Amazon Coming to DR?

In partnership with

In this edition of the Grubernation Weekly Newsletter:

• Amazon Coming to DR?

• Update on our Home Buying Process

• Pizza You MUST Try in Dominican Republic

If you haven’t considered the DR Inner Circle, let me tell ya ..

This past week’s live Zoom Q&A taught me and everyone else a TON about specific projects lacking proper insurance, some insights on HOA fees and SO much more.

The group is supporting one another, answering each others questions and helping each other get closer to their dream life or investment in DR. Try us out!

Amazon Coming To DR?

The BIG News This Week: Amazon Is Coming to the Dominican Republic (Sort of…)

The first Amazon cargo shipment is set to land in the Dominican Republic on September 2 — and it’s got people buzzing.

Many assume this means you can just order with Amazon Prime and get next-day delivery in the DR just like you can in the U.S. or Canada…

But here’s the REAL truth:

Yes, this is a major win for the country — it positions the DR as a potential logistics hub for Latin America, and Amazon making a move here is a strong sign of confidence in the Dominican economy.

🛑 BUT — don’t cancel your BM Cargo subscription!!

What’s Actually Happening

• Amazon currently offers direct shipping to the DR on select items, with free international delivery on orders over $49 — but delivery still takes 6–8 days.

• What’s changing is that Amazon will now begin flying cargo directly to the Dominican Republic — marking the first time Amazon cargo planes have ever entered the Caribbean.

• I misspoke during a YouTube Live today and said Amazon is “building a new facility” here. That’s not the case — at least based on everything I’ve found.

Amazon is using an existing facility in Santo Domingo to house its shipments and build out its regional infrastructure. So while it’s not a brand-new fulfillment center, it’s still a significant move.

Find out why 1M+ professionals read Superhuman AI daily.

AI won't take over the world. People who know how to use AI will.

Here's how to stay ahead with AI:

1. Sign up for Superhuman AI. The AI newsletter read by 1M+ pros.

2. Master AI tools, tutorials, and news in just 3 minutes a day.

3. Become 10X more productive using AI.

Join 1 million pros and start learning AI

How This Changes Things (Eventually)

Until now, if you live in the DR, the flow has been:

Amazon → Miami (BM Cargo) → DR

But with this new cargo route, the future flow could look like:

Amazon → Santo Domingo → BM Cargo (or similar) → You

This means:

• BM Cargo and others may shift from being importers from Miami to becoming last-mile delivery services within the DR

• Don’t expect same-day or even next-day delivery yet

• And no Amazon trucks in your neighborhood (I think they’ll be BM Cargo trucks with Amazon labels anyway)

Final Thoughts

This is part verified info, part best-of-my-understanding, and part logical guess based on what’s been announced.

But the takeaway is clear:

And that means:

• More jobs

• Infrastructure investment

• Validation of political and economic stability

This is huge for the DR’s future — but we’ve still got a ways to go before we’re clicking “Buy Now” and hearing a knock on the door 24 hours later.

Big news — but with nuance.

Update on our Home Buying Process

Look, I knew mortgage processing in DR would be a major pain in the you know what.

But I’d be lying if I didn’t tell you that it’s starting off even worse than expected.

Status of our Purchase

Last Friday, we closed on the sale of our US home with. the plan for proceeds to be the down payment on our Dominican home.

It’s a very strong down payment, the home is exactly where and what we want and we were ‘pre-approved’ for our mortgage up front with ease.

But there were 2 issues:

1. The title on the home we’re buying was being re-issued and taking longer than expected (thankfully resolved now)

2. The bank needed my 2024 tax return and didn’t recognize the extension I handed them

My accountant scrambled, shot me my return, it looked accurate and I forwarded to the bank.

My concern when I saw the return was that the TAXABLE income this year was lower than last year because I was able to leverage different exemptions and business expenses on my business return that passed through to my personal return.

Everyone told me ‘don’t explain it, they’ll get it’

Everyone was wrong.

Out of a 240 page return, they glanced at one line and reacted.

‘This is lower than last year’

Look, if I have a complaint about how many work here in DR, it’s the ‘hot potato’ tactic they use.

‘Let me find something, ANYTHING, to get out of doing this work and pass it back to the customer or over to another employee’

(Can you tell I’m a little bitter?)

No need to get into ‘who’ or ‘where’ or ‘which bank’ - this is just ‘the process’.

So Will I Get The Mortgage?

I’m very confident we will, and also equally confident it’s going to be a giant, collosal pain in the ass to navigate this process.

Talking to others, this sort of initial handling seems par for the course before they secured their mortgage.

Here’s what I did today:

• Emailed the bank explaining the amount their citing is ‘taxable’ income, not actual income

• I sent them all documents showing actual income

• I explained things like the FEIE reducing ‘taxable’ income to the best of my knowledge (it’s not that I made less, but I can claim less!)

But also, I contacted an independent mortgage broker to expand my search. We’ll see how that goes!

Stay tuned! This will be an adventure that ends with or without a house haha.

We’ll figure it out either way.

But more importantly, it’ll be a great experience to share with you in the event you plan to secure a mortgage here one day as well.

Pizza You MUST Try in Dominican Republic

This really needs no set up but I’ll hit you with bullets:

• 3 INCREDIBLE pizza places

• Rated them in order of best to worst

• Brought my friend Jay (Abroad with Jay on YouTube)

• You will be DYING to try these places after

Fun 15 minute video you should watch.

Oh - and like and subscribe while you’re there .. and even shoot it to your friends on whatsapp!

Sorry for the late newsletter this week. Travel weeks are TOUGH for me!!