Container Shopping For Ecuador 

Shopping in Ecuador is an expensive experience.  For the recent arrival seeking to set up shop in Ecuador, you might find yourself in need of the creature comforts you would have enjoyed at home. Correa’s government has levied a whole heap of expensive import duties on many luxury items.

For anyone wanting to expatriate themselves and retire here,  the  costs can be daunting if you want to start from scratch.

Looking at some popular consumer goods here and in the USA one sees a massive disparity.  A new Sony Bravia KDL 40” LCD television in the US goes for  about $750 on nextag.com while the same price on compraecuador.com goes for about $1400!! almost 200% more.

That new ipad– And don’t even think about buying a car.  The markup on new import cars is about 40%.  I took a look at the websites for the Ecuadorian and US websites for Chevrolet and Toyota  to make a comparison of popular vehicles available both here and abroad.  For example a Chevrolet Tahoe—starts at $79,390 here in Ecuador and in the USA, $37,280.  The cost of a Toyota Corrolla 1.6 Lt. is $24790  here in Ecuador compare it to the USA: $15, 450 Not so economical the economy cars here in Ecuador, eh?

Now I have heard many unconfirmed rumors from  expats living here who have  their residency that once one has that anyone who has obtained their  residency is allowed a one time relocation container shipment sent over duty-free.

That means that you can load up on all the luxury items you want from the US or wherever and ship it here tax free along with all your other household items  in one shot.

I did a quick calculation on  freight from freight-calculator.com to see if it would be worth it to ship and save.  A fully loaded 40′ crate with the maximum allowance of 43,000 pounds sent from Long Beach with a declaration of $100,000  of goods(that’s including a car) was estimated to be about $5300 to ship. Well worth it if you think of all the taxes you potentially save just on a car alone.

My advice, get a real good immigration lawyer.  I have been trying to get into contact with immigration lawyers but none have been able to confirm or deny this and are looking it for me.  There are a lot of ins and outs with immigration law and it often seems as if the government writes their laws in pencil, so get the facts from someone who knows.   Fortunately, there are so many expats here, just talk to your hotel or restraunt owner who has already immigrated from North America or Europe or wherever.  They will hand you a number or a business card of their lawyer.  You’ll be just fine and save a lot of money if you you are a little savvy.  And of course once I have obtained the info I will confirm in an upcoming blog.