Posted on 07/23/2013 9:08:25 AM PDT by Biggirl
SÃO PAULO, Brazil — Shoppers here with a notion of what items cost abroad need to brace themselves when buying a Samsung Galaxy S4 phone: the same model that costs $615 in the United States is nearly double that in Brazil. An even bigger shock awaits parents needing a crib: the cheapest one at Tok & Stok costs over $440, more than six times the price of a similarly made item at Ikea in the United States.
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
Not really. It’s more like a combination of a high VAT and tariffs that hit imports at 100% of assessed value, even for components used fr manufacture in Brazil. While it is true that salaries are low relative to the cost of housing in the bigger cities, even Classes D and E are still buying goods on installment “interest free.” Between high tariffs, taxes, a real estate bubble and inflation (hidden and unhidden) you have a large consumer economy where the growth in disposable income, while significant , is masked by the high cost of goods.
The currency was being held artificially low against the dollar for several years, and the Central Bank has been slowltly bowing to the inevitable as of late. As far as au pairs are concerned, local labor costs have gone up and affluent Brazilians would rather pay extra for an English-speaking nanny than take their chances locally.
Yes, the Clemenza Importing Company of Miami International Airport. ;) Thankfully, they tend to check women more than men when you arrive at GRU with your luggage.
Shipping to and from Brazil is prohibitively expensive with either FedEx or UPS. I tried to send some video games about two years ago to my wife’s cousin in Sao Paulo (when I was still stateside) and UPS would have charged me over $200.
When you gonna bring me back one ?
You can finance your trip there if you and your wife and children all take your IPAD’s with you and sell them when you get there
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My friends bike shop (high end) sells at least 10 bikes a week to Brazilians .. there is a 100% import duty so a $2000 Specialized here is at least $4000 there ... bikes are bulky but lightweight and the extra charges from the airlines are minimal.
Amazon will NOT deliver to Brazil or Argentina...
FOr one thing, the delivery guys CANNOT leave packages at the door.... they don’t *stay* there! :-)
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