iHerb.com - Getting Mail and Organic Products in Cuenca Ecuador!

We're still learning how to live in another country and finding inexpensive ways to get organic and wholesome products.  Yes, I miss being able to go to some of my favorite stores in Eugene, Oregon, a place that thrives on "organic and wholesome."  There are shops galore and wonderful sources for wholesome foods and personal care products. Yet, we know that you pay dearly for "organic" in the USA.  Especially for produce!!

When we first arrived here, we were told that there was a waiting list to get a PO Box at the Cuenca post office.  Of course, we never believe what we hear.  We go to the source.  So, after first settling in to life in Cuenca and trying a couple of other recommended mail sources (Ecuador Movers and Club Correos), we went to the local post office and rented a PO Box.  There was no waiting list, and we paid our $22 for the year and got our key and new "Consillero" address.

I tried our first PO Box mail delivery by ordering some products from iHerb.com after reading that they will ship to Ecuador via Global Priority Mail DHL for only $4, if the package weighs under 4 lbs.  My main order had to be Organic Extra Virgin Coconut Oil because I was paying an outrageous amount here for 8 oz (if I could find it!!!), and we use LOTS of this wonderful healing product for cooking and in our tea, coffee, etc.  I have also found PURE vitamins and TRUE organic products here to be more expensive than what I want to pay.  Enough said!!!

Okay, when I placed my first order with iHerb.com I desperately wanted to get some COCONUT OIL SENT!!!!!  Well, my first order was comical.  First, I had no idea where it was coming to.  I thought it would arrive through the DHL office.  I had no idea that their $4 "Global Priority Mail DHL" came to the Cuenca Post Office.  When I finally figured that one out, I went to the Post Office window and found out that my package was in and had been there for over two weeks.  It took about three weeks total from the time I ordered from iHerb.  Everything I ordered was there!!!  I was so HAPPY!!  (It's the little things that make me happy living in Cuenca - like getting my mail......)  Keep in mind, for this low $4 shipping rate, there is NO TRACKING available for your order.  Yet, I've never had a problem receiving my orders, to date!!

Today, while walking the city of Cuenca, we met up with a couple we know.  She began to share with me that she pays way too much for her coconut oil here.  Guess what I shared with her???  iHerb.com.  Hey, I don't get any kickbacks for this.  My whole heart here is to share what I know to be my own personal WONDERFUL experience about living in another country and what I learn along the way.  I share the good, the bad, and the ugly (and I believe for us there is more GOOD!!).  It's not to whine or complain.  It's to help others from my own PERSONAL experiences through TRIAL and ERROR.  Bo and I have learned what works for us, personally!  Maybe it's not for you - but it works for us.

I remember that the first package I received from iHerb.com sat at the Cuenca Post Office for two extra weeks because I didn't know where to pick up my Global Priority Mail DHL delivery.  Today, I went to check on my "two packages" from iHerb.com that I ordered on April 19th.  They were there!!!!  Why two packages?  Because I needed several products, and I had to split it up to weigh under 4 lbs each so I would get the $4 "great shipping rate" they offer.  Actually, the packages had arrived on May 7th, and I had checked on them on Monday, May 6th.  I ordered my product on April 19th.  That's a little over 2 weeks!!!  I'd say that's excellent for getting mail here, wouldn't you???

I'm happy!!!  Today I have wonderful products for wonderful prices.  I would recommend to anyone that they order from iHerb.com.  By the way, my gift code # is LHK894.  If first-time buyers who are reading this place an order and use this code, you get $10 off on your first order.  What a deal!!!!  Let me know (leave your comments) as to what you think about this company, too, if you do order.  It would be helpful to others, I'm sure.

Our iHerb.com Orders:

I split up a large order, so that each order would weigh under 4 lbs. and our shipping charge via Global Priority Mail DHL would be only $4.  I've also learned to read every ingredient (thank you Dr. Caroline for teaching me this) to make sure they are SOY, SUGAR, AND FOOD DYE FREE, GLUTEN FREE, ETC., AND TRULY ORGANIC!!!!  This order cost $62.21, which included a discount and only $4 shipping.  I'm HAPPY to have floride-free toothpaste, probiotics (they are soooo expensive here) and other wonderful products I am trying out.

Ahhhhh, Nutiva ORGANIC EXTRA VIRGIN Coconut oil, 29 fl. oz. for $19.  Deodorant that is aluminum-free!!!  Wonderful Shea Butter for my body cream.  I told you, it's the little things in life living in Cuenca that make me HAPPY!!!  Bo always says, "Happy wife, happy life!!!"  He's such a smart man, ya think?????  This order was $40 with shipping. 

MAIL DELIVERY IN ECUADOR - How Do We Get Mail in Cuenca?

I love juicing!  Every morning I turn on our Omega 8006 masticating juicer, and minutes later we're sipping nutritious fresh greens, vegetables and fruits which we buy daily at El Mercado.  We hand-carried our juicer and Vitamix all the way from Oregon, because we had no idea what was available here and what wasn't.  Well, lo and behold, I somehow failed to assemble it correctly the other morning, and in the midst of juicing I heard a loud CRACK.  Sure enough a main part busted.  I was not happy!  Now what?  How in the world does one order and receive mail here?  Being one-month new to Cuenca, it wasn't something we had investigated and tackled yet, nor did we need to - until now!

I e-mailed a friend who's lived here over 6 months, thinking she had surely been receiving mail by now, and she gave me a couple websites saying she, too, was going to be setting up a mailbox service soon.  I randomly chose the mail-forwarding service through Ecuador Movers thinking it couldn't be that complicated.  Well, since the entire mail service website is in Spanish, it was not going to be as easy as I thought - and I can read, speak, and write more Spanish than most ex-pats moving or living here!  I signed onto the all-in-Spanish website for UsaCasillero  (a casillero is a locker) and carefully read through and registered our mailing information.  I chose a Miami mailbox address, and I felt pretty proud I had figured it out thinking that was all there was to it. 

I then went to the Omega Juicer website and found and ordered the part, giving them the Miami address information I was assigned by UsaCasillero.  I knew that by the time I paid Omega for their cost and then paid the mail-forwarding service their cost, this little replacement part was going to be a pretty spendy item.  Oh well, I HAD TO HAVE IT!!!!

This morning I received an e-mail from the Miami mailbox telling me my package was there and I needed to identify it and myself for them to forward it to Cuenca.  I had no idea what they were talking about.  I thought I had identified myself when I registered.  So, I began to read the UsaCasillero website's fine print and wade through the different links, using my Google Translate to help me along.  I still could not figure this out.  Finally, I e-mailed Eucador Movers and asked them to help me understand what I needed to do.  Fairly quickly, I received a reply from Caty telling me I needed to e-mail UsaCasillero in Miami a copy of a utility bill from where we are currently renting showing the exact address I used when I registered with them, as well as a copy of my passport.  This would be a one-time qualification, and from then on whenever I ordered anything from the states, they would have this on record and could forward my packages or mail.

This service is not for sending packages or mail, it is only for receiving.  Oh, and the package cannot be more than a $400 value nor can it weigh more than eight pounds!  Picky, picky!!!   Also, every time I order something in the future, I have to immediately go into the UsaCasillero site and send an "alertes" (alert), letting them know what I've ordered, from where, the value/cost, etc. I hadn't done this either when I originally ordered the part, and that was also delaying the mail forward.  How do I know all of this?  I ended up going to the physical location of Ecuador Movers on Simon Bolivar after realizing it was only two blocks from where I live.  Caty was very helpful, and she patiently explained everything to me and showed me how to maneuver through the website.  Because I only had a rent receipt with the address on it, she is also going to talk to someone at the Miami location Monday and help to get my documents to them so they can then forward my juicer part. 

Caty also explained to me that it usually takes two week from the time Miami sends my order to Cuenca, but there can also be another delay (up to two weeks) if Customs decided to hold my package.  She said this happens "often."  I could be looking at another month before that little $24 part arrives - which will end up costing another $20 or more by the time UsaCasillero charges their fee to forward it.  Oh well!  Once the package arrives and is free to be released, I will receive a phone call and/or an e-mail letting me know I can pick up the package at  Hermano Miguel 10-32 Gran Columbia.

For now, I'm just trying to figure out a way to get my juicer part as quickly as possible.  There may be a better mail service, and if any of our readers have any feedback about this, we would really appreciate your comments.

This is all a part of the journey - learning new things and figuring out how to live in a new country and still have access to things we can't find in Cuenca.  Someday we'll be able to look back at all the things we had to figure out and say, "We did it!  We figured it out and now we are paying it forward!!!"