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lucasphillips
  7/28/2016 11:56 EST

Im sure you all see these ads all the time. I have been in the export import business for almost 20 years. I visited nica for three months and fell in love. Im back again for only two weeks to puchase goods for wholesale in Canada. Im wondering what the expat community needs from abroad. I know for example.its hard to get quality buckles for leather goods. Do you have something you would like to promote export wholesale or retail abroad? Let me know id love the opportunity to discuss.

Artvandelei
  1/11/2017 19:22 EST

Are you sure you want to do both exporting and importing? I was thinking of focusing on just one, not both.

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johnchip
  1/11/2017 20:12 EST

With your background I would not question your judgement in identifying commercial market needs. But buckles? Have you visited 'cowboyland' up north in Esteli? Many saddle and leather shops with plenty of big glorious buckles, you might think it was a Texas county fair or a biker convention.

Varmega
  1/12/2017 00:14 EST

It's impossible to get raw supplies for shaping surfboards... foam blanks, resin, fiberglass, etc. Only found in Costa Rica, and at a premium price. Someone needs to start importing!

Lazytrader
  1/12/2017 12:14 EST

Yes this is true. We have a hard time finding YKK zippers in other sizes than #8 and also every buckle you buy in this country is made in China. The problem is that the Nicaraguan leather will far outlast the Chinese buckles that accompany it. Also adjustment d rings and snaps. Anything that accompanies leather goods is of a cheaper quality here and sometimes I bring them into the country and pay double in customs for them. So last month I brought $785 dollars in and had to pay $450 at the airport to get it cleared.
On a separate note there was a band traveling as well and they were in front of me and the band manager had to pay a ridiculous amount to get all the equipment in. Much more than me.

ricktee
  1/12/2017 12:28 EST

Where do you buy your leather?

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novato1953
  1/12/2017 13:46 EST

The post from the buckle guy is seven months old.

Lazytrader
  1/12/2017 14:09 EST

I have bought from every single tannery and kill floor in this country and some in Honduras.

ricktee
  1/12/2017 14:44 EST

TY, I hope soeone has some info.

elduendegrande
  1/14/2017 08:25 EST

How, about Colombian coffee, schedule 80 slip slip ball valves, shoe inserts, bluberry jam, sharpening stones, underwear, surge protectors, electric eye outdoor timer, good hatchets or boys axes.

atz111
  1/14/2017 08:59 EST

Hmmm....except for columbian coffee all can be had at Sinsa, PriceMart, La Colonia or pharmacia Praga. Get out much?

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Lazytrader
  1/14/2017 11:11 EST

What's hard for me is size 13 shoes. Nobody carry's these. One pair in the new Nike outlet in Managua. One pair in the mall in Asics for $340. I bought them. Now I just fly to Miami and buy a bag full.
XXL shirts is another hard thing to find. Jeans for tall guys is out.
Decent cheeseburger
any ideas?

Lazytrader
  1/14/2017 11:11 EST

What's hard for me is size 13 shoes. Nobody carry's these. One pair in the new Nike outlet in Managua. One pair in the mall in Asics for $340. I bought them. Now I just fly to Miami and buy a bag full.
XXL shirts is another hard thing to find. Jeans for tall guys is out.
Decent cheeseburger
any ideas?

dickcobbs1
  1/14/2017 16:13 EST

Found this recipe for DIY Bora-Care wood preservative.
1 gal. RV anti-freeze (propelene glycol)-4 1/2 lbs. 20 Mule Team Borax-3 1/2 lbs.boric acid-dilute with 1 gal. Water
Are these items available in Nicaragua?

johnchip
  1/14/2017 23:31 EST

I can get anything here now. Colonia even has imported French pate. But can you get me super salty sourdough Duch style pretzels?

atz111
  1/14/2017 23:39 EST

Price mart has those pretzels is big plastic jars...the straight kind...have not see the big curley ones.

elduendegrande
  1/15/2017 08:33 EST

Payless has big shoe sizes, but then you are stuck in the high price/medium quality trap. On everyday use item likes shoes, unfortunately you have to try your luck at the pacas or bring it in from abroad.

American influenced outfits like sinsa, maxipali, and pricemart, have helped much but their selection is still weak and worse in the countryside.

There are some people now doing shopping trips from Eateli to Managua with car and driver. We are going to plug into this soon. The local merchants know they captured clients who can;t go 150 km OW to shop so they have little incentive to stock the shelves or keep prices reasonable. A lot of cosmetic or functional seconds are passed off in the countryside so a pipeline to managua is a good idea.

feliceb
  1/15/2017 10:13 EST

:) You need york or hanover,Pa.
Someone should either make them or import them!

feliceb
  1/15/2017 10:35 EST

Great! i know which ones you mean because Costco has them!
But a good soft pretzel!:)

feliceb
  1/15/2017 10:35 EST

Great! i know which ones you mean because Costco has them!
But a good soft pretzel!:)

freedom16
  1/23/2017 09:21 EST

Would you recommend Esteli as a place a Gringo can go and have small leather products made to bring back to the US and for resale?
Interested in any info anyone can share.

Lazytrader
  1/23/2017 09:44 EST

WIll take you over a year to apply and receive your export license here. You will need a RUC and only an attorney can set up most of the paperwork here and if you have a product to export with a logo you will need to have that trademarked here. That takes months and only an attorney can do that for you.

atz111
  1/23/2017 09:58 EST

You could…not sure of the quality…may be some hidden places, but my experience is the stuff is good ....but a ton like it in USA…...a good set of custom made boots…nice, but the base/lasts are primitive…just plain wood…you would have to add insoles…anyway nice because you can design your own and get custom fit which I need because of high instep….they are 60 bucks….a for a nice pair of Justin Ropers are $90 on sale in USA

freedom16
  1/23/2017 11:26 EST

My idea was having 100 wallets or purses specially designed and transported back to US in luggage. Would that require licensing and or just duties?

atz111
  1/23/2017 11:38 EST

you just deal with them in USA customs..nothing to do here

i think you can bring in 800 bucks duty free into USA…so get invoice for that and they will just let you through

misspatente
  1/25/2017 16:16 EST

Why are you so agressive, ATZ?

atz111
  1/25/2017 16:28 EST

To what are you referring to..

1. The customs exemption of 800 bucks to get stuff into USA

2. The fact that the items mentioned in a post that "he cannot get here" are in fact found here.

3. Ditto on the pretzals.

4. The poor quality of boots made in Estilii and the relative value towhat can be purcheased in USA for about the same price.


hmmmm, I guess I have to ask what the hell you are talking about...at least in this thread

on some other posts I have taken posters to task for posting bad/inaccurate information...not just different opinions but false information that if taken could cause people problems.....the online community is just like real life in some ways...and dealing with people who talk without knowing about a subject just to talk, need to be corected....

you are in a love story with a couple of posters here who don't know a lot about nicaragua or the advice they give

good luck

yep

ricktee
  1/25/2017 16:32 EST

It's the only fulfillment a bully gets, sad but true

atz111
  1/25/2017 16:40 EST

No moron, the fulfillment is that there is an accurate answer to some nonsense that makes no sense and/or misleads people about their post. Usually posted by people like you who...choose 0ne....1. do not even live here, 2, live here part time, 3. don't have a clue about the subject but wriye as they do......sometimes more than one is applicable........

misspatente
  1/25/2017 22:50 EST

ATZ, please stop bullying people online, calling them moron and using condescending rhetoric. This site is here for people to help each other, not insult each other.

atz111
  1/25/2017 23:05 EST

In my last post to you I politely asked what you found the least bit offensive in that thread...,,,,a resonable response. got now answer . but did get a nasty comment from some unrelated guy to whom I directed my answer......still not answer from you...because there is nothing that validates you assertion.....but instead we do we have a wannabe PC queen (you) who wants to tell people how to write and what to write and.... ...well how to do things her way, while ignoring the facts. Laughable...certainly not helpful. Tell you what darlin...you contribuye one useful thing this on here or at least make comments that make sense and we shall see about letting you have nursing home talk.

johnchip
  1/26/2017 08:39 EST

MissyP, Rare is it I would write in defense of someone, but ATZ has made a point worth expanding on about you and your campaign to challenge the expat community in Nicaragua. You, in the past week or so 'appear on stage' spouting your proported understanding, need to preserve and share in your big dreams. All we know about you is 1. You claim to be an 'old woman'. 2. You do not live here, and don't claim to have ever even been here. 3. admit you had a child by sleeping with a Nica man. 4. You are friends with expat Nica's in the US. 5. You call them "true political refugees". From a Nica point of view they are the cowards who ran off with the money when the people acted for change as part of the Bolivar revolution in the Americas.. They are no heroes. 6. You come on here shouting from your gringo bandwagon as to 'how an expat should behave'. Most expats are those who chose to live with a people in a socialist democracy by choice, living with the knowlege we are the guests in a country where there was fought 3 US sponsored wars, won by our neighbors here, not your 'friends', who are now at peace. They are not your group of 'expat Nica' friends; the cowards who grabbed their money and left the people of this country at "political risk", and ran when the going got tough ,abandoning their people and culture; "Cowards and Traitors." Nicaragua now enjoys the lowest crime and murder rate in the hemisphere, little to no gangs or drug trafficing, safe and secure borders, and an 87% presidential approval rating, highest in the free world", a lot more than its neighbors or the US and your cowardly friends can claim. Yet you claim to know things about how life is, should be, and how an expat should think and behave? You are one 'old hat trick' we don't need here. There are enough nutty expats, not ruining anything here, they have no real infuence on anything, but at times embarassing me and others who live here with respect and at peace. The US embassy has told me there are only a few thousands US/Nica residents here anyway. Besides your profoud lack of 'reality', your biggest offending atttude is that you 'tell people how to 'behave'. That is as "Ugly American" as you can get. "Yankee Go Home"!

atz111
  1/26/2017 09:04 EST

Well said....I guess I need to change my style a bit and avoid the rants...the reasoned approach makes sense. On last point he made worth restating. Expats make up less than 1% of the people here. Much of the new businesses and nice homes are Nica built and owned. Yes the country will (is) changing, but that is inevitable anyplace in the world and maybe shows here a bit more since we start pretty far back, so a little change looks like a lot.. She (and others) want to keep it as some kind of "theme park" to the way it was....ok for her to visit and live, but then cut it off.

elduendegrande
  1/26/2017 09:40 EST

Those who came to Nic. for its backwardness have to look harder and harder every day!

johnchip
  1/26/2017 09:50 EST

Much of the new car, home construction, buisiness plants,are coming from the growing middle class and new bank opporunities, not 'hidden cash'. The US for decades has put pressure on international banks not to do loans to Nicaragua. This has loosened up with many Latin banks finding Nicaragua a safe bet, so loans are flowing and at decent rates. bank loans not 'hidden cash The US again a few months ago passed Congressional legislation condemning and restricting loans to Nicaragua. This was led by that Cuban/Amercan woman US Cogresswoman from Florida in direct retaliation for Nicaragaua's position on the Cuban refugee crisis. Fortunately enough Latin banks and finance groups are ignoring the continuted US opression of Nicragua for having won the 3 wars the US sponsored here.

LongHammer
  2/13/2017 12:39 EST

I have one that would do well, a swing type manual grass cutter. Home Depot in the US sells hem for $12. Here they typically use a machete unsuitable for the job or resort to expensive gas line trimmers as well as the fuel. It is some of the simplest devices that are lacking here I find so frustrating On those grass cutters you can save weight and space by bringing them without handles. Another good one is outdoor bug lights. You won't find those anywhere in Central America. 50 cents apiece in the US and easily get $5 here. I'm looking for a good multiband short wave radio. Can't find any here. Grundig makes an excellent one as well as Sharp.

johnchip
  2/13/2017 13:12 EST

Your 'swing grass cutter' is called an "Ugly Stick". You will not change the thousand year old macho look and tradition of machete use. It is like trying to change a Latino from rice to couscous, rum to saki. Ain't gonna happen, pal.

atz111
  2/13/2017 13:48 EST

Swing grass cutters are OK if you have pretty uniform and not too thick grass. Get in the bush where they typically use the machete most of the time and small trees and bushes and even some real tough grass stems...... and the swing cutter is useless. Not only will not cut but you'll be cleaning it every two minutes. Some of the things we may think dumb...are not. Grundig....about 200 people in the country want them and can afford them...50 already have one.....so the market us pretty thin. And when the market develops...Pricesmart and Sinsa will have them pronto. You notice the giant screen TVs and the security systems and the wine chllers...6 years back were none of that here.

johnchip
  2/13/2017 14:21 EST

Also note multiband short wave is very limited in most all Central America. You may.get a couple with limited hours, very weak transmission and then most likely Xian radio. (and there is plenty of that sound coming at you on the street from all the little make-shift churchs and their bullhorns.)

LongHammer
  2/13/2017 15:55 EST

Both ATZ and Johnchip simply are telling how things are. Migh t not be what some want to hear but again theyre accurate. So many people come here as well as other countries and really have no clue as to what theyre up against. If they had a working postal system and reasonable taxes, it would benefit the country.
But with high taxes people will simply quit buying. As a test I found a $5 item from the US would cost me $141.30 to ship here by DHL and the Customs another $73. Twice in Panama, twice in Costa Rica, once in Ecuador and twice here in Nicaragua I failed in business. The good part is I lost very little. And I did learn any business that will work you need to do it all yourself. As far as business my next ventures will simply be writing. I have over 400 publications, but mainly dealing with science and aerospace and propriety of my ex-employer.

LongHammer
  2/13/2017 15:55 EST

Both ATZ and Johnchip simply are telling how things are. Migh t not be what some want to hear but again theyre accurate. So many people come here as well as other countries and really have no clue as to what theyre up against. If they had a working postal system and reasonable taxes, it would benefit the country.
But with high taxes people will simply quit buying. As a test I found a $5 item from the US would cost me $141.30 to ship here by DHL and the Customs another $73. Twice in Panama, twice in Costa Rica, once in Ecuador and twice here in Nicaragua I failed in business. The good part is I lost very little. And I did learn any business that will work you need to do it all yourself. As far as business my next ventures will simply be writing. I have over 400 publications, but mainly dealing with science and aerospace and propriety of my ex-employer.

LongHammer
  2/13/2017 15:55 EST

Both ATZ and Johnchip simply are telling how things are. Migh t not be what some want to hear but again theyre accurate. So many people come here as well as other countries and really have no clue as to what theyre up against. If they had a working postal system and reasonable taxes, it would benefit the country.
But with high taxes people will simply quit buying. As a test I found a $5 item from the US would cost me $141.30 to ship here by DHL and the Customs another $73. Twice in Panama, twice in Costa Rica, once in Ecuador and twice here in Nicaragua I failed in business. The good part is I lost very little. And I did learn any business that will work you need to do it all yourself. As far as business my next ventures will simply be writing. I have over 400 publications, but mainly dealing with science and aerospace and propriety of my ex-employer.

atz111
  2/13/2017 16:04 EST

Ha....I had a bar..opened soon after i got here...what a lot of gringos want to do. Open a year...things slowly getting better...started to break after 10 months. Worked my butt off and when i sat down and looked at it....when we made it and in a decent year i would make USD 1,000 a month...1,500 if really made it. Too much work for the $$. Not that it cannot be done, but not easy if you do it legal. but as the Hammer said...best is I did not lose a whole lot...sold my stuff and took my licking. In USA I would have lost $200,000...here I lost 2o,000. Cheap lesson.

atz111
  2/13/2017 16:05 EST

Ha....I had a bar..opened soon after i got here...what a lot of gringos want to do. Open a year...things slowly getting better...started to break after 10 months. Worked my butt off and when i sat down and looked at it....when we made it and in a decent year i would make USD 1,000 a month...1,500 if really made it. Too much work for the $$. Not that it cannot be done, but not easy if you do it legal. but as the Hammer said...best is I did not lose a whole lot...sold my stuff and took my licking. In USA I would have lost $200,000...here I lost 2o,000. Cheap lesson.

LongHammer
  2/13/2017 16:24 EST

I used the swing cutter along with other guys 50 years ago in Vietnam and never had a problem with clogged blade or anything being too thick except if it were bamboo or a tree.. And a little Primer cord sometimes with some C4 quickly took care of that.The entire base was kept cut using them. As for the machetes available here the steel doesn't hold an edge worth a darn. And seldom anyone even knows how to sharpen them or the proper stone.. My own Machetes are sharper on its backside than most here are on their blade. I have both a Gerber and Cold Steel Kukri machete.

LongHammer
  2/13/2017 16:37 EST

There were loads of short wave radios in Panama. But I din't think they would be so had to find elsewhere. Reception largely depends on the antenna. I was originally trained in the US Army in Microwave and Tropospheric Radio Repair. More than 40 years ago I was building TV antennas that would receive stations thousands of miles away (but not reliably, skip was necessary) And built a TV with 8 IF stages. Say, wait a minute, you can't have an even number of stages withouh getting a negative image. Will I did. It was a matter of the original 3 IF stages and I added another 5. This allowed it as both 3 and 5 are uneven numbers and after the one series you start afresh. And with antenna height the signal approximately doubles with doubling the mast height. In Saudi Arabia, working for Northrop I had bad TV reception. After two months I was up late and head the sign off of the station power, frequency and polarity. And the polarity was Vertical. Now that is unheard of in the US. But next day I added a 90 degree bend to the mast with the Yagi antenna. Up jumped the gain by over 140 Db and had great reception ever after. Oh and it was the longer TV wave of Channel 6 VHF.

LongHammer
  2/13/2017 16:38 EST

There were loads of short wave radios in Panama. But I din't think they would be so had to find elsewhere. Reception largely depends on the antenna. I was originally trained in the US Army in Microwave and Tropospheric Radio Repair. More than 40 years ago I was building TV antennas that would receive stations thousands of miles away (but not reliably, skip was necessary) And built a TV with 8 IF stages. Say, wait a minute, you can't have an even number of stages withouh getting a negative image. Will I did. It was a matter of the original 3 IF stages and I added another 5. This allowed it as both 3 and 5 are uneven numbers and after the one series you start afresh. And with antenna height the signal approximately doubles with doubling the mast height. In Saudi Arabia, working for Northrop I had bad TV reception. After two months I was up late and head the sign off of the station power, frequency and polarity. And the polarity was Vertical. Now that is unheard of in the US. But next day I added a 90 degree bend to the mast with the Yagi antenna. Up jumped the gain by over 140 Db and had great reception ever after. Oh and it was the longer TV wave of Channel 6 VHF.

LongHammer
  2/13/2017 18:21 EST

Correct. Very little will ever change here. The mentality is much the same as in the 15th Century. I have often shown photos of what Vietnam was like 50 years ago. In spite of the war, the streets were clean and orderly.I made a few small investments with Vietnamese and they all lived up to and even exceeded agreements. As for TV while broadcasts were in Vietnamese, you could tune a short wave radio in and receive all the broadcasts in English, French, Spanish or German.

elduendegrande
  2/14/2017 08:29 EST

Yep, longhammer, somebody wrote a book about how poverty in Latin America was cultural, not economic. I didn't have to read it because I already knew it was true. Don't tell the poverty fiends here, they will go berserk!

Any way, yes there are purdy leather goods in esteli, with a lot of nice shops by the market and the usual gang of little guys working out of their houses. Your bugaboo will be quality, reliability, and consistency. And for any common item the better stuff from china, mexico and salvador will destroy you. Yes, you can make a silk purse out of a sow's ear in Nic., but it will sure look funny.

As far as US customs, consult their website. I suspect "commercial quantities" will be taxed but suspect the rate is low on handcrafts.

I thought of a similar business, had a few knife sheaths made by a local guys. He seemed to bat about 300, not major league material in the long run. Plan on buku search for multiple providers for when one craps out on you. Be advised that you will probably have to personally train and supervise an experienced leather worker.

Oh, incidentally , my unit in Vietnam did its weed whacking with armored personnel carriers, 23 tons of metal that beat the crap out of agent orange and everything else

Imacasa machetes are great expendable agricultural tools, especially for the rock soils in the north. Just lately, coronet is coming in the local market with a harder steel and I am giving them a try. So far it seems to be the usual trade off, harder to sharpen but longer lasting. Don't know yet if they have a chipping problem because of the harder steel . I do know I can't drillout the lanyard hole with a standard bit.

LongHammer
  2/14/2017 09:26 EST

The typical machetes I see in use would likely make use better as saws. The blades have so many nicks in them it's like teeth. What years were you in Nam? I was there Nov 1966 -7. We Pre-Tet were luckier than those following. Just Prior to Tet, Westmoreland had declared there were fewer than 40,000 Cong remaining and the end was near. Boy, was he wrong. Had I been there Jan 1968 my main duty station was overrun and I wouldn't be here to be writing now.

elduendegrande
  2/15/2017 09:20 EST

I was there in the lull 71-72, between when we liquidated the VC in Tet and threw the war away in Paris. Our "action" in the highlands was mostly not stepping on things that went Boom!

Machetes are a working tool, ignore the nicks. Keep your good cutlery locked up where nobody will beat it on rocks and firewood--thats what machetes are for. Track down a Corneta brand, they are much harder.

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