⌛ shipping duty tax

we will be moving to dumaguete from u.s. next year for retirement. does it make sense to ship furniture, appliances, computers, etc to pi.? is there a duty tax charged that make it advisable to buy everything in dumaguete rather that ship things over? thanks jim

 

Hi Jim,

I'm looking to move there too (possibly not to Dumaguete though). From everything I've read, and what people in PI have told me, it's much cheaper to sell your things and buy what you need there. Also, the things they have there are better-suited for the climate and getting service (appliances) could be an issue, etc. I'm planning on moving with a few day's clothes, my MacBook, a wireless access point, and a couple of cameras. That's it.

But maybe I'm a bit extreme. :D

 

For the OP and coach 160, Bobdobbs provides excellent advise. As a recent re-locator from Canada, I found the whole process prohibitively expensive and frustrating.

Naturally, there are those possessions from "home" that one simply can not leave behind. Bring them of course! Sell, give away or abandon everything else. It might be hard to do - but do it. Bring a lifetime supply of those things which you can NOT live without. These vary from person to person.

Importing your goods is such fun. A "destination agent" will act on your behalf and will be chosen by the firm through which you arranged your shipment . The DA will work customs for you. A suggested valuation will be proposed by customs. The import duty is 30% of this value plus 12% VAT. A cash basis deal will be proposed for a lower value with an official receipt to be issued for an even lower value. You can figure for yourself what happens to the difference. This could repeat could be a good deal. In my case, my household goods were NOT subjected to a physical examination. Who knows what I may have imported? I am contented with the result of the PROPINA I paid.

 

dear davfitz
thank you for your response. this is great advice. would you recommend to me what household items are indeed worth bringing as they would be difficult to come by in p.i.? jim

 

As I said before, what to bring is a personal decision. Accept that you will make mistakes. Most small kitchen appliances and indeed anything that is not dual / multiple voltage should not be brought but replaced. That said, I brought a 110 volt Braun kitchen center, an electric smoker and a home bread machine which I use through a transformer. These delight my family members here.

If you are serious about BBQing, buy a new gas model before you leave. Bring it in the original box and forget all about a tank etc. Get those items here. You'll be much money ahead!

Computers and electronic items are a debatable items. All of my dual voltage items work just fine - or do they? It's not scientific but I think that electrical items get used to the juice they are fed. I have one desktop machine which is now about three years old. It was never turned off in Ottawa except during my infrequent extended trips. It has been turned on here since September and always behind voltage protection. Guess what? It's currently in the shop for a new power supply. I'd still bring it again. Ditto the 110 volt laser printer, which got moved to a new location (with out its transformer and plugged into the 220 volts by a family member in a hurry). This mistake turned out well as I was forced to replace it and did so at a sale which I otherwise would have missed.

I left behind far too many utensils and crockery / pottery items. The cost / benefit of shipping versus replacing is a difficult call. Put it this way, I shipped Ottawa to Dumaguete. The routing was Ottawa - Montreal - Singapore - Manila - Dumaguete. My door to door cost was USD $6.00 cu/ft all in. On a shipment of household goods you will bulk out before you weigh out. Look at your favourite non-collapsible chair and estimate its cube. It's easy to do the math to find out what you will pay to move an item here. Bring it only if you love it! I shipped a pretty good bicycle. It realistically cost me $150 to ship that item alone. I think it was worthwhile as I like that bike. Do this with each of your favourite bulky items.

Another point is the size of your shipment. I asked shippers to submit bids on 7 cubic metres / one metric tonne. My actual shipment was very close to this. This size of shipment is LCL, less than a standard sea container load (20' x 8' x 8'). I got eaten alive on the various port fees mostly because of this. Be sure to canvass the industry and seek a quote. My unreasonable cost was the lowest bid by far of those who bothered to answer my invitation to tender. Be prepared to dicker like mad and ask a ton of questions. The only stupid question is that one which is not asked! You probably won't have much luck on rates but you can mail down what is and what is not included

 

thank you very much davfitz!! great advice jim