What To Stock Up On and Bring?

[Super_BQ]

Couldn't resist!

[Char]

Thanks so much for this great list!
One third saving? Wow.
lol at the pics...yes, I'm sure many more deals here.
I'm not going to bring any furniture over this round. But perhaps in the near future just don't know if there would be enough items to warrant renting/shipping one over. I'm just a family of 1 (me!).

List so far:
--Maple syrup
--Running shoes
--Make up, perfume, favourite soaps/shampoos
--Vitamin pills
--Hellmans lite mayo (I do like mayo!)
--Food wrap stuff plus frozen food and sandwich baggies?
--Couple of KraftD boxes for nostalgia. Maybe I'll make some artwork out of it? lol

I'm sure the airport scan will have a good laugh at what I consider as 'important' and valuable! Thanks again.

Flying to Canada every year gives me the luxury of bringing various bargains back to NZ. Here are some examples i've brought in the past:

- real maple syrup. I buy them in the cans from Walmart or Superstore because 'real' Cdn. maple syrup is insanely expensive if you can find it.

- powdered ice tea like Nestea, Goodhouse, etc (if you're an ice tea drinker). You won't find anything like Snapple here in NZ. (or root beer like Barqs - one of my favs).

- Vitamin pills and various medicine / herbal products. Again Superstore or London Drugs is your friend. Vitamin pills sell for a fortune in NZ. For eg. Superstore brand folic acid 365 pills for $14 while in NZ, $14 would get you maybe 80 pills Bayer brand.

- Sometimes while in NZ, I crave for Kraft Dinner macaroni & cheese. However, they only sell 'instant' Kraft Mac & Cheese which isn't the same as the classic $1/box we have in Canada.

- Best Foods or Hellmeyers 'real' mayonaise. This is a bit extreme to bring over but I say when you do come over - be prepared for a shock on the price of this stuff.

- Food wrap (ie. Glad or Saran wrap) in the large rolls : Costco size. 1 purchase would last you for many years. You'll find in NZ, most things aren't sold in bulk form. I'm still surprised they sell laundry detergent in 1/2kg size and the largest being only 3kg at your Pak N Save, Countdown, or Food Town.

- Childrens clothing and toys. Toys R Us, etc. In fact my wife has me going to H&M this week in Vancouver as the choice of boys clothing in Christchurch is quite lacking due to the earthquakes.

For all of the items I bring back to NZ each year, i'm sure the savings I get would pay a 1/3 of my air fare.

Now if you've got a container to load up, I would suggest:

- BBQs, yes NZ does have a lot of them but none of them feature what we normally use in Canada. ie. Broil King or Weber brands that feature ceramic or stainless steel grills. Virtually every BBQ i've seen in NZ uses the old cast iron grill or plate which is perfect for burning chicken wings. Superstore had a 1/2 price sale on their BBQs last week so took the opportunity buy a 3 burner + 1 side burner for $99 + HST. It's not a super size BBQ as I was limited to the weight allowed on the plane so had to confirmed the packaged box was under 70 lbs (32kg).

- Self propelled gas powered lawn mowers. ie. Sears Craftsman etc. Majority of petro lawn mowers in NZ are smaller in size with smaller engines (around 3 - 4 HP). You could shop around in NZ but your chances of finding a front wheel drive mower will be zero. You could also look at petro garden tillers and mulchers.

- IKEA furnitures. They come in pre-packed packaging so would fit in the container easily.

[tianiax]

Cosmetics wise, bring as much as you can! not a great range here super expensive. Also the technolgies (not sure thats the right word!) are prob about 5 years behind the rest of the world. For example I ran out of my lovely beneifit face powder & had to buy a kiwi brand which was fine in the shop but when I got home it made me look very orange, luckly had some visitors not soon after that got me some more from the airport!

[NAP]

I would second or third bringing in Cosmetics too. Especially if you have a fav brand - hard to get the good stuff here e.g Mac, Nars, Benefit etc..
Stock up...!

[sophiedb]

I brought loads of UK Marmite it's the little things LOL

[Duncan74]

Just an example of not always believeing the price differences. I'll admit this is the exception, rather than the rule, but with the strong dollar I was considering buying a new (canadian) bike from the US. Made even more attractive by the fact it was on special - 25% off. 2850USD compared to 6000NZD list. But I asked a bike shop if they could twist the aus/nz distributors arm and see what happened. Nett result, bike arrives wednesday for less than what I would have paid from the US.

So I'm not saying don't bring stuff. But if you're limited in weight / space then personally then I'd say not to bother with consumables - you're going to have to adapt to local things sooner or later and it's part of life over here.

But even stuff sourced from north America can be found cheaper here if you search (after taking into account GST).

[Mamee & Co]

Feminine Hygiene Products....are extortionately priced out here!!. Useful fillers for your packing cartons!

Roll on Menopause!

[Char]

lol Mamee! I was wondering about them...
Duncan --yes, good tips for asking and looking for better prices. I'll bring some things with me but not a whole suitcase full that's for sure.

Feminine Hygiene Products....are extortionately priced out here!!. Useful fillers for your packing cartons!

Roll on Menopause!

[Conzar]

@Super_BQ can you import the propane tank with your BBQ or do you just import the BBQ?

@Duncan74 when you purchase products from over seas, do you have to go through customs yourself, does the company you purchase the product from handle the importing, or do you go through a 3rd party?

[Duncan74]

Normally the shipping company (DHL/Courier POst) deal with MAF/Customs, alhough they do charge you for that. You tend not to have a lot of option about that fee, so be careful. DHL really tried fleecing me with my personal goods (ie not subject to duty) last xmas, there's a thread explaining how to handle that and save $200.