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Do Exchange money when you come to Costa Rica. I use to say it's not necessary but now I feel you can save 10% if you do. The dollar to colone is fluctuating. On Wednesday I got it at Banco National for 557 colones to the $1. Yesterday at BAC San Jose 537-1 and last night at Walmart 547-1. Pay the Ticas in Colones now and not Dollars and save 10%. They are still figuring 500 to the $1. So, for the math, a $100 session, they will do for 50, 000 colones. If you paid in dollars, it would cost you about 5, 000 colones more. Also, the restaurants are only giving you 500 colones to the dollar. Due to the number of clients coming in with our tours, I keep a close eye on the exchange rate. Have fun in Costa Rica.

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Add a little spice to you life.This post is provided purely for entertainment purposes and free of charge on the part of the author. No "Sex tourism or travel" promotion is expressed or implied. The author of this post was not provided any compensation for this hopefully entertaining contribution. Any posts regarding any event or hotel item are just my humble opinions only.

I don't know about the chicas here in SJ (REY and SL) but the report I got yesterday from a friend on the ground in Jaco was that the chicas there are well aware of the increase in the exchange rate and they will not accept 500 to 1!!

Also on another note concerning the exchange rate, I was in Walmart yesterday and everything I bought was up about 10% over about 2 weeks ago There goes our extra colones (gringos who receive our money in dollars) and the poor Ticos are now 10% more in the hole!! Sadly all goods here (food, clothing, housewhole goods, etc.) are based on the dollar, so as much as it sounds good when the dollar goes up, it really hurts more than it helps in the long run. For us expats on a fixed income everything we spend money on here will go up, but in most cases (SS for example) any increases in our income is based on USA price index not CR, so we end up losing any gain in the dollar to inflation here. Which by the way, NEVER seems to go down when the dollar goes down, only up when it goes up!!! JMHO

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Old and retired but still bang, and bang, and bang!!!

As of this past Tuesday, SL was giving 540 to the dollar, and Scores was giving 525. I don't know about Tico restaurants, because I always pay them with colones.

this is of grave concern. It costs a large amount of money to reprice items, and is typically done only for fast-moves and perishables. Other long-stock items are priced in advance of receipt (and sometimes in advance of purchase).
If walmart is price-adjusting long-stocks, then they see this as inflation-based... basically a hedge to the next qtr.
a +10% inflation adjustment over a qtr is disturbing from a tourist point of view. A +10% currency fluctuation by itself is indicative of nothing.

I would like to hear the POV from business owners out there in CR. Hopefully they chime in on what they are experiencing.

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bypassin' kinky, and usin' the whole chicken!!!

Paying in Colones can save some bucks, but it might be a good idea to start negotiating in Colones as well. I had a minor shock at the cocal Tuesday when I handed the sweet young thing 40,000 Colones and she said,"that's not $80. Ooops. I had agreed to $80 so she had me. She said thats $75, so she still shorted herself by $3 based on the rate that day. This isn't common yet, but if the exchange rate stays up, it's coming. I haven't met one yet who does the math easily in her head, so offering 30,000 or 40,000 is safer than $60 or $80.

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My English teacher said "I before E except after C". Then she told me to go to science class!

I think your comments are based on how business (especially large ones such as Walmart) do things in the States. here we are talking about Latin American business-even Walmart. This is "Walmart/Mexico" and as such is a totally separate company. Yes they are still a part of the Walmart family but they do many things very differently; things that would never occur in the states. Remember, here , and in all Latin American countries, labor is relatively cheap. many stores will employee nearly twice as many people as the same store would in the states. Walk around a Walmart here and you will see the differences; employees (stockers) setting on the floor patting each bag of rice or beans or sugar, etc. into a perfect shape and carefully placing it on top of the stack. People removing each can of food from the shelves every few days and wiping clean each can, then carefully replacing it back on the shelve. In many store there will be a person standing in each isle with the sole purpose of answering any questions (such as to where a certain item is). As for prepricing, almost nothing is priced before it goes on the shelf. It is nothing at all here to buy an item and when you get it home you realize it has 4-5 even 6 different price stickers one on top of the other.

One department store chain here has a "everything half price" sale about once a month. Problem is the night before the sale starts employees go thru the store changing the prices on every item by hand. And NO, they are not putting on stickers showing the 1/2 price; they are doubling the regular price which the next day, when someone buys the item, will be marked down at the cash register. Remember Costa Rica is not the USA!! There are no laws here prohibiting such practices. What is amazing is how people flock to that store when they have the "1/2 price sale" thinking they are getting a bargain!!!

Point is, here it is common practice to change the prices of items on the shelves, often several times before it is sold. Hell many of the small clothing stores in down town SJ do not even price (with a price tag) items. They place items grouped together by prices and often, for example, will have only 2 or 3 prices for all the different styles of women's blouses. The clerks are suppose to memerize these prices. Bad thing with this practice is many will also have "Gringo" or tourist pricing and how do you know!!!! I was with a favorite one day, she saw a blouse she liked and asked the price (c3900). I went back the next day by my self to buy it and was told the price was c5900. Even when I told them my friend had been quoted c3900 and I was buying it for her, they refused to lower the price. And no I did not buy it!!!

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Old and retired but still bang, and bang, and bang!!!

As with all of his other posts, BB57 is right-on about the pricing practices.

I've seen all of that- - - - - many times at many stores in CR.

It's best to let a favorita negotiate and buy for me (and for herself) at the smaller stores.

I save a lot of money that way. Then I hand it over to her.

CR Walmart is still a part of the big group, and ultimately translates to dollars (through the supply-chain). So they are exposed to currency fluctuations more than smaller, purely local business. Though eventually all business owners feel the effects, it can take quite a while to trickle down to local-only supply chain.

Inflation on the other hand, starts in the local supply chain, and expands outwards. What is happening in the local farmer's markets? Are they raising prices to match the currency changes? This will be a strong indicator for hyper-inflation. And this will affect the commodity price of pu*sy more directly.

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bypassin' kinky, and usin' the whole chicken!!!

I understand what you are saying, but what I guess I am trying to explain is the pure and simple fact (thou maybe not rational) that for many years here in CR the least change upwards in inflation or the drop in the value of the colon to the dollar very quickly affects the prices in ALL retail outlets from the biggest (Walmart in this case) to the small "mom and pop" corner 'super'. It is like ALL businesses wake up every morning and the first thing they do is check the exchange rate and the inflation factor. And if either is up even a fraction, the first thing they do is start adjusting their prices upwards!! No business here, not even Walmart, seems to wait till it (inflation) starts actually affecting their costs, Sadly in 20 years I have NEVER once seen them drop the prices when inflation goes down (actually has not happen in all this time) or the colon goes up (has happened thou mostly artificially supported by the Government selling off dollars) Farm commodities do fluctuate up and down seasonally but only due to production peaks. The average price for the year has risen every year for a long time. For example bananas which have little in the way of production peaks, have risen from an average of c19 each 8 years ago to c63 each now with a rise of about c6 just in the last 3 weeks. That is a rise of about 10% in the period starting right after the colon starting falling, a period when the colon dropped 10%

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Old and retired but still bang, and bang, and bang!!!

BB57 really knows wassup.........and he knows about bananas, too.

It's in our best interest to believe what he says

Forgot to respond to this in my last post!!!

In another thread I recently posted concerning "pu*sy prices". Lucky for us mongers, pu*sy prices over the years have been little affected by inflation here. In fact I am not sure how the chicas make it now. 8 years ago the asking price in the REY and SL was "cien" and most would go for $60-$80. Today, thou the cost of living is up 150% during the same period, the prices for the chicas are still the same. In the MPs prices are up only about 20 % on average over the same 8 year period. And all of that increase except in one MP that I know of, has gone to the owners, not the chicas. This is the reason many of the chicas are now charging for "extras". And thou I do not like paying the "extra", I understand why the chicas are doing it. Living on a fixed income is not easy when the cost of living has gone up 150%!!

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Old and retired but still bang, and bang, and bang!!!

Hey them naners made great and "cheap" dildos back when they were c19! Today at c63, (about 11 cents) not so much!!!

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Old and retired but still bang, and bang, and bang!!!

if this is the case, then it shouldn't be a worry at all about the chicas raising prices to accommodate the currency change.

Thank Gawd for that.

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bypassin' kinky, and usin' the whole chicken!!!

Lets not forget that the money the Chicas receive is 100 % tax free.

Devo

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The most dangerous adversaries are the ones that come with a smile instead of a sword

I guess I got lucky while in Jaco/Cocal and SJ/HDR last weekend as I was happy with favorable exchange rate of 551 at BAC/SJO on 3-6. Think it had been close to 4 years since I realized that high of an exchange rate.

Even though had sealed the deal with the chicas at Cocal for $100, paid them 50,000 colones and the little gems were eager to take the money and run without an apparent concern. So actual cost to me was $90.75. Same thing Sat. and Sun night in SJ/HDR. Paid with 50,000 colones and not a word about the current exchange rate.