It’s well-known that the Swiss are overcharged for almost all the pieces. Nonetheless, when merchandise are being despatched from a warehouse exterior Switzerland one would count on the pre-tax value to be the identical. That is hardly ever the case. The Romande Shopper Federation (FRC) has checked out a variety of manufacturers and located unjustifiable value variations as excessive as 93%.
The FRC discovered a median value distinction of +35% on clothes, sportswear, white items, video video games, furnishings and shopper electronics when evaluating similar merchandise on completely different geographic variations of the identical web site.
H&M was ranked highest on the FRC’s naughty step with a +93% pre-VAT value distinction over costs charged for a similar merchandise in France. These corporations are artificially and unjustifiably inflating costs, in line with FRC. The clothes firm Zara (+77%) was not far behind H&M with its value gouging, in line with the FRC’s value comparisons.
Different corporations culpable of overcharging Swiss shoppers embrace Adidas (+42%), Nike (+41%), Philips (+41%), Ikea (+40%), Birkenstock (+37%) and Zalando (+35%).
The one class of merchandise the place Swiss shoppers weren’t being fleeced was shopper electronics.
When contacted, most of the manufacturers mentioned the worth variations had been justified. H&M cited variations in salaries (the merchandise are produced and warehoused exterior Switzerland), supply prices (these weren’t included within the comparability), taxes (VAT is decrease in Switzerland), gross sales prices (items had been purchased on-line) and normal prices and native exterior variables (blah blah blah).
These value comparisons are simple to do. Decide any massive model and examine costs on the positioning variations for various international locations. For instance, an ironing board listed on the Spanish model of Zara Residence prices Euro 129 (CHF 124). The identical product on its Swiss web site is CHF 229, a surprising CHF 105 extra. When VAT (8.1% in Switzerland and 21% in Spain) is eliminated the underlying value distinction rises to CHF 110 (CHF 102 versus CHF 212). The underlying Swiss value is 2.1 instances the Spanish one. And this product might be shipped from the identical warehouse in Spain. Supply prices could range a bit of, however these are usually not included on this comparability. They’re added on individually at take a look at.
In 2022, Switzerland handed a regulation banning geo-blocking the place corporations block entry to overseas variations of their web site. Whereas corporations have complied with this regulation, they block purchases from web sites exterior Switzerland by refusing to ship, successfully getting across the goal of the regulation. The one distinction now’s Swiss shoppers can entry overseas web sites to see how a lot they’re being ripped off.
One certain fireplace method to keep away from value gouging is to have items despatched to an tackle throughout the border in France or Germany. In case you don’t have a cross-border buddy, there are corporations that supply such companies. There may be sometimes a cost for the service, however the typically vital financial savings often greater than cowl this price.
One other soiled trick is to dam playing cards with a Swiss tackle, though utilizing companies reminiscent of Apple Pay and Paypal can often get round this.
One other certain fireplace technique is to restrict purchasing from Switzerland to a naked minimal. Those that journey sometimes or reside close to a border are extremely conversant with this hack. When crossing a land border it’s typically potential to spice up financial savings by reclaiming the comparatively excessive VAT charged in neighbouring international locations after which pay the decrease Swiss charge on entry to Switzerland, though this isn’t required if the worth is under CHF 150 per individual per day.
And it isn’t solely worldwide manufacturers and on-line retailers which might be gouging Swiss shoppers. One product offered in Switzerland which you could save a bundle on by shopping for it overseas is the painkiller ibuprofen. In case you are ever in a position to swing by a Costco within the US (you’ll have to be with a member to realize entry) a double pack (500 models x 2) of 200 Mg tablets will set you again US$ 12.99 (CHF 11.56), a bit of greater than 1 cent a pill. In Switzerland, a singly 200 Mg pill sometimes prices 60 cents (CHF 11.95 for 20). Swiss manufacturers and retailers are the culprits right here.
Extra on this:
FRC article (in French) – Take a 5 minute French take a look at now
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