Trending About This Ripoff Business

Fulano2

Bronze
Jun 5, 2011
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Europe
I recently brought some bottles of wine and champagne from the Netherlands. That's worth the extra suitcase for €50. Our Dominican friends are switching from Presidente to wine/champagne :unsure:
I drink my dry sherry as an aperitivo daily, prefer Tío Pepe.
On Tenerife € 7,20. Supermarkets DR at least 1000 pesos. Abusive.
 

cavok

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Jun 16, 2014
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Coming from the Bahamas to live here, everything is still extremely cheap as hell. Thank God you guys can complain about the prices here because your countries were always cheap to live. My electric bill alone back in the Bahamas would average around $1,200 dollars per month. Some of us have it so good, that we complain about things that really don’t matter…🤷🏾‍♂️

I know because as lucky as I am in life, I do find myself complaining about irrelevant things as well.
The Bahamas is really expensive. It was $8 for a six-pack of their local beer 30 years ago.
 
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josh2203

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Dec 5, 2013
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The DR has pretty much always been more expensive for groceries than the US and Europe, nothing new here................
This is true. The groceries were expensive when I landed in POP in 2009, but more than a decade later it's ridiculous. Just a few weeks ago, out of curiosity, I checked a 1 lb pack of Santo Domingo Coffee in Sirena, and it's currently at 275 DOP. When we last lived there, it was like 210 or something and when I first started buying it, it was at 150-160 pesos. If that's the situation in supermarkets, I can only imagine the anyone who needs to get their daily supply from the colmados...
 

josh2203

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Dec 5, 2013
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While she moans about the prices and taxes in the Netherlands she refuses to accept it’s even worse in the DR.
Have her compare prices online, should work... Pricing of stuff (aside from exotic fruit such as mango) is the one thing my wife is in particular happy about in Europe. Clothing is a good example of pricing as well...

And the quality of anything you can get locally. For instance, she's has her hair-care set (dryer and other stuff I don't even know the names of) in a very intensive use and they last. Last time one device broke down, we drove 15 minutes to the shop and she had a brand-new quality hair-stuff-device in her hands... With a long warranty... Yes, in the DR she would not use that device that much as she would go the salon, but sometimes she did, when she did not want to leave the house...
 

cavok

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Jun 16, 2014
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The exchange rate hasn't helped things one bit. It's about the same as it was almost three years ago and, at one point, dipped down to just under 55 for the USD. In the past, the peso devalued at about 3.5%-4.0% per year. If that had continued as it normally did, we'd be at about 65 now and things wouldn't seem so bad.
 
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MariaRubia

Well-known member
Jun 25, 2019
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With Neptunos you would be surprised. Many "capitalenos" who can afford it do come to Neptunos. Neptunos has always been this way. You may be surprised who you see there.

It's the culture. Gotta get everyone thinking you're someone . I've lost count of how many men I have dated with massive cars and tiny apartments (you all thought I was going to say tiny something else's didn't you). A lawyer I know rocks around in Italian designer suits, drives a massive Merc, flashes his Amex Platinum in SBG and Neptunos, but the reality is he is up to his neck in debt, lives in a nasty little apartment and just wants everyone to think he's a high roller.
 

MariaRubia

Well-known member
Jun 25, 2019
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This is true. The groceries were expensive when I landed in POP in 2009, but more than a decade later it's ridiculous. Just a few weeks ago, out of curiosity, I checked a 1 lb pack of Santo Domingo Coffee in Sirena, and it's currently at 275 DOP. When we last lived there, it was like 210 or something and when I first started buying it, it was at 150-160 pesos. If that's the situation in supermarkets, I can only imagine the anyone who needs to get their daily supply from the colmados...

A 1lb pack of Santo Domingo coffee beans is RD$ 329 in Nacional in Santo Domingo.
 

Seamonkey

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Oct 6, 2009
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Coming from the Bahamas to live here, everything is still extremely cheap as hell. Thank God you guys can complain about the prices here because your countries were always cheap to live. My electric bill alone back in the Bahamas would average around $1,200 dollars per month. Some of us have it so good, that we complain about things that really don’t matter…🤷🏾‍♂️

I know because as lucky as I am in life, I do find myself complaining about irrelevant things as well.
I agree with you. I don't find living here expensive. More expensive than 10 years ago, yes, but still really cheap compared to Canada. My winter heating bills back in Canada were $250-300 per month.
 

El Hijo de Manolo

It's outrageous, egregious, preposterous!
Dec 10, 2021
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Dominican Republic
A 1lb pack of Santo Domingo coffee beans is RD$ 329 in Nacional in Santo Domingo.
Ironically the worst coffee ever. In DR I only buy Bustelo, albeit 500+ for 10oz, a well-roasted espresso in the old world Cuban style. Very consistent, tasty, with no sulfuric acid aftertaste like Dingo!

The place on Conde does their own roast and a decent Cuban sammy. I've long forgotten the name, but a great roast!
 

SKY

Gold
Apr 11, 2004
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If you like a strong Expresso Nacional sells this Italian brand. Rated no. 7 in the World for coffee.

 

chicagoan14

Newbie
Apr 2, 2019
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I agree food is too expensive (and very low quality) in DR.
But so is water. Corraplata charges 700 pesos min charge - for that you get an empty pipe, but every one pays the bill in hopes one day water will reappear.

So you order a 3000 gallon truck for 3000 pesos and after it bumps up the hill it's 2500 gallons. A family of 4 probably uses ~300 gallons a day, maybe more if you have a pool and take evening showers.
So you'll need 3 trucks a month.
Doing the math that's over $150/mo for water.
More than most families ever pay in the US where it's about $45 and always available at 60 psi pressure (No paying for electricity for a pump)

The DR is becoming quite expensive. Home prices on par, or higher, than many parts of US, unless you have a zinc roof in a barrio.

I paid $80 for electricity this past month. I run my AC 3 hours per evening, when it's hot, do 4 loads of wash a week and have a MW, toaster and 3 ceiling fans with Led lights. That's maybe less than you'd pay in US unless your lucky enough tho have Florida Power & Light which is incredibly cheap.

Gasoline is near $5/gallon. Car mechanics are way cheaper in DR but expect to go 3 times for the same issue and that's if you help them solve the problem with parts and diagnosis.

Once DR is equal to North America in cost the main advantage here is being near an ocean and mild winters.

And yes I'm investigating returning. If not for my loyal dogs I'd be gone already.
People think you're crazy when you tell them this country is expensive. By percentage, the cost of living rivals most US cities. I've been here 10 year and things have just kinda spiraled out of hand. It used to be certain things were extremely cheap and and it would balance out the insane prices for cars and certain luxuries. Now everything is just expensive.
 

chico bill

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May 6, 2016
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People think you're crazy when you tell them this country is expensive. By percentage, the cost of living rivals most US cities. I've been here 10 year and things have just kinda spiraled out of hand. It used to be certain things were extremely cheap and and it would balance out the insane prices for cars and certain luxuries. Now everything is just expensive.
And I've been here 7 years full time but been coming since 2001.
I used to come because it was a great bargain.
Those days are long long gone.
 

NanSanPedro

Nickel with tin plating
Apr 12, 2019
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Boca Chica
yeshaiticanprogram.com
People think you're crazy when you tell them this country is expensive. By percentage, the cost of living rivals most US cities. I've been here 10 year and things have just kinda spiraled out of hand. It used to be certain things were extremely cheap and and it would balance out the insane prices for cars and certain luxuries. Now everything is just expensive.
I pay $542/month for a 3 bdr house with a secure gate (sucks when we lose juice). $23/month for electricity. No way I'm complaining about prices here.
 

JD Jones

Moderator:North Coast,Santo Domingo,SW Coast,Covid
Jan 7, 2016
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If you like a strong Expresso Nacional sells this Italian brand. Rated no. 7 in the World for coffee.

This^ This stuff leaves my coffee pot with a coffee tint. lol
 

chicagoan14

Newbie
Apr 2, 2019
268
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I pay $542/month for a 3 bdr house with a secure gate (sucks when we lose juice). $23/month for electricity. No way I'm complaining about prices here.
It can be reasonable depending on where you live. I should've specified and said Santo Domingo which is the majority of my experience. I also remember when PC was relatively cheap.
 
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