Ship to the Caribbean Without Getting Burned

Every Caribbean shipment is billed in two countries. Most senders only ever hear the first country's number. This map is the whole bill.

The defence is one habit: never compare two companies on the freight line alone. Ask each one the same question — “freight, plus what my family pays on arrival, in total” — and compare the totals. A $20 cheaper freight with a $60 heavier arrival side is a $40 more expensive barrel.

These examples use the layers, not invented prices — rebuild each one with the numbers your company quotes you. The structure is what you are buying here; the numbers on your route will differ, the arithmetic will not.

Example A — a 55-gallon barrel, Miami → Kingston

• Freight (company quote): write it here first.
• Pickup: $0 if you deliver to the warehouse; the quoted fee if not.
• Handling/documents: ask if included — if not, add the quoted figure.
• Arrival (Jamaica): duty + GCT on the assessed contents value, + port handling, + storage only if your family collects late.
• Total = the four lines together. If any line is “we'll see”, your total is not a total yet.

Example B — a tanque, Miami → Santo Domingo

• Freight: door-to-door and port-pickup quotes are different products — price the one your family will actually use.
• Arrival (DR): DGA assessment on contents; electronics dominate the bill when present.
• If a “mudanza exemption” is offered on a family tanque, price the shipment as if it does not exist — because at the port, it doesn't.

Example C — shared container space, New York → Georgetown

• Consolidated space is billed by volume (cubic feet) — measure your goods before you ask for a quote.
• Add the Brooklyn warehouse receiving fee and the Georgetown wharf side.
• Long route + infrequent sailings: the cheapest quote on the slowest consolidation can cost a month. Price the calendar too.

Barrels — the layer order

1. Sealed heavy base: cans, rice, oil (bottles taped, bagged, upright).
2. Dense middle: boxed food, shoes, tools wrapped.
3. Soft armour: clothes and bedding around anything glass, and as the top layer.
4. The inside-lid note: receiver name + phone, taped under the lid.
5. Close, then photograph the sealed barrel next to your receipt.

Boxes — for air and small sea sends

Double-wall boxes only; tape every seam; line the box with a plastic bag against damp. For sea freight, boxes travel inside a barrel or crate — ask the company how yours will ride before you pay.

Containers — loading order

Furniture wrapped and vertical space used first; heavy low and against the front wall; the things your family needs first loaded last, by the doors. One seal number, photographed, sent to the receiver.

The photo-and-list method

For every shipment: a written list, a photo of the open barrel or box, a photo sealed. If goods arrive light, the list and photos turn an argument into a claim.

Sender brings

• Photo ID.
• Receiver's full legal name, phone, and address — exactly as on their ID at home.
• The packing list (from module 3).

Receiver needs at the port

• Their photo ID — the name must match the shipping papers exactly.
• The bill of lading copy and the receipt copy (your photos of them work as backup).
• Local money for duty, tax and port charges — the amounts from module 6 for their country.

A car cannot sail without

• The title, in the sender's name or with notarized permission.
• Confirmation the destination's age/import rules accept this car — before purchase, not after.
• The receiver's tax ID where the destination requires one (Jamaica's TRN is the classic example).

Commercial quantities

Receipts or invoices for anything that looks like stock. No papers + resale quantities = the seizure pattern in every country in this kit.

The common Caribbean list (refused nearly everywhere): weapons and ammunition, medicines or supplements for resale, fuel and flammables, pressurized spray cans, perishable food without permits, plants and seeds without permits, counterfeit goods.

When in doubt, ask the company to confirm the item in writing. “The company said it was fine” is worth nothing at the port; the writing is worth something.

• Jamaica — Duty + GCT on assessed value at Kingston/Montego Bay. Returning residents have a duty-free allowance regime; a family barrel is not that. Cars: Trade Board licence and age limits decide everything.
• Dominican Republic — DGA valuation; the mudanza exemption belongs to returning Dominicans with proof of years abroad. Door-to-door quotes should state whether DGA charges are estimated inside.
• Haiti — Charges stack: verification fee, TCA, CFGDCT, then duty by category; cars add their own duty and tax layers. The sister kit for Haiti carries the full arithmetic.
• Trinidad and Tobago — Duty + VAT; item-by-item valuation is common, so a detailed packing list speeds clearance. Camouflage is restricted — see module 5.
• Barbados — Duty + 17.5% VAT. The returning-national programme is real and documented; it covers the person moving home, not barrels sent ahead.
• Guyana — GRA assessment at Georgetown; returning-resident concessions exist with proof. Long storage is the silent cost — collect fast.
• Bahamas — Duty across a wide range of goods plus VAT funds the state; estimate the arrival side before shipping anything high-duty.
• Puerto Rico — No customs duty (US), but local excise rules touch some goods (vehicles notably) — ask the carrier.
• Cuba — Everything through authorized agencies under current regulations; the agency's current list is the only list.

Say these in order. Note the good answer and the walk-away answer for each.

Print this page and send a photo of it to your receiver before the barrel lands. Collection day goes wrong in the same ways everywhere; this card is the whole defence.

• Bring: photo ID (name exactly as on the shipping papers), the bill of lading copy, the receipt copy, and local money for the assessed charges.
• Say first: the tracking number and the sender's name — the warehouse finds barrels by paper, not by description.
• Check before signing: the barrel's seal and weight feel right; open it at the warehouse if anything looks cut or light, and note damage on the release paper before you sign, not after.
• If a new fee appears: ask for it in writing with the office's name on it. Real charges have paper; invented ones melt when paper is requested.
• The shipping log: keep one line per shipment — date sent, company, tracking number, date collected, total paid both sides. Three shipments of history make you the family expert, and make a company's pattern visible.