Importing household goods.....
Mar 10th 2008, 8:09 pm
#1
Just Joined
Thread Starter
Joined: Jun 2007
Posts: 7
Importing household goods.....
Hi,
I am shortly to be relocating to Barbados with my young family, (4, 2 and 9 weeks old!). I understand that the cost of nappies etc is very high in Barbados and have been advised that if we are shipping stuff then it's probably worth sending a load of these types of items over. Does anyone know if we would have to pay any import tax or duty on these items? If so - how much? Does it make it cost-prohibitive once you've paid duty?
Any advice would be very welcome.
Cheers
Emma
I am shortly to be relocating to Barbados with my young family, (4, 2 and 9 weeks old!). I understand that the cost of nappies etc is very high in Barbados and have been advised that if we are shipping stuff then it's probably worth sending a load of these types of items over. Does anyone know if we would have to pay any import tax or duty on these items? If so - how much? Does it make it cost-prohibitive once you've paid duty?
Any advice would be very welcome.
Cheers
Emma
Mar 10th 2008, 9:21 pm
#2
BE Enthusiast
Joined: Jun 2007
Posts: 669
Re: Importing household goods.....
I would contact the customs department, for certain 15% VAT and 2% Environmental Levy, then the Duty on top of that.
We switched to cloth nappies and wipes for that reason, too expensive here...plus the landfill is full!
We switched to cloth nappies and wipes for that reason, too expensive here...plus the landfill is full!
Mar 10th 2008, 10:38 pm
#3
Joined: Nov 2006
Location: Barbados
Posts: 1,384
Re: Importing household goods.....
For all 3 of my children, I would try to purchase huggies diapers and wipes from away and bring them in my suitcases. But when I had to purchase here, I found that BBD$28.00 bought me 28 huggies, which was the same as some of the far inferior local or regional brands.
When PriceSmart opened, I discovered that they have a Store brand which is must less expensive, and works very well (the extra large that my son wore at night only cost about 60.00bbd for about 100 diapers. There are also people on the island who import Huggies from the US and resell them for a bit less than the supermarkets. ShopSmart brings in Huggies Wipes for much less expensive than the supermarkets but you will buy in bulk.
having said all that, many bajans have their children potty trained very early, 15mts to 2 years but I also know several bajans who wouldn't have purchased anything other than Pampers no matter what the cost.
Unfortunately with ShopSmart and PriceSmart you have to deal with when they have them, if they have them and how long before they get them again scenerio.
I wasn't going the cloth route.. sorry..
When PriceSmart opened, I discovered that they have a Store brand which is must less expensive, and works very well (the extra large that my son wore at night only cost about 60.00bbd for about 100 diapers. There are also people on the island who import Huggies from the US and resell them for a bit less than the supermarkets. ShopSmart brings in Huggies Wipes for much less expensive than the supermarkets but you will buy in bulk.
having said all that, many bajans have their children potty trained very early, 15mts to 2 years but I also know several bajans who wouldn't have purchased anything other than Pampers no matter what the cost.
Unfortunately with ShopSmart and PriceSmart you have to deal with when they have them, if they have them and how long before they get them again scenerio.
I wasn't going the cloth route.. sorry..
Mar 15th 2008, 12:20 pm
#4
BE Enthusiast
Joined: May 2007
Posts: 385
Re: Importing household goods.....
Hi,
I am shortly to be relocating to Barbados with my young family, (4, 2 and 9 weeks old!). I understand that the cost of nappies etc is very high in Barbados and have been advised that if we are shipping stuff then it's probably worth sending a load of these types of items over. Does anyone know if we would have to pay any import tax or duty on these items? If so - how much? Does it make it cost-prohibitive once you've paid duty?
Any advice would be very welcome.
Cheers
Emma
I am shortly to be relocating to Barbados with my young family, (4, 2 and 9 weeks old!). I understand that the cost of nappies etc is very high in Barbados and have been advised that if we are shipping stuff then it's probably worth sending a load of these types of items over. Does anyone know if we would have to pay any import tax or duty on these items? If so - how much? Does it make it cost-prohibitive once you've paid duty?
Any advice would be very welcome.
Cheers
Emma
You can get Pampers/Huggies and other local brands here, the cheapest way to buy is from individuals who import lots of them and sell and deliver them by the box to your house (they do boxes of wipes too). I have the number of someone if you need it when you get here!
HTH
Sue
