Shipping to Switzerland

[GuyMor]

Hello,

Looking for help from people with experience courier shipment into switzerland.

Is shipping using a courier (DHL,UPS etc) is smooth as sending to EU countries (Germany for example) or does the box go through customs and you need a broker etc? we'd like to send some stock to a Swiss shop, but only if it will go smooth.

Thank you

 

[Novevan]

express such DHL, UPS... server as door to door

If you need to pay custom tax, they will also contact you and help you deal with all the documents.

 

[TaobaoGuides]

It depends on which country you are shipping from. You can consider the delivery express companies such as DHL, UPS, FedEx, TNT, EMS and compare their plan and price respectively, but usually you need to find an agent which offers shipping fee 30% ~ 40% lower than the price you got from those companies.

 

[GuyMor]

Thanks @Novevan and @TaobaoGuides . I'll refine my question a bit further - we have an account with DHL. We already ship to the EU with them. Occasionally, when we ship to no-EU destinations, the delivery get "stuck" in customs, they contact the consignee asking them to provide documents, usually charge a fee for "releasing" the good (even if there's no duty involved).

In our case, we ship from the UK, the products are either made in the EU or in Turkey, but there's no customs duty on these kind of products coming from Turkey to Switzerland.

I just want the "experience" to be hassle free for the customer. I don't want them to pay anything except for Swiss VAT

 

[BeMarketed]

To get it through quicker you will have to create a commercial or pro-forma invoice, so one of the Express carriers (DHL in this case) will clear this for you. These documents will state in effect what the goods are, the value of the goods are, country of manufacture and the purpose of the goods. The documents are used by customs to assess the VAT and duty levied and also to ensure the goods are legally allowed in to Switzerland. These forms can be done on the DHL website or you can print your own (Google commercial invoice templates if you need to).

In terms of duties and taxes, in many cases it comes down to how the booking is made. So for example if you say bill all duties and taxes to the recipient then DHL will ensure they get payment of these before they deliver the goods, which can lead to a delay.

The fee you are charged is most likely a customs processing fee which is basically an admin fee to clear the goods through customs.

Overall you shouldn't have to use a broker for Switzerland unless you have a particularly high value or complex need.