Moving to STX in the middle of June

From what I understand, Amazon does not honor Prime Membership in th USVI. However, I believe they do honor the free shipping on orders over $35.

Amazon often "drop ships" directly from the product company or supplier, so it depends on that company's shipping policies. I have had problems with some things but not others. I usually go right to the checkout and verify shipping before I spend a lot of time selecting size/color etc. then go back to that. Most basic things are available on island, unless you want something "Special". And... Welcome to STX!

However, I believe they do honor the free shipping on orders over $35.

Not automatically, despite their continued assurances that they're "looking into"why the territories are excluded on mailed articles when the postal rates are the same here as interstate. I'm in the process yet again of asking for the shipping charge to be removed on a qualifying item ...

there is a whole post on who ships here and who ships free.

why are you not bringing your car?

A car will be fairly easy to find down here if you don't want to bring one down. There are always tons of used cars for sale whether from a dealer or people leaving the island.

Craigslist is good as long as you are wary and know how to spot the scammers, especially when it comes to housing. My wife and I found our place on craigslist. I was here for a week a couple months before we moved and made sure I met the owner in person and saw the place in person before committing to anything.

Amazon will honor free shipping on things that ship from their warehouse. Basically everything that says "free shipping on order over $35". The catch is you have to call them to get the free shipping. I get everything in my cart that I want to order and go right up to the submit order page. I then call their customer service and explain the situation that I live in the USVI and USPS rates are the same here as anywhere else in the states. They will have me submit the order and they will go in right away to take off the shipping charges. It makes ordering a few minutes longer but worth it.

The catch is you have to call them to get the free shipping.

I do it by email but the latest issue was quickly resolved and the shipping charges have been credited.

There are lots of cars for sale here at any given time. If finding a car is your main concern, you have nothing to worry about.

Thanks for the quick response everyone. The reason why I am not bringing down my car is that the company I have the loan through will not allow that, plus the way I look at it is that I'll have a car if/when I go back to the states or have family sell it once it's paid off. Also from what I have found on this board the island can take a nice car and make it an island car fairly quickly due to road conditions and salt water.

Thanks for the info about cars, that is reassuring. I am working on the details on a PMV, but worse case I have a few friends and coworkers on the island that can go look at places and cars on my behalf. As for housing does anyone have any recommendations of good property managers that they have used in the past?

Metro Motors is not closed. At least it was open Monday. I always get my Lincoln serviced there. Coldwell Banker in Gallows Bay has rental management. Ask for Pam, that's our manager. Joel at St. Croix Property Management has a few available right now, not many though. Calabash has the most up to date rental listings of the ones that share their listings. The Sunday Avis has the most for rent By Owner listings.
Good luck, welcome to STX!

i second pam at coldwell banker

Great input thanks - is that coldwellbankervi.com?

I don't see a Pam listed as an employee - if you have contact info for her that would be awesome.

http://stcroixforrent.com/page-pamela-hunt-mcfadden---st--croix-rental-specialist-8.html

For cars, and anything else, there's the Classified section of this website as well as several Facebook pages like St Croix Vi Buy or Sell your stuff, St Croix, 00820, etc

Dude seriously buy a $5k car cash and bring it. Cars here are a mess and always need a ton of work. Unless you buy new of course and you're batty to do that here. If u really wanna by here bring at least 7k and 2k for repairs that it'll need.

I've never once gotten free shipping on Amazon. And I order thousands of dollars worth of stuff in last two years here. I didn't now about the calling thing. Just got a bunch of stuff will have to call and see if I can get it.

Seems like there's hardly any nice rentals right now in STX? Economy must be getting better as last year I looked and there were tons this time. I did see lots of nice condos available. I use sea glasses website, MLS search and Craigslist when looking for rentals.

i think there are still a lot of rentals on stx. just call pam,

Here's how free amazon shipping works. Be sure when you place your order that all the items in your $35+ order are eligible for free shipping & shippable to VI. When you have done this & your order total says you get free shipping, you will still see a shipping charge on your order. That's when you open a page for customer service, fill out some stuff & get to a place where you can click on "call me now" I know this sounds like a nuisance but the I use it on each order or sometimes the charges are almost as high as the order total & I have never once had a really long wait or had to talk to an idiot. They make sure all the items are free shipping eligible & can be shipped here & then have me complete the transaction with the fees included, then refund the shipping fees to your card. Before I learned this I tried having an order shipped to 1 of the cargo boats, but they charge by the cubic foot & that can cost a lot if the packaging is overdone.

wish walmart had that feature

You can do it here by email, clicking on the "shipping and delivery" box:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/help/customer/display.html

They responded and credited my account within 2 hours, the item was shipped on the 19th and has already arrived at the STT PO. Excellent service as always.

I just followed kakalee's instructions with Amazon and had a very tough time--long wait and refusal to refund the shipping charge of only $7.95. Ultimately she did refund it, but said it's not their policy--that free shipping is only for the mainland US. This is the second time I've called Amazon to try to get the free shipping on eligible items in the past year and both times had the same trouble. I'm always very nice, so I don't think its that they don't like me 🙂

I just followed kakalee's instructions with Amazon and had a very tough time--long wait and refusal to refund the shipping charge of only $7.95. Ultimately she did refund it, but said it's not their policy--that free shipping is only for the mainland US. This is the second time I've called Amazon to try to get the free shipping on eligible items in the past year and both times had the same trouble. I'm always very nice, so I don't think its that they don't like me 🙂

Then email them in future. I've never gone the telephone route but the emailing has never failed. Too often when dealing with anything similar on the 'phone you get someone in a box who can't think on the run so give you the "pat" answer that's right in front of their nose. 😀

Every time I email I start from the beginning with a, "this has happened many times before" and then explain that our USPS rates are the same as stateside so there should be no question about the free shipping. I load them with thanks and that's that!

I've been told a few times in emails that management is addressing the issue but that's as far as it's got ...

for smaller retailers such as quilt shops etc, if they offer shipping but want to charge international rates, i email them before i place the order and that usually takes care of the problem also. just an fyi

flight leaves tomorrow at 10am and I'm on my way to start my journey in STX -- thanks again for everyone's help on this board because of your answers I was able to set up a car and house.

Everyone that recommended Pam from Coldwell thank you so much she is awesome!

Good luck settling in.

Good luck. Please update us on your move after you get here.:-)