I ordered something for my small business abroad because I haven’t found a local producer. On €83 I have to pay chf 33 of costs. This is ridiculous. I wish the system was different, maybe we could be our own brockers?

by Expat_zurich

22 comments

  1. Yeh i know this is also with amazon we needed to pay 50chf for one package of 20chf

  2. If you live close enough to a boarder or have a friend that is a frontelier…you have options.

  3. The broker fees are ridiculous! Everything is now an automated process the import. But that “service” is 25CHf it’s a joke.

  4. It will always be near that there is a minimum something like 20 which is always that regardless of the price of the goods
    Then the rest is a percentage

  5. I’ve said it before: Never mind the Pirate Party, what we need is a Smuggler Party.

  6. I ordered a product from Turkey a few weeks ago, cost was 59.-, which I knew was under the limit for VAT to be applied (if your product costs less than 65.-, you do not need to pay Tariffs).
    Then UPS knocked on my door and asked 33.- in order for me to receive the package.
    They decided on their own to do the legal paperwork even though there is no need to do so. And since they did it, I had to pay the fee.
    I tried for weeks to get a clear explanation as of why. In the end it turned out that, in fact, they do have the legal right to do so.
    This is absolutely insane in my opinion. I did have to pay the fee in order to receive my product. They even said that if I turned the package down, I’d STILL have to pay since they already did the paperwork.
    This ssystem is completely rigged and it must be reviewed.

  7. I gave up “importing” stuff when I ordered a simple military hat for 37€ in Germany…
    I was charged 18.03€ for DHL “Premium” delivery (a premium which arrived after 7 days).
    Then DHL charged me 20 more swiss francs for “Importation Fees (13), Administrative fees (3% = 1.58) and VAT”

    But since 2025 DHL adds the VAT on their 3% fees, which made my order go just over 5.- of Swiss VAT. So they can charge more importation fees even if the original order value was only 52.70 Swiss francs and should have stayed under the Swiss limit of 63 Swiss francs.

    A complete joke to me. I payed nearly as much as the product price in shipping and importation costs.

  9. eBay (from the UK) itemize it. Not sure what the difference is between VAT and import VAT. It’s Swiss VAT they are charging, as far as I can tell. And don’t get me started on eBay’s own service postage costs and the appallingly slow service that goes with them. Feels like a racket.

  10. Sure. I think the question was: below CHF 63, should it be payable? Better to get things sent by ordinary post. As long as the value is below that (including postage) and clearly declared, no checks, no charges. A lot of eBay sellers just want the convenience of the eBay label though.

  11. Do remember there is a difference between import tax and VAT.
    Generally any non-present (up to 100fr) will be import taxed (13 or 16fr +3% of the value). Anything over 63fr will additionally be subject to VAT.

    https://www.post.ch/de/geschaeftsloesungen/export-import-und-verzollung/import/faq-import-zoll-und-mwst

    https://www.post.ch/de/empfangen/importverzollung?shortcut=importverzollung#preise

    So cheap items are going up hurt. Thing is, not all packages are taxes, no idea why but I guess they slip through. I’ve ordered the same stuff at the same place and get different results. Just be prepared for the import tax none the less.

  12. More of that, you should pay that VAt even in case you made return the item!

  13. Meanwhile all the garbage ordered from temu pays 0 import tax

  16. Ordered something from alibaba where they now already add the swiss MWST directly when you order.
    Still had to pay CHF 24.- for the verzollung which concluded ‘no mwst to pay’. Well.. yeah.

  17. That’s the only real “loophole”, privately sent packages (up to 100fr, excluding alcohol and tabacco) will be free. Just a pain to get companies to declare it as private 😂

  20. Had ups send a package from the neighbouring post station to me… route was to Italy, north germany and back to the same post station (last part with swiss post) paid 36 broker fees and 33 vat… value of the good was 30… and then i had to pay us taxes, as a us company increased the value of my goods by transporting them…

  22. Only stuff I order from abroad is stuff where the seller handles the import and swiss vat themselves 

    UPS etc are just scam artists when it comes to deliveries from abroad 

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