Ecuador customs, flying to Ecuador with lots of things?

Hello Everyone,

This is going to be my first time going to Ecuador or Latin America altogether. We're planning to take a lot of stuff with us as we're going to stay there for at least 9 months studying Spanish.

Problem is my husband recently found some information on the internet saying that there is a limit to how many bags you can take with you to Ecuador or there's going to be a charge of 200 USD for each additional bag. Does anyone know if there's any truth to that?'

That and he is now concerned they might toss all our stuff around and find something in our bags that they will then say we cannot take to Ecuador and thus take it away from us or tell us we have to pay.

Here's what we want to take with us:

Lots of electronics- at least 2 laptops plus all the laptop accesories like mini-speakers, external hard drives, memory sticks, cameras….all for personal use

About ten 30- 50ml bottles of perfume- all the bottles have been opened, some almost empty and basically it's obvious that they are NOT for sale but for personal use.

Electronic cigarettes plus all the accessories- charger, cartridges (as far as we know they are already illegal in Costa Rica and Panama…wonder if that has any effect on bringing it to Ecuador)

Several professional hair products such as Kerastase shampoos and masks for bleached and damaged hair, Loreal Professional shampoos, conditioners, serums etc. Again all been opened and used.

Others cosmetics- channel mascara, eyeliners, eye shadows, hand creams, manicure set, tanning oils

2 scuba bags with complete scuba equipment

Health supplements- mostly from GNC and Boots pharmacy, as well as some anti-flu tablets, and Nootropil.

If you know any information about how safe it is for us to take any of these things with us to Ecuador or if some things are better left at home please let me know.

I'm not rich and it took me quite an effort to afford my perfume collection, Id love to take it with me everywhere I go but I'd hate the idea of having it confiscated.

I've recently had an unfortunate experience of flying Ukrainian Airlines where I had all my good jewelry stolen, was not even able to file a report as my email is simply being ignored by the company and when I stopped by their office I was told that I have to come back in 1.5 week to file the report since their specialist is not gonna be in the office until then.

I'd hate for the same thing to happen with me this time. As we understand it seems that "custom's scam" is quite common in some countries, so basically we wanna know if by any chance Ecuador happens to be one of these countries.

Any feedback is highly appreciated. Thanks in advance.

Julia.

I've traveled to and from Ecuador multiple times over the years. We've only had problems once when we brought some cheese with to Ecuador. It was removed from our bags. Oh and my dad had a camera stolen out of his suitcase about 10 years ago.

I suggest taking as much of the computer equipment on as carry on.

The customs law is you are able to bring a reasonable amount of personal belonging with you for your everyday use. So your other things should be ok. There is a two checked bag limit per person, but I am not sure if they enforce the $200 charge if you exceed that as I've never brought more than that.

For the most part Ecuador customs is quite simple and goes very smoothly. It's said that they want to encourage foreign visitors by keeping it that way. Below is a page from Ecuador's customs website. It has a list of what you can bring. And if you aren't sure about something I would contact the Ecuadorian Consulate nearest you (a list of Consulates is found in the second link). You may want to ask them about the electronic cigarettes.

Hope you enjoy your time in Ecuador!