App. you can get stuff you buy over the internet sent to dif. companys in germany and then just pick it up from there which is about a 25min drive from zurich city center. Dose anyone know of any such companys and how much thy charge ?

Thanks

It ought to be possible to receive merchandise c/o Poste Restante (i.e., general delivery) at a German Post Office in a border town: http://www.postdirekt.de/plzserver/P...let?lang=en_GB There is in many countries a per-item fee for Poste Restante. You need to make sure that there is no weight limit, and also the time limit for pick-up. (You could telephone the Post Office when you are expecting something so they don't return the parcel unexpectedly. And of course you should tell them in advance what you propose to do. I am aware that anti-terrorism concerns have prompted strict identity controls -- something that was introduced in the USA many years ago, after Lee Harvey Oswald bought his weapon from an online store and had it delivered to a PO Box rented in a fake name.)

You could also rent a P.O. Box there, or at a UPS Store/Mail Boxes Etc. in Germany: http://www.ups.com/content/de/de/abo...worldwide.html

For many years a firm I worked for maintained a PO Box in a Canadian border town. Before that they had a private arrangement with a local resident to hold their post pending the arrival of a van that drove up monthly from New York City with orders from Canadian customers. There's no reason why this wouldn't work on a personal, as well as a commercial, basis.

It's always good to have someone in every country who accepts your package...

"App." "Dif.". Does no-one write English properly anymore.

You should check out the link in my sig about "u". You don't want future posts being deleted.

Am I the only one who doesn't understand this inquiry?

This place is near Basel - which may be a bit far for you, but anyway.

http://serviceadresse.com/

Free to join, and you pay 2 euro per package (more for larger packages)

I have only used it once so far, but it was a simple process, no fuss.

Also this one might be a bit closer to Zurich. Costs nothing to register there and you just pay for the size of the package. Website gives you all the info. Also the opening hours are great for after work or weekend pick up.

http://www.deutsche-lieferadresse.com/

The same question has been asked on another forum regarding parcels from France: http://www.bebe.ch/drupal/node/174937 The respondents there seem to have come up with no better solution than Poste Restante.

I found a company thats really close, there based in lottstetten and its a 15min drive from the airport. Also there quite cheap you can email the shop keeper at
ch.schleider@gmail.com he seems really friendly. Its so weird how the swiss coustomes just rip you off and charge so much..happy i found a loop whole..

A short google search brought this one up:
http://www.eyzes.com/viewtopic.php?t...9dbae0639d33be

Is it still the case the the Gentleman with the Kosher shop offers the service "for free if you make purchases over 200 CHF in my shop"? Does not seem very cheap to me.

Not cheap if you don't need to spend the 200. "Free of charge" if you do. Otherwise he charges Fr.5- That's fair in my book! He sells good wines that's for sure, prices cheaper then in CH. Just be carefull not try out too many free samples before you drive home!

I understand why you would want to deliver to Germany and save on customs and the swisspost's ripoff charge.

However, if you are buying something which is worth more that Fr.200, I don't see how you actually save money if you still pay the German VAT instead of the Swiss one. (the difference is 10%).

Cause not every shop - especially the "online garage shop" types are prepared and willing to make a tax deduction for you. If it is a shop you can drive to it is easy, otherwise typically impossible unless the shop is big enough that they have plenty of international busines - like amazon.

And if you do not see how you can save money: Compare the prices! The overall price level in Germany is so much cheaper that it makes perfectly sense, even if you have to pay the tax twice! We just bought some sports stuff over there and the price difference before any tax dedcutions was between 25-40%. (tennis and golf gear). So even if I cannot get the German VAT back, it makes perfect sense and if I have to I pay the Swiss one on top and still are getting it cheaper...

That's not the point of my post though. If you don't mind paying tax twice, why would you still want to drive to Germany and pick it up and not send it directly to your Swiss address?


Furthermore, if I see that the shop is not willing to take off the VAT for me, then I will find another shop that will. So far I have always managed to find an alternate shop that does, and the difference is 10%!

Ok: "I do not mind" as in "If they stop me, I will declare it, if they don't, I will save..."...

I have not. Just as mentioned above: There are some sellers beating Swiss market prices by 40%, but offering nothing else than bank wire and Deutsche Post to adresses in Germany. No service but a terribly good price. In Germany, we have a tendency to offer service if you pay the "official price" and no service if you want the discount one - for me still better than the Swiss low service for high prices

You will find plenty of them on ebay and other web platforms. I let them send my stuff to my parents, so I fully see a business case for a delivery adress in Germany. However, if this one is the right and most trustworthy one... I do not know.

Save? But you just lost the opportunity to reclaim 19% VAT (but pay 7.6% swiss tax instead).

Ok, let me give you an example. You want to buy something in Germany that costs Fr.300. Maybe free delivery within Germany.

Or you can get it delivered to Switzerland for Fr.20 For this they take away 19% German VAT, but you will get charged around Fr.50 by swiss post. Total cost in the end is around Fr.310. It will cost you Fr.10 more in the end, but no petrol cost for you nor "dropbox" cost in Germany. If the stuff you are buying is more expensive, this starts to make even more sense as the VAT portion gets bigger.

I understand your point though that some smaller sellers do not take away VAT, but as I mentioned, so far I have been able to find one that does - they might be a bit more expensive, but if they take away the VAT, they can also be competitive.