What you can and can't buy in the DR

Hi, we have bought a place in Samana, bought couple things in the USA but many or most stuff bought it there. DR has EVERYTHING.

If you go to Sto Dgo (The Capital) they have plenty stores for that: IKEA is a big one, Almacenes Unidos, Cuesta, I can mention you at least 15 or 20 more. The things we bought in DR were only the beds memory foam and ship them to DR with shipping company, only because price was wayyyy better, but DR has them too.

Go light buying out of DR, they have everything, I will recommend to go to the City Capital Sto Dgo where have more options than other towns like Santiago, Pto Plata, etc.

Hope this helps!

I agree that pretty much everything is available. If you are taking advantage of residency shipping program then bring most of it. If not, then you can buy most everything here. It will be more expensive than at home but the difference is shipping and taxes

If you have specific needs then ask us ahead of time and we will help. For example a specific brand of ice cream maker may not be available... 

Thanks for that. These might sound trivial, but it would help me to know. I'm not worried about the specific brand as long as it functions well.

*small* instant pot (the kind that combines multiple cooking functions)

salad spinner

paper slicer for crafts

good quality plastic storage boxes

small home printer

Still researching, but it looks like my best option is going to be bringing things with me as checked luggage; that's why I'm looking at every cubic inch three times.

If it's in checked luggage, I'll still need to declare it to customs, right? and I could end up paying import duty and/or sales tax on it, even if it's obviously old and used?

@wondering9

My opinion just purchase those items here.

Depending where you settle in the country there is Ikea, Jumbo, Las Serina, Invova, Plaza Lama, and more and all those mentioned items are carried in one brand or another.

The instapot is the only thing I would bring.  The rest are definitely available.

Bringing in your luggage is no big deal at all. One trick is to always hire a porter for your bags. Usually your bags are walked on through easily.