Shipping a container from the UK

beeza

Silver
Nov 2, 2006
3,480
732
113
I'm sure this question has been posted many times before, but I would apprecieate an up-to-date answer to the pitfalls of shipping a container in the DR.

We currently have all our furniture and personal effects stored at a storage facility in the UK. It's quite expensive as it costs us over ?200 per month for the storage. Now that we have decided to stay here and bought a house near Cabarete we have thought about shipping all our stuff here. The total inventory is valued at around ?10,000, which equates to around five years' storage. So in financial terms it's probably worth us shipping it here and buying new (if) we go back to the UK!

What I would like to know is: What kind of import taxes can we expect to pay on arrival? We are now legal (temporary) residents and have our cedulas. All our stuff is used, just removed from our house.
Although we live in Cabarete, is the best option to ship to Santo Domingo, or could it go to Peurto Plata? How can we remove our stuff from the port to our home securely? Have people experienced thefts / broken items from their containers? Can anyone recommend anybody who can deal with this for us?

Many thanks in advance.

Beeza.
 

tish

New member
Mar 10, 2007
242
8
0
Hi Beeza,

I am in the same situation, but still living in the UK wanting to find out about this information also. I heard, though that it is much cheaper to buy furniture in the DR than to ship large amounts of furntirue over.

Tish
 

Bryanell

Bronze
Aug 9, 2005
694
83
48
I'm sure this question has been posted many times before, but I would apprecieate an up-to-date answer to the pitfalls of shipping a container in the DR.

We currently have all our furniture and personal effects stored at a storage facility in the UK. It's quite expensive as it costs us over ?200 per month for the storage. Now that we have decided to stay here and bought a house near Cabarete we have thought about shipping all our stuff here. The total inventory is valued at around ?10,000, which equates to around five years' storage. So in financial terms it's probably worth us shipping it here and buying new (if) we go back to the UK!

What I would like to know is: What kind of import taxes can we expect to pay on arrival? We are now legal (temporary) residents and have our cedulas. All our stuff is used, just removed from our house.
Although we live in Cabarete, is the best option to ship to Santo Domingo, or could it go to Peurto Plata? How can we remove our stuff from the port to our home securely? Have people experienced thefts / broken items from their containers? Can anyone recommend anybody who can deal with this for us?

Many thanks in advance.

Beeza.

One of the big problems with a shipment of personal effects is when it is opened at the port of entry into the DR for "verification" by the port and customs authorities. Usually everything is taken out of the container, packages opened to check the contents etc., Then at some stage the stuff is put back inside the container which is later resealed to await clearing from the poert and delivery to final destination.

According to the law the cargo owner must be present during the verification or be represented by a licensed customs agent.

The process of handing the stuff in and out of the container, opening the packages which are often not closed afterwards, can cause a lot of damages and stuff often goes missing. The subsequent container movements in the port, loading on to the delivery truck and the long overland journey from Haina or Caucedo to Cabarete tend to have rather a drastic effect on loose goods rolling around unpacked in the container.

Even if you are present during the "verification" process it is doubtful whether you will be able to influence the way your stuff is handled, whether or not it is properly repacked after inspection and whether your container will be resealed immediately or left unlocked until somebody arrives with the appropriate customs seal.

Horror story? Personal experience...not exactly, but I'm in the marine insurance business and see and have to deal with this kind of thing every day.

If you ship get good cargo insurance it won't prevent anything, but it may make your misery a bit easier to bear, and PM me if you need any further advice

Good Luck
 

Bryanell

Bronze
Aug 9, 2005
694
83
48
Before I get jumped on by moderators and all that

I would like to say that although I'm in the marine insurance business, I'm not on the underwriting side so I'm not trying to sell anything here.

It's just friendly advice to novices in the shark infested waters of the ports and allied services. This is a common situation in ports all around the world, perhaps it is a little more extreme here, such is life in the tropics.
B