No, you will not get the tax back as Amazon delivered the package to Germany. What gets done with the package after that is irrelevant to Amazon.

Just learn from the case... (many of us had this experience once).

Orders up to CHF 50 (incl. shipping) are free of import taxes
(it is not Amazons fault if you order 5 things together and exceed the amounts).

Sometimes it might be cheaper to just order it in the English Bookshop (for english books and DVDs) in Bahnhofstrasse, then you avoid the trouble with the fees.

And if you get things shipped to Germany, your should not expect to get the tax back - that is a bit greedy

Gina

ya I was also shocked a few times at the amount of extra charges on top of the 8% taxes.
I have found that if the order is 50chf or less then there`s never a problem.

I know i have mentioned this before, but all my online shopping i do in the whole of Europe i send to a store just on the Swiss border, (15min drive from Kloten Airport) and pick it up there myself, never had any problems and very pleasant store to deal with. For any further questions just contact them directly

H.Schleider@schleider.com

hope you folks figure it out

I was fascinated to hear that it is only 15mins drive to the border from Kloten airport. What route do you take and how fast do you drive? I would love to follow your example, but I am a bit worried about going over the speed limit.

So sorry, just checked on google maps and according to its 22min instead of the 15 min i said, so i might of gone a few km\h over.. ):

According to map.search.ch Kloten to Kaiserstuhl is 19 mins

This thread mentions books and cd limits. What about other items such as toys and well anything else on Amazon?

Wondering if it is better to pick them up in Germany or have Amazon deliver... (and save more space for the food stuff - Kaufland mega shop!!)

I use a place in Laufenburg where they keep packages for me. It costs an average of €5 each time, and you don't get VAT back, but it avoids customs opening packages, and is easy to combine with some shopping. You can sign up for free on their website - they have shops in both Laufenburg and Waldshut-Tiengen.

http://www.europaketshop.ch/

(This is the new shop/address - it was previously just down the road in the middle of Laufenburg, but they moved a couple of months ago).

I order from Amazon.de everytime, and have never paid any excess duty -

My golden rules are:

1. Order upto value of CHF55 inc. P&P. DO NOT exceed this no matter how tempted if possible.

2. if there are multiple items with an order value over CHF62.50, order on different days - they don't get grouped together - (you may get hit by a price hike though via Amazon.de).

3. if at all possible, get a delivery address in Germany or France - for bigger value items you can send then there. z.B. I ordered a new HD for my PS3 - value was €101. Got it sent to DE, picked it up and strolled across again. Your limit for bringing good back into CH is CHF300. I avoided packing excessive shipping, and POST.CH "admin" charges and MWST.

You also have to get over the fact that you will not get the VAT off if ordering to DE, and to be honest it really is not worth crying over. Just learn to live with it.

Hope that this helps.

I emailed amazon last year regarding getting delivered to germany and bringing across and getting stamped. they said they would refund tax. I will post the email they sent later tonight.

I brought the stuff i bought over the border 2 days ago and got it stamped. so ill send it to the address they gave me and hopefully ill get my tax back.

Post website says anything under 100CHF is exempt from the fees, is that a new change?

Link would be helpful...

That 100chf is for gifts; for everything else the limit is 62chf

From my experience:
- I never got charged when receiving books, small electronics or clothes via the Swiss Post, be it from France, Germany or Italy.
. But whenever something is coming through DHL or Fedex, I am always charged an hefty fee of around 20 CHF for administrative cost + the (still acceptable) Swiss VAT.
So I always try to avoid sites that ship with other carriers than the Post.

You cant claim back your VAT when you send the Items to Germany and pick them up from there, only some companies offer it...

But like i said previously for a small charge (something round 5 euro) you send it to this store in Lotstetten and you can pick it up from there anddrive through the zoll yourself and avopid all admistrative charges and VAT...

If you have any questions e-mail him in english i think hes more fluent in that then german even though the stores in germany..

H.Schleider@schleider.com

That's what I was thinking, although information on official web-site is not that helpful for non-German

Did they send you "tax-free" form together with your shipment?

I hope you'll get your tax back!

How is that email search going? Would be nice to see it in action!

I ordered a book in English (same one Amazon had on offer) through Thalia.ch. Price actually worked out cheaper and it was free delivery (or you can choose in store pick up). Also avoids customs duties!

I discovered today that Amazon.de will send some items to a 'Collection point' along the border for 'free' (i.e. nothing more than normal postage charges). I got presented with the choice when I chose the shipping address (perhaps as my address is registered in Switerland?).

For instance, I've just ordered some locking wheel nuts, having them delivered to an Amazon selected point in Hohentengen. From what I can see, there is no charge for it to be sent there (free P&P from Amazon) or for me to collect (nothing in the T&Cs). I'll let you know my experience.

So for items priced within the 'grey area' (over CHF62 and less than CHF 200, say), this method could work out cheaper than paying Post/DHL import admin fees and might also save on the more expensive delivery options to CH as opposed to free in DE. Might also have pickup locations closer to you than Lotstetten.

See here for the info (DE) or Google translated.

Interestingly, Amazon also offered to handle the customs for me if I had it delivered direct to CH (a cost of EUR1 for the handling), but the only delivery option was EUR20 via Courier...making it too expensive.

I can also recommend H.Schleider. Grenzpaket.ch (untested) is another option, though slightly more expensive, it may be more convenient.