Moving Furniture

[Steve Gallen]

Can anyone give me some input on how you resolved shipping of household goods. Did you ship furniture, or rented residences furnished?/Costs for shipping is ludicrously high (Like $10K) Or did most sell their worldly possessions before coming to Ecuador? Any input would be helpful. Thanks

[Country Expert Jim Santos]

Hi Steve –

This is one of those issues that everyone approaches a little differently. I know several expats who moved here with just suitcases, and either rent or purchased units that were full or partially furnished (you can find both here). Others have moved into empty places and furnished locally, and some have shipped containers. And of course, you might end up doing a little bit of each.

When looking at the cost of shipping, you have to also consider the cost of buying those goods in Ecuador. While services, fresh produce, many meats, seafood, etc. are all much cheaper here, things like electronics, major appliances, cookware, kitchen appliances – basically anything that must be imported – can be very expensive.

We purchased an empty condo, and shipped a ten-foot container. We also bought some things (hand made furniture and appliances) here. Before we shipped, we spent some time in Ecuador visiting malls and stores and taking note of the prices. Although it did cost us almost $14,000 to ship our goods, it would have cost us maybe $40,000 to buy it all here – if we could have found it all, that is.

The other consideration, is if there is anything you own that you can’t live without. For example, my wife wanted to have some chairs that belonged to her mother, a top-line vacuum cleaner, and quality sheets and towels. I have a collection of musical instruments and a lot of computer equipment. So for us, it made sense.

The other thing to keep in mind is “muling”. Whenever we visit the states, we take empty suitcases, which we load up to bring goodies back home to Ecuador.

I wrote about this in more detail in an Ecuador Insiders report, link here: https://members.internationalliving.com/august-2016-2/

Feel free to ask me any other questions, either in the forum or at salinas@internationalliving.com

-jim

[GRETCHEN SOLDAT]

Hi Steve,

I can chime in here with our experience on this subject. We retired to Ecuador 7 months ago, but bought our condo 3 years ago when it was being built. We planned to rent it out until we could retire so had it furnished locally.

After living here awhile, we do notice the inferiority of imported appliances. Plus they are much more expensive, as Jim pointed out, for less quality.

My husband wanted his upright digital piano so he looked for one here. There was nothing similar but other models were much more expensive, plus we could not sell ours in the States for any decent money. So we decided to ship since we also had 3 guitars, a nice leather reclining couch, an elliptical machine and other odds and ends hard to replace here. So for less than the price of a local piano, we shipped 2 large crates (not a container, we couldn’t fill one) for $7,000. Yes, it is expensive, but as Jim said, replacing these items would be more.

In hindsight, I would have filled a container with appliances, including kitchen sink and faucet, perhaps mattresses. We brought a Temur-Pedic topper in one large suitcase. Beds are hard here. Electronics like TV’s or stereo systems should be shipped. We were quoted $8,000 for a 20′ shipping container from “Ecuador Relocation Services” who are very reliable. So far anyway…have not received the shipment yet. It takes about a month, so we expect it later this month.

Be aware you only have 6 months from time of entry into the country, NOT 6 months from date of getting residency. We were not told this in advance so misunderstood and ended up having to go back to the States to “start the clock” over. A costly mistake. But, we “muled” back a few more suitcases loaded with more stuff!

On the other hand, handmade furniture from local hardwoods is not expensive and wonderful quality. We had a fabulous hardwood desk custom-made for $600. Bed frames and dining tables, coffee tables, etc. can be custom-made very reasonably. At least that is the case here on the coast…north of Salinas. Good luck, it is wonderful living on the beach here!

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