Cost of furniture and household goods

hi Chivonne
Provided if you are coming from far away transport and charges might  be a factor to consider and  of course you can find all households goods locally.

francois

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So I'm your opinion it's better to buy new household goods when we arrive. What is tge cost of furniture like over there. We are migrating from cape town in south africa.

hi
sorry miss spell your name
however you will have a wide choice on furniture locally
its depends on quality you want  you are looking for because available  low price from asian country to european quality
in fact the choice is yours
cheers
francois

Instead of buying stuff you can easily rent a furnished apartment or house depending on your budget and location.

I still reside in the UK but lately I had to fully furnish an appartment in Mauritius. Electrical goods are very cheap here and as far as furniture is concerned you can buy them ready made or order them to your taste. Delivery of ready made furniture is usually the same day. Do not forget to barter if you are buying a few items together. There is a definite chance of a good deal. For example, you can easily buy a king size bed as little less than 100 pounds.
Best wishes and good luck
Dave

Hi Dave thanks so much for the info. Seems like it would be better to sell all our household furniture before we leave and just buy furniture when we arrive and find a suitable house to rent. What about cars are they expensive there.

Regards
Chivonne

Hi Chivonne,

I shipped most of a household of goods last year and so would suggest some issues to consider:

-as a couple with children you are likely to have to ship a lot of personal effects in any case e.g. toys, pictures, paperwork, treasured items etc. When you start to collate and box these you may find that you'll need part of a container in any event. The jump up to using a full container in cost may not be that great v. buying a whole new household of goods;
-the hassle of selling second hand goods v. packing and shipping;
-are you going to rent? If so most properties, I think, are furnished and so you may need to find storage. That's worth researching. You can rent un-furnished but they are not so common;
-as mentioned the quality of goods you have or may want to purchase is an issue. You can buy cheap products but they tend to be poor quality and may not last long;
-for examples of prices I bought a nice, large leather sofa for MUR 50,000 and a King size mattress for about MUR 5,000.

I don't know about comparable prices in Cape Town I'm afraid and the same for cars. Cars are more expensive than the UK. The size, make, year will make a big difference. I would have thought you'd buy a reasonable mid-range second hand car for MUR 250,000. Try the classified on this site and maybe http://motors.mega.mu/ for an idea.

Hope that helps.

If your intention is renting while you are in Mauritius, then you have the choice to rent a fully furnished accommodation as many of those are available throughout the island. it is the most common practice as has already been mentionned by one of the contributers. you can check on internet and TREMA is an reliable estate agent with whom I have done business before but there are quite a few of these estate agents on the island.

As far as car is concerned it is quite expensive as the Government does charge 100% of importing duty on new cars. you may wish to buy a secong hand car BUT you need to be very careful and do no rely on the words of the seller. Otherwise you may be able to visit a show room and at times they do have promotions on certain models and you may be able to negotiate a good deal. sometime they have car- display on the forecourt of big supermarkets and you may come accross a model that is suitable to your needs.

Unfortunately, I am returning to the UK  on Wednesday next week, otherwise I would have done some further reseach on those items but I am sure there are many wonderful people here who would provide you with the best advice
Best wishes and GOOD LUCK.
Dave

Thanks Dave you have been extremely helpful. Safe trip home

Regards
Chivonne

furniture and household equipments are cheaper available ones whereas expensive ones are also available. it depends on u. a bed of two together with its mattress can be available for Rs15,000-20,0000 whereas u can buy same for up to Rs100,000, depends on u...... any help, am here....

Hi
Where do you buy the expensive furniture and is it imported
.Thanks  ,Barbara

Difficult to be precise when one does not know what your situation is, what sort of permit you are coming on, or how long you will be here etc. If you are short-term, then rent furnished.

However, here are some "for certain" issues.

If you are a long-term move, do your homework and use a reputable freight agent. Nasty surprises await the unprepared.  If you cannot get your household effects into Mauritius free of VAT and Duty, forget it. Just not financially viable. Shipping cost from SA is not huge relative to replacing everything. Stuff is supposed to be used, not new.

Cars. Forget it. Duty and the hassle / bureaucracy factor is horrendous. Same goes for most vehicles like motorbikes etc. Buy here (from proper official dealers only) or hire / lease. Local car prices are huge as are things like wine etc.

Furniture and appliances. Remember the Island is a very small market (tiny in fact.) Things are driven by price not quality. So when it comes to appliances you can get a few ok brands at ok prices BUT they will be the second-string models not the top of the range. Forget the good German brands for example. If that is your taste, bring with you, There are also lots of businesses that ostensibly sell things but never have stock! You can wait months.

Furniture. Very expensive and mostly junk from China / India etc so be warned. Yes, you can get stuff made but it is a hassle with a lot of running around and very time-consuming. You will just not get things like decent quality bed linen, crockery, cutlery etc, etc. This applies to a host of things you may take for granted like clothing, sports equipment, tools, etc. This is just the reality of such a small market but other things make up for it in many ways.

Hope this helps.

Hi dis Ronel van George my epos is ronel@shalesh.co.za . Ek het vir jou baie inligting wat ek al nagevors het - welkom om dit dit deur te lees ook vir slaggate wat wag. Epos of whatsup my dan stuur ek dit alles aan? Ons ook oppad!!!

Groete
Ronel

Roneljvr wrote:

Hi dis Ronel van George my epos is ronel@shalesh.co.za . Ek het vir jou baie inligting wat ek al nagevors het - welkom om dit dit deur te lees ook vir slaggate wat wag. Epos of whatsup my dan stuur ek dit alles aan? Ons ook oppad!!!

Groete
Ronel

As this is an ENGLISH speaking forum could you please post in ENGLISH only so that others can understand your post and perhaps offer information or advice.
Thank you.

When one imports personal effects to Mauritius in a container the goods have to be verified to some extent by the Mauritius Revenue Authority who state categorically that you are not allowed to sell them give them away etc otherwise you may be liable for import duty if they have not charged you in the first instance.  Perhaps you may be better shipping personal effects by freight  and then buty locally of course you will be paying TVA on many items but there are several Facebook groups where people are moving in the opposite direction i.e. away from Mauritius and are selliing household items so you may get some things that are like your own again where they are not brand new.

Hi Friends, I lives in Uk at present and intend to spend Christmas and New Year this year in Mauritius. Can you tell me if the shops and Ah Yuen, the chinese restaurant   in Flic En Flac remain open on Christmas day as we are arriving in Mauritius on the 25 December, We need to  find a place to dine in the evening.

Looking forward for your comments, Thanks
Dave