What would you bring to Argentina with you?

[PaulBee]

A competent, bi-lingual honest, property manager who´s a licensed salesman.

 

[PaulBee]

A reputable contractor who is available to work.

 

[De Callisto]

Seriously, bro, this question has been asked a million times, and we have all written long, thoughtful replies.
Search is at top right of page.

"Seriously, bro,"

Everyone's needs are different - Bro

 

[De Callisto]

Hi all. The misses and I are going to move to Cordoba next month and are having trouble deciding what's worth bringing or leaving. We're getting rid of lots of stuff but still decided to bring most of our clothes, my computer and some other gadgets, and some other random things we think might be hard to find there, but in general I could really use some advice on what is worth bringing from abroad vs buying new there.

We plan on taking about 8 suitcases with us (I did weeks of research into shipping our items there and finally decided it's too troublesome and potentially costly). Would you mind giving me some advice on the kinds of things that are worth bringing (assuming we already own it or can get it for a much cheaper price outside Argentina) as opposed to leaving them here (selling them off for second hand prices) and buying them again in Argentina?

Any suggestions would be very much appreciated.

Quality clothes are expensive here. So are electronic goods. If you use an RSA key for banking, renew it and bring it. Credit cards, as was already mentioned, should renewed. Make sure you bring a quality quad band phone attached to a USA phone number so that you have no issues with SMS codes from financial institutions. Get a primary GoogleVoice account. In retrospect, I'd bring a second phone, also attached to a US phone number with GoogleVoice. Anything imported here is expensive. Argie Customs will hammer you.

Compare what medications you are taking in the US to what is available here. Many US medications are not available here.

Make sure you have a credit card that does not charge you foreign transaction fees. Good luck.

 

[carride]

. Would you mind giving me some advice on the kinds of things that are worth bringing (assuming we already own it or can get it for a much cheaper price outside Argentina) as opposed to leaving them here (selling them off for second hand prices) and buying them again in Argentina?

Any suggestions would be very much appreciated.

Perhaps list the things you use and need in your daily life, and we can suggest if better to bring or buy here. The things you mention are the common important things which are hard to find or expensive.

 

[carride]

Perhaps list the things you use and need in your daily life, and we can suggest if better to bring or buy here. The things you mention are the common important things which are hard to find or expensive.

Also you can browse mercadoLibre argentina website to see if the things you need are here and at what price. Not saying you can buy them until you have an account (a subject of other threads), but it gives you an idea of what is available.

 

[gracielle]

Neosporin... a must

The best equivalent of Neosporin in ARG: Altus (antibacterial-corticosteroid). It is the analogous product that contains exactly the same components and can be purchased in pharmacies in ARG. But at a much higher price.

 

[Redpossum]

The best equivalent of Neosporin in ARG: Altus (antibacterial-corticosteroid). It is the analogous product that contains exactly the same components and can be purchased in pharmacies in ARG. But at a much higher price.

Now that's a helpful piece of information!

 

[Alby]

One box of glad wrap, with the serrated edge. Re-use the box and it's edge with refills of the plastic roll.

 

[Spixe]

Thank you everyone for all the very helpful replies.

Seriously, bro, this question has been asked a million times, and we have all written long, thoughtful replies.
Search is at top right of page.

I just spent the better half of the last 5 hours sifting through the forums, looking for and reading posts. Many of the posts I found regarding bringing things were in threads that had to do with other topics (such as immigration, banking, real estate, etc.) and the information relevant to my question was pretty sporadic and unfocused (camera or camping equipment, electronics, TVs and monitors, canned salmon). Could you perhaps point me in the right direction Redpossum? What search terms do you suggest? I searched for "bring into Argentina" then "bring in" and then just "bring" and went through a 100 results dating back the last several yaers and I'm sad to say I didn't find a whole lot of info. Perhaps I'm searching for the wrong key words?

The answers I received from this post alone though has already very helpful and appreciated, so thank you again everyone.

this is always a depends on the person question.... i brought a great set of bed sheets a couple of thick nice towels... some spices and a thick quality frying pan..... this was 20 years ago on my first visit..... i was very happy i did the rental stuff was a disaster hahahaha but bring the things you love and cant live without.... enjoy your time in cordoba....

I agree, everyone has their own needs. I was genuinely curious though to hear about individual preferences as well - who knows, it could be something that I never thought of. I plan on bringing an electric salad chopper and food bag vacuum sealer for example (I saw those were 3-4x more expensive on ML). I'm also trying to figure out a way to ship or take my solowheel, but I think I have to give that up. Just hearing of the random things that people have wished they brought over the years could help me think of something that I haven't thought of yet. Your individual reply was very appreciated. Are affordable good quality towels still hard to find there now (as opposed to 20 years ago)? We weren't planning on bringing any but maybe we should if that's the case.

Also you can browse mercadoLibre argentina website to see if the things you need are here and at what price. Not saying you can buy them until you have an account (a subject of other threads), but it gives you an idea of what is available.

I've been doing that for awhile now, which made me decide to bring a couple things I otherwise would have left behind. Lots of other things though I wasn't able to find on it at all unfortunately.

Renew your credit cards and drivers licenses. Get a Charles Schwab debit card. For US citizens, FBI reports, if you plan to become permanent residents.

Upon reading your reply I immediately started reading up on the CS card. May I ask why you personally recommend it? From some quick research, I was thinking because of it's no ATM withdraws and foreign transaction fee benefits, which seems like it's main advantage, but now I'm confused because I thought withdrawing USD from ATMs (which would be received in pesos) should be altogether avoided due to it using the official exchange rate (as opposed to blue which could be almost double). So unless you can withdraw the actual USD, then you'd end up losing money from the exchange rate, no? What am I missing for this to make sense?

Quality clothes are expensive here. So are electronic goods. If you use an RSA key for banking, renew it and bring it. Credit cards, as was already mentioned, should renewed. Make sure you bring a quality quad band phone attached to a USA phone number so that you have no issues with SMS codes from financial institutions. Get a primary GoogleVoice account. In retrospect, I'd bring a second phone, also attached to a US phone number with GoogleVoice. Anything imported here is expensive. Argie Customs will hammer you.

Compare what medications you are taking in the US to what is available here. Many US medications are not available here.

Make sure you have a credit card that does not charge you foreign transaction fees. Good luck.

Thanks for the recommendations, especially about GoogleVoice and quad band phone. I live in China so I'll have to make sure I can use my Chinese bought phone there. All of my belongings are coming from and bought in China actually, but for the most part there's no difference in the availability and price of products so it doesn't really matter in terms of the initial question. About the credit card that doesn't charge foreign transaction fees - this is only assuming the card uses the blue (or MEP?) exchange rate, not official, right? Cuz otherwise it wouldn't be worth it (from what I've been able to gather at least).

Perhaps list the things you use and need in your daily life, and we can suggest if better to bring or buy here. The things you mention are the common important things which are hard to find or expensive.

Great idea but I already write so much, I just know at this point people will take one look at the length of this reply and skip it, ha. But too late now I suppose, so might as well ask...

What about things like lotions and skin care products (eye creams, sunscreen, face wash), deodorant, hair care products (for untamely curly hair - think black afro, hair/scalp oils), kitchen utensils (silverware, spatulas, cheese graters), notebooks, pens/pencils, lamps (count as electronic?), supplements like vitamin C and multi-vitamins, plastic food containers (Tupperware), pillows, power drill (corded), foot powder, ... that's all I can think of off the top of my head. I had planned on buying most of these there, but there were many other things that I also had this plan for I've put on the "take with me" list thanks to your replies. I'm still interested in individual and unique answers as well. Thanks again!

So far I've compiled this list:
Clothing
Computers
Spices, herbs, sauces
Electronics
Medicine (Neosporin, antibiotics and anti-allergy)
Bedsheets (textiles)
Comfortable shoes
Compatible cell phone
Credit card (w/no foreign transaction fees, no ATM withdraw fee)
Glad wrap /w serrated edge