To Ship or Not to Ship - That is the Question

[Retagger]

Hello all,

I am thinking of buying all of my furniture and appliances here in the US (New Jersey) and ship to Aruba when my home is completed hopefully in Oct/Nov of this year. I can ship right from Port Newark, which is only 30 minutes from my current home.

My one question is - How is the duty tax that I pay to Aruba determined? Is it based upon the value of the shipped goods? How would they know the value? Must I show receipts? Can I estimate the value and pay the tax based upon my own figure?

This will be a vacation home / rental and therefore, we would not qualify for a resident exemption.

Regards,
David

[Karen Lutzker]

Shipping to Aruba is going to be very expensive with shipping fees and duty taxes. If this was my husband and myself furnishing a vacation house in Aruba, we would price the cost of purchasing furniture near out home in the USA and shipping verses the cost of purchasing and delivering of furniture in Aruba. During our last trip to Aruba, we visited some of the many furniture stores in Aruba and found furniture we liked, but very expensive. Therefore, compare prices in Aruba and prices near your home. Shipping and duty fees may be worth it in the long run, but you will have to consider the delay in receiving your furniture while going through customs. Best of luck on your new home in Aruba.

[Retagger]

I just received a quote from a container shipper. The price is $3,000 for a 20ft container leaving from Port Newark. I am not sure if that is a good price and I am still shopping around for a better deal. Once the container arrives in Aruba, we would have to hire a trucking service to transport the container to our home.

Once we go to Auba next month, we will do a cost comparision and make our decision from there.

I still need to find out how the tax is determined in Aruba.....

Regards,
David

[fordst63]

Hi, I am building a home in Aruba at Gold Coast to be done next month. It is beeter to ship all of your items. You will save money in the long run and get the selection you want here in the states. I am using a furniture company from Florida, they have 20 years experience and handle everything including customs and delivery to your new home. Email direct if you are interested I will be happy to refer you to them:
steventford@insightbb.com

[Bryan Morris]

Originally Posted by Retagger

I still need to find out how the tax is determined in Aruba.....

You need to show receipts, and it's about 12% on furnishings.

Bryan Morris
Aruba's Premier Wedding Photographer

[fordst63]

The Duty Tax on Furniture Items is 21%

[Retagger]

Thanks Bryan,

Do you know if the cutoff for paying the full amount of tax on the goods if they are more than 6 months old? The reason I am asking is that my house will be completed by the end of the year. What if I purchase the furniture now and by the time that I ship it to Aruba, it is now older than 6 months.

I know that the tax due on luxury items such as a flat screen tv is 50% - which I consider to be very high.

I will be doing a cost comparison next month and than I will decide from there. I have received good advice on which stores to go in Aruba from this forum.

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On a side note, does anyone know of a good "Property Management" company that will take care of my home when it is rented out on a weekly basis. I need someone to clean the home after the renters leave, conduct general maintenance, collect the rent, etc.

Thanks,
David

[Cheryl]

I use Anneke Gorter at www.arubaservices.com. She has been my property manager for 5 years. She takes care of the bills, meeting my renters at the airport, having the house cleaned in between renters. This has worked well for me.....Cheryl

[Retagger]

Thank you for the information Cheryl. This helps us a lot. It seems that her rates are also reasonable. She will definitely be on top of our list. When I am in Aruba next month, I will try to meet her and see what she could offer us.

BTW - Your website is excellent. It has all the information that anyone would need about Aruba. Do you collect the rent yourself or does Anneke do that for you?


Thanks again,
David

[EHampite]

Originally Posted by fordst63

Hi, I am building a home in Aruba at Gold Coast to be done next month. It is beeter to ship all of your items. You will save money in the long run and get the selection you want here in the states. I am using a furniture company from Florida, they have 20 years experience and handle everything including customs and delivery to your new home. Email direct if you are interested I will be happy to refer you to them:
steventford@insightbb.com

We, too, are building at Gold Coast and have to agree with Steven. We did some furniture pricing last year in Aruba. There are some beautiful pieces, but the selection is limited compared to what we are used to in the States. We also found it to be a bit pricey.

With all of the fantastic furniture deals here at home, we made the decision to buy the big items here (living room, dining room and bedroom furniture), get exactly what we want (on sale) and ship. We can buy the incidentals (dishes, small appliances, etc.) in Aruba. In the long run, we figure we will be better off.