Buying appliances and what kind of stores to expect in Dominican Republic.

If you go on to IKEA.com you will be surprised (at least I was) to find one country in the Caribbean listed there.  The Dominican Republic!  They actually have one store in Santo Domingo and then 'distribution centers' in the East and one in Santiago which is closest to the North Coast.  Basically, you order online at the SD store and they ship it for free to a distribution center, or ship it to your door for not too much (I have not done this yet...but plan to).  The prices seemed at first to be WAY too high...but, upon further inspection it would seem it depends on the item.  Appliances at IKEA-DR no way!  They are ridiculously expensive...mattresses too...but, some things are about the same. So, we drive down to our IKEA check out some of the items we see available at the Santo Domingo IKEA and then go from there.  The website is great...since you most likely have to order online.

Haven't been here...but, here's a photo...looks the same as the one here
 in Michigan only with palm trees!

Even BETTER than IKEA there's a PriceSmart in Santiago (and all around the island in the south)...it's basically Costco.  They carry Kirkland brand goods...and we immediately bought a membership and saved the cost of the $40 membership on our first couple purchases.  A small refrigerator (15 cubic feet? was the size) but with

It's worth the 3 hour drive through the mountains!

inverter technology?  Which hopefully will lengthen the lifetime of our fridge by being able to handle the ebb and flow of electricity. Also, we got a steal of a deal on a queen mattress, just 15K pesos/US $333!  That's a good deal here in the States!

Prices ARE coming down and more and more is available.  Lots of style choices however, there are not.  So, in an effort to save money and ensure that we got what we want in the style that we wanted, I signed up for CPS Sosua/Cabarete import service. I received a Miami shipping address to which I shipped for free items from Amazon and Wayfair. I have had two shipments with them and am in the process of delivering a third.  That should answer whether or not I feel confident using the company. I would only warn that you should add $100 to $150 extra to whatever you are quoted for the 'to the door' delivery.  In their defense they give you an estimate, but are not in control of the duty cops at the harbor. Don't send appliances or electronics.  We bought a dual fuel generator and shipped it because they were twice as expensive in the DR.  In the end we paid exactly what we would have paid in DR.

big bright modern stores

Next we discovered Corripio.  It's like a Best Buy here in the States.The fridge was a better deal at PriceSmart but a gas range (and it really HAS TO be a gas range...more on that later...) was cheaper there.  It pays to shop around in Santiago for the morning and then buy before leaving town. Corripio has every type of kitchen appliance big and small. In fact some things were less expensive like microwaves and blenders.  But, I think that's because they are expensive to operate given the electricity they consume.

fancy blue interior at Corripio

One side note.  Both PriceSmart and Corripio have websites, but it's hit or miss in terms of finding out what they really have. Appliances appear on Corripio's website, but the link dead ends on PriceSmart's.  You will not know what there is that you want unless you actually go in the store.  I've heard that some expats who have friends who are Dominican will have them go in and buy the goods.  Whether or not they save money that way...is still unclear.  I think there's the issue of driving that may be the underlying reason for the shop by proxy method...more on driving in DR later too!  There is a substantial % up charge for using a credit card.  So cash is king.  But, lots of cash on hand brings with it the possibility of being robbed, so that's something to consider too...

UPDATE: Many new Jumbo stores have popped up on the North Coast. We had visited one in Santo Domingo. It's a competitor to La Sirenas...which I talked about in a different blog post.

And, also as a side note, we haven't personally experienced any 'gringo' price gouging at these big box stores. That seems to happen more at locally owned shops. Even the Ferreteria Palacio in Cabrera basically keeps to it's listed prices. I feel like anywhere they take credit cards and have cash registers the prices are set.