... in response to Help pay for trip, posted by elcolombiano on Oct 19, 2002There is more money to be saved in buying bootleged CD's,DVD's and software there and bringing it here.You can get recent movie DVD's for $2 or so I think.The problem is it is illegal to sell them here.So its OK for your own use(still not legal),but could be difficult to sell.Also,thinking along this line you could just copy them here with the right equipment.
Another thing that is cheap there is leather goods.My wife bought a leather suede jacket for $40.To get the best prices you need to go to the downtown shopping area,dangerous for gringos,and be able to negotiate in spanish.
Other simple things that are erxpensive in Cali.My wifes family pays $40 for simple hand held plant shears.Thats 4-5 times what they cost here.They have a plant nursery business.We will take them the hand tools.
They also want a lawnmower and a gas leaf blower and string trimer,all expensive there,so they can do gardening work.These are too big to bring in in a suitcase so I told my wife to find out what the rules are on shipping them in.I told her to call the Colombian consolate but so far she has not followed up.
The other thing I would think could be profitable to take there is used computer hardware.Used computers are dirt cheap here.I would say take no more than one item of each type in case they search you you could say it was for your use.You also need a colombian to work with you on selling them there.I toyed with used cell phones with Colombian friend.We made a little money but I needed to find them real cheap here.It was possible but I lost interest and we parted ways over some missing items.
I think you are on to something.I would check used prices on stuff here and there and try some items,with a Colombian partner you can trust.
Being a former car dealer I am always interested in what cars cost.When I first went in 1999 I was told any old car that would run costs $2000-$3000.Here you can buy old cars that have been donated for tax write offs for $100,running!Shipping was around $800 as I remember.
A Colombian friend checked in to it.He found the car must be new or no more than one year old.We didn't even get to the duty part of it as that answer took the profit out of it.When I was in San Andreas I noticed the rules seem different,they are able to take old US cars in to there.All the cab drivers drive big chevy's,unlike the rest of Colombia.Our driver kept pointing out old American cars he had owned then sold to others.
Geographical price differences have always intrieged me.The reason is usually beauracracy,not shipping costs.
I still think there is money to be made here for the person who takes time to figure it out.You need a savy Colombian partner.Its too difficult to figure out the rules for a gringo.
I fantasise about importing goods to the US.Those leather goods that are so cheap in Cali come out of Equador,where they are cheaper still.My wife is a great barganer but I can't seem to get her interested in this.
It always amazes me that certain things are so expensive in Colombia but nobody is trying to supply them.Like these low tech garden tools that could be made so cheap there but cost so much money.My other thought is the retailers there are contoling the situation and charging what the market will bear.Somehow competition doesn't seem to come in to play like it would here.Many people can't find work but dealing in stuff doesn't seem to occur to them.
I think the way to test the market is do a little research,then try taking and bringing back certain goods.I would keep it down to what could be justified for personal use,then if something really seems to work look in to the duty issues of doing it in a larger way.
Pete
