shipping to South America

JOhnH

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I'm always amazed at the trivia people on this site command.

Leslie and I will be traveling South America for a few weeks. It is summer down there so we are taking mostly light clothes. But near the end of our trip we are hitting Punta Arenas near the southern tip, down near Antarctica. We are not looking forward to hauling a bunch of cold weather clothes all over the continent so Leslie wants to mail some stuff to the hotel to have it waiting for us.

One shipping store strongly advised against using the Post Office. Their experience is that way too often, it never makes it to the destination. She said you can't even buy additional insurance because it is so risky. So she quoted us $600 to mail a 14x14x14 inch box weighing 25# using DHL or Fedex.

That was way too much so I went to the post office. They quoted $125 for the same box but could not offer additional insurance. (They didn't tell me why).

Do I need to keep shopping shippers or am I getting the truth?
 
to mail some stuff to the hotel to have it waiting for us.
Search "luggage shipping." A whole market opened up when luggage fees were introduced by the airlines. Keep in mind your shipping internationally and customs comes into play so costs are higher. I had used FEDEX years ago to move clothes/tools when traveling around SA/CA. But from what I understand these newer luggage shippers are the way to go.

Or buy new clothes in SA?
 
I've been to Punta Arenas. It's not that big, but they do have stores that sell clothing. I bought a water bottle at an outdoor sporting type store. I would say it's slightly more expensive than what you would pay in the US, but considering that shipping is $600...
 
Come to think of it, it was here. Surprised to find the North Face in Punta Arenas.

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Sort of related story. I was working in Slovakia on a consulting project. The area used to be part of the Austro Hungarian empire, so in January, "Ball Season" was a big deal. (Think Vienna). I got invited to the management ball at my client. Black tie affair. Called my SO in the States and asked her to ship my Tux Fedex to me. Worked great until it got into customs in Kosice, the city where my client was based. They had never seen clothes being shipped to a non-citizen before and assumed that I had purchased them in the US and that I owed duty on them. I could not convince them that it was my used clothing and so it sat in the damn customs office for 2 weeks, got it out the day of the event.

Long story to explain, you can spend a lot of $$ in the local area for what it will cost you to ship stuff to there and no guarantee it will arrive in time. You can either ship it home or toss it when done, much easier than shipping the other direction.
 
Anybody know if there are any places in South America, like Goodwill, where we can donate lightly used clothing that we bought there for a few days use? Or do they have a homeless population that might appreciate the same?
 
where we can donate lightly used clothing that we bought there for a few days use?
Take it to the nearest church. Anything we had left over from a remote job in SA went to a church or missionary group.
 
There isn't a lot of infrastructure in Austral South America, and I'm certain it would be expensive to ship anything. Odds are you can pick p inexpensive cold weather clothing there. Do keep in mind that our summer is their winter.
 
Come to think of it, it was here. Surprised to find the North Face in Punta Arenas.

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Down there, I'd be tempted to name it "The South Face" :). Google claims a Patagonia store, which is more appropriate to the area :)

To the OP- I was there for only a few days, a few years ago, I didn't go shopping. It will be very windy down there, but not as much as Ushuaia. Also note that it is coming into fall there, too. I'd verify the stores are truly there and their hours, and purchase locally as others have suggested. Shipping things overseas is generally expensive.

If you have friends down there, perhaps purchase it through Amazon and have it delivered to them. I've sent presents to people overseas with Amazon and it is much cheaper than shipping it from here. I haven't tried having Amazon deliver to a hotel, but I suppose it could be done with coordination with the hotel.
 
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