www.CostaRicaTicas.com

I was actually thinking of exploring the idea of importing and selling Costa Rican made Wooden Walking Canes. I've seen some really nice ones there and seems you can buy them for a song. Have no clue if it would be a pointless idea if shipping costs were to wipe out ay potential profits but this would only be a small side business or hobby for me, not anything for my livelihood.

Couldn't find out much at first glance but I suspect that if it's a sustainable hardwood coming through legitimate channels, and with both countries being CAFTA countries, duties and restrictions would be minimal. Here's a source of more in-depth analysis and info:
http://www.exportcompliance.com/import- ... rce=google

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"A man accustomed to hear only the echo of his own sentiments, soon bars all the common avenues of delight, and has no part in the general gratification of mankind"--Dr. Johnson
"Amen, brother"-ED

While we're talking about livestock, how about 2 classes of animals that are multi-purpose?
Lamb is real tough to get in CR and expensive--induce someone to grow them (meat and wool) or import just the meat. Also llamas and alpacas might do well in CR as well (locally-grown only--the meat is tasty but foreign to CR tastes as yet but they can be sheared 2-3 times a year for fiber to spin and then "grow" that meat's market to halal butchers and that community).

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"A man accustomed to hear only the echo of his own sentiments, soon bars all the common avenues of delight, and has no part in the general gratification of mankind"--Dr. Johnson
"Amen, brother"-ED

As a former rag merchant (person involved in manufacturing of clothing) I would nix the A & F idea as most retail clothing is sold through channels, meaning the manufacturer licensed the retailer to sell it so they can better control price, unless you want to try grey marketing the sale, which has its own problems.

After reading the various posts, I think there seems to be a consensus toward the exportation of CR hardwoods and the importation of unique health and beauty aids and other hard to find items (such as VS unmentionables(ala Jethro Boudin). I would also like to reiterate that the minutiae OX Carts are a fine idea and are sold outside SJ on the road to the Irazu Volocano (As my feeble memory seems to recall).

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“Good people sleep peaceably in their beds at night only because rough men stand ready to do violence on their behalf.” And we are the guys that keep them in Eggs & Grits

One other thought is to use connections through lawyers and whoever else you know to grease the skids to both get the best bottom line price for goods in CR and export them w/o incident. I am sure there are freight expediting services, but it seems to me if CR is like other Latin countries it is more who you know than anything else.

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“Good people sleep peaceably in their beds at night only because rough men stand ready to do violence on their behalf.” And we are the guys that keep them in Eggs & Grits

I would nix ANY clothing. Colombia is manufacturing clothing for the whole western hemisphere - quite good quality & quite cheap. The locals I know love the name brands - A&F, Polo, etc & don't hesitate to buy counterfeits & are quite happy wearing the fakes. There are a few items made in CR - there's a shop not far from the Presidente hotel that has locally-made thongs that are 1/10 the price of the name brands sold in the malls. So...I think clothing is quite problematic.

Back to the anything victoria secret - again I would nix the clothing because there are already established shops for lingerie. But the Splash line of perfumes is quite popular & there are a few stores that sell them at about double the US price. Perfumes in general are generally double or more what I bring back from Fragrence.net for my amante & friends.

I regularly bring electronics for my friends also (tomorrow, with a $40 DVD player) & Soccer stuff (last time goalie gloves, ditto for the next time). I also regularly bring things that are simply not popular & quite expensive - paper towels, Kleenex, etc.

The cell phone idea is good (unlocked) but there's already a butt-load of shops.

I'd love a Starbucks Frappucino or a Juan Valdez equivalent..... I'm getting quite tired of Spoon's Frozen Lattes.

I've been down this path as well (mentally) & couldn't come up with something I thought was a real winner. Good luck.

Even looked at buying & renting out apartments but the math didn't add up.

/dddick

Here's the Website for Brother DDD's mention of discount perfumes and other good stuff:
http://www.fragrancenet.com/f/net/index ... m=redirect

If you want to save even more, here's a coupon site with some codes:
http://www.retailmenot.com/view/fragrancenet.com
This is only one site--there's a ton of them. I routinely search for online coupons when making any purchase on line or even brick-and-mortar stores. Amazing the money you can save.

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"A man accustomed to hear only the echo of his own sentiments, soon bars all the common avenues of delight, and has no part in the general gratification of mankind"--Dr. Johnson
"Amen, brother"-ED

i might be able to contribute a little info on obtaining discounts.

I do alot of purchasing for my company and one of the first sites i look for deals/discounts on is slickdeals.net, their main page lists some deals, but they are usually short lived after they are put on the front page. to find the deals before they are dead check out their forums and utilize the search feature.

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I will be back soon, trust

Converting Brother PureChaos' mention into a click-through: http://slickdeals.net/
They don't themselves sell merch; they look at other sales sites.

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"A man accustomed to hear only the echo of his own sentiments, soon bars all the common avenues of delight, and has no part in the general gratification of mankind"--Dr. Johnson
"Amen, brother"-ED