I bought the milk powder for my son in Germany which cost 7.5 Euro compared with 25 CHF in COOP. Why the same Swiss brand has fixed the different prices?

How can anyone grumble at the prices here, yes some seem high, others not, but, the Swiss have protected themselves, their industy, jobs, etc etc.

It seems to work, its still an affluent country, when many countries in the world are in financial s&%".

Works for me, and I will rarely now complain about the prices.

What do you know? You don't think retailer for instance, don't have a quota of jobs which have to be cut on a yearly basis? Just because nobody talks about it, doesn't mean it ain't happening.

Fair enough, I should have started my post with 'in my opinion' that is what it is and the perception I get from living here.

So you're right, what do I know, actually I know SFA except for what I get paid, what I spend, what I have left etc etc, this is what I base my opinion on.

Because they can.

Obviously enough Swiss people are willing to pay higher price.

Very much so and we are even more willing to get higher wages.

because a wily businessman wastes no time in parting a fool from his money.

Ooopohhhh careful comparing prices between Germany and Switzerland on the same product or Jaro will get upset and call you " waste of human flesh" and negative rep you.......
Bit sad really

Swiss society is a very consumer oriented society. Just have a look at Bahnhofstrasse Zürich on a Saturday morning! They love to spend money-it's their drug of choice.

Instagram bosses & Zuckerberg come to mind!

I would say a large part of the consumers on Bahnhofstrasse in Zurich on a Saturday morning are not Swiss but rich (or would-like-to-be-rich) foreigner tourists, and the Bahnhofstrasse is not the entire Switzerland.

Neither is the via Nassa, but most people shopping on those streets ARE Swiss!

Tom

Different taxes, products exported are relieved of local taxes as they are for export only. It's the same in the US and France, probably everywhere else. Also the cost to do business is higher(higher rent, employee costs, etc). To be competitive in foreign markets they do have to sell for less otherwise they wouldn't even bother to export it if it just sat on the shelves. It's not just with Swiss products.

I don't know the pricing now, but years ago, when I first came to Portugal, you could find Budweiser beer in cans(not the licensed and brewed here stuff) that were exported from the US, and sold in the supermarkets. In the US a can of the same had cost about 1 US dollar, and the same can, made also in the USA, was what worked out to be .30 US cents shipped abroad. Most of the American products, as there is a lot in Portugal, were 60 to 80% cheaper then in the US. Portugese in general would never pay 1 dollar a can when all the other beers at the time Super Bock, Sagres, Carlsberg, Heineken were all charging .30 or less. True, they weren't making as much as they would in the US, but clearly they made some profit.

Similac, the baby formula, is another example. When I was living in Michigan, about 30 minutes from Canada, a small can that would give enough nourishment to one of my twin boys for about a day and a half, cost in the neighborhood of 23 to 25 US Dollars, and they had the stuff locked up like it was alcohol because apparently so many people try to steal it because it is so expensive.

But, if you cross the border and went into Canada, you could buy the exact same stuff(the label read it was fabricated in up state New York then imported into Canada, so same stuff, Made in the USA), and not the tiny cans, but the big metric ones, that would feed two children for 2 and a half days, exchange rate considered for about 10 US dollars, and no one was trying to steal it in Canada.

There are a lot of things to consider why some products at home are more expensive then when purchased abroad. Companies are trying to make certain percentages. While I know every company likes to get the most they can for their products, the fact is, is to be competitive offering the lowest price is most of the time the best way to do it, and pricing yourself out of a market, well doesn't normally work, unless you are a luxury item.

Maybe the milk powder was made and canned in Germany and not in Switzerland? Maybe the Swiss company bought the powder in tins, imported it and labelled it as Swiss, which can be legal.

I once (Only once!) bought some Migros frozen chicken bits, the packet boldly stated "Swiss chicken", but in small print there was printed "Country of origin: China"

Interesting Maybe the chicken packaging was Swiss?

Bought a garment at the Ulla Popken shop in Luzern.
It is a German firm I understand.
So
Swiss price CHF 59,95
UK price £ 26.00

so about £20 difference. Is Switzerland entirely responsible for this? How does it work?

Vendors get paid more in Switzerland, that might explain part of the price difference. The other part is... well, Swiss are stupid enough to let firms rip them off.

For one, economies of scale play an important role. The other main issue is, that brands don't see Switzerland as a lucrative market and therefore, don't invest in marketing strategies etc. This certainly doesn't improve market share, but with little or no competition in that segment, it is really a no-brainer in terms of cost/benefit. There is also the rent and wages issue but this only plays a minor part in a company's pricing strategy. It is a mix of the aforementioned factors which determine the price. I'm not familiar with Ulla Popken's company structure but I can imagine, that they have a conservative/not so aggressive business model and with that, they comfortably cater to well off women, whom might not be as price sensitive as Yendy or H&M clientele. HTH

The WE has similar tags preprinted on their stuff (thus with CHF pricing much higher as the EUR one) still it is one of my more favourite shops..

I have seen price tags in the UK showing prices in Pounds, Euros and CHF. The Euro price usually converts fairly closely but the Swiss price is often much higher