, my blog suddenly ends with no explanation, you'll know this wasn't the best decision and i'm probably stuck in a rainforest somewhere.
Mike and I will be shipping a 20 foot crate which will not be completely filled. The crate will be picked up from our house in Limerick and shipped off to the port, most likely in New Jersey. From there it boards a ship and heads to Costa Rica where most imports come in through the Caribbean side through the port in Limon. Once there, the shippers will await instructions from us on where to redeploy our goods. No, we do not have a final address as of yet, but more to come on that in future blog entries.
While packing up our boxes, we must make a manifest that lists out exactly what is in each box, down to the smallest detail. For example, if I pack pillows in a box, my manifest can’t just say “pillows”. I have to list out exactly how many pillows are in that box. If I pack an electronic item, I have to list out the make and model as well as the serial number of the item. We’ve been told that this is the most important part in shipping our goods. If the inspection officers find one error, they will most likely check each individual box for discrepancies and yes, you’ll most likely pay for their time. Thank you Microsoft for creating Excel to keep all this straight!
This is the one piece still up in the air for us. We are waiting on some estimates to come back from some shippers and have come to find out that all we’ve read about the lack of responsiveness from shipping companies is in fact, completely true. You may get 1 call back for the 5 you place. Bottom line, you have to be patient yet persistent. We plan on having this wrapped up within the next 2 weeks before we leave for our residency trip to CR and who knows, maybe our goods will actually arrive in CR unscathed. I’ll be sure to let you know.
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