Looking at buying a new push bike in the USA and them posting it to me in Zurich, what import taxes would I have to pay?

Thks

I believe it is 7.6 % import tax, just like the V.A.T. but to be a 100 % sure why not asking at the Zollamt?

just found this:
http://www.ezv.admin.ch/zollinfo_pri...x.html?lang=de

it is really that the import tax comes up to the V.A.T.

very useful page by the way. I made the striking discovery that we've been smuggling vegetable oils into Switzerland all along...

Been there, done that.

In 2005 I ordered a Litespeed Tuscany from Competitive Cyclist. They have "experience", because they declared a much lower value for customs. Arrived beautifully packed. Only problem was it had the US brake set up, which is opposite to my other bike. Gets tricky at times.

Calculate around 8%, on product and postage together.

Thanks for that

What can't I find here :-) Have a super weekend

Are US bikes so superior?

FFS, not content with wanting to import yank tank cars because the hick Euros obviously can't build 'em properly...

Dunno about bikes but the price delta can be staggering even after postage from the US. I ordered a laserrange finder that was about 50% of the Swiss price.

Daniel

ahhhhhh so you weren't planning on ordering it from Walmarts online store

Depends on what you are after. I needed a Ti frame, and the US still have that market cornered. My mistake was going for a litespeed..next time it will be Moots.

And yeah, even after postage and tax I still came out ahead as if I bought the same setup here.

I bought a Ti Van Nicholas bike from http://www.bikedesign.ch/ Can't praise him enough. Give Antony a call and he may be able to import something special for you and take all the VAT hassel. My Van Nich came from Holland and it was cheaper than the pre VAT Dutch price.

Also very pleased with the bike , so pleased, I'm off to do L' Etape this year

To be picky, it is not really appropriate to call it the "US brake setup" as it is standard in many countries, so Brits and Aussies riding foreign bikes should be careful. As always, Sheldon Brown has some interesting points to make about this. If you don't like it then it shouldn't be too difficult to switch either of your bikes to make them consistent (which I would highly recommend).

I am trying to import 2 bikes from USA. Bike shops here said they can package them to ship over to CH, but they have to disassemble everything. After they are shipped, I'd have to take the boxes to a bike shop to be reassembled. Is this true and how much would this cost to reassemble the bikes in CH? Are there other ways of shipping bikes over for a reasonable price? Thanks.

It depends on what sort of bike you are buying. My roadbike came 85% assembled, just had to put the wheels on (quick spanners) and bolt the handlebars to the stem (2 screws). A mountain bike with hydraulic disc brakes might be a different story.

As for price, do some shopping here then look around the US on the internet. Find out the total cost including shipping and add 10% (customs). Match it to the Swiss price and see if it is worth your while.

I just brought a bike over from the USA last week. It's 7.6%, as other members have already posted.

As to your question on whether the bikes need to be disassembled for shipping, then the answer is basically yes. However, as litespeed said, not much disassembly is required. The front wheel will certainly have to come off, but that is really easy to re-attach. If it is a mountain or city bike, then the handlebars probably won't need to come off, although the shop may decide to take them off. If it is a road bike, then the handlebars probably will need to come off. The pedals will also probably be taken off, but these only require a big 15 mm wrench to re-attach. The seat-post will probably be dropped to the lowest possible position or removed from the frame entirely, but again this is a simple thing to put back on.

Overall, I would recommend taking the bikes to a shop on your side to be disassembled and packaged for you if you have never done this before, but more because packaging them well takes some skill, not because the disassembly does. On this end, if you have even a very basic knowledge of bike maintenance then you should be able to put it back together yourself. However, some things may need minor re-adjustments, and this is where some extra knowledge comes in handy.

Where are you moving to? If you happen to be anywhere near Lausanne then I'd be happy to help you put a couple of bikes together. I have tons of experience with bike maintenance, have almost all the tools I could ever want, and have packed and unpacked many bikes. My only charge is a case of beer. Basically, I used to tinker with lots of bikes: either friends bikes or ones that I acquired just to fix up and sell on, but since moving to Switzerland I've had significantly less than I would like. So, I offer my services to anyone in need.

Lastly, since you have two bikes then you have one more option to save some money when shipping the bikes. Between my wife and I, we had four bikes to bring over here from Canada. The bikes are not heavy, and you pay mostly for the volume and not for the weight. Therefore, I had the idea of using just 2 bikes boxes instead of 4. Once I had decided the size of box I needed, I called a local box company, and asked if they could custom-make two boxes for me. They said no problem, and for a box that was something like 2.0 metres by 0.9 m x 0.3 m, with double-walled cardboard it was only CAN$35 (about US$25) per box. They were probably better than any of the used cardboard boxes that I could have got from the local bike shop that new bikes are delivered to them in.

With a little extra disassembly than normal, the bikes fit in wonderfully. Basically, they faced opposite ways in the box, with the drive-trains (i.e., gearing and chain-side) of each bike facing the other in the middle. I padded all of the frames, and secured everything very well. I also stuffed some of the bulky but light items we were bringing over into garbage bags and put them in the gaps for added padding and because it was a great way to get those things here without taking up additional space in another bag or box.

If you wanna go with this two-bikes-in-one-box option then let me know, and I'll supply more precise box dimensions and other tips that you or your local bike shop could use. It depends on how you are shipping them as to how much you can save with this option. If you're flying with them yourself and just paying for extra baggage, then you could save yourself half of the cost as airlines often just charge by the item as long as it does not exceed their weight limits. If you're having them shipped separately (as we did), then putting them both in one box will still save you some money because the volume will be greatly reduced, but it all depends on the volume-to-weight conversions that the shipping company uses, which can be a bit complex.

Two more things, the previous two responses mentioned that you would need to pay import taxes. This is true if you live in Switzerland and are having a new bike shipped here from overseas. However, as far as I understand from your message, you are importing bikes that you already own in the US when you move here. Therefore, like all other personal possessions that you bring with you when you move, you will not have to pay any tax on them.

As for how much it would cost to get a bike shop to reassemble them here, then I don't know what their rates are like because I always do my own maintenance. However, if you ask your shop in the US how much they would charge, then multiply that figure by 1.5 then that may be a reasonable estimate. (As a general rule, anything that is labor-intensive tends to cost a lot more here than in other countries, although often your everyday products are not that much more costly).

Thanks ChrisW, that was very helpful. We would however, have to buy 2 new bikes and bring them there. We are going to be moving to the Zurich area so we wouldn't be able to take you up on your gracious offer. How does customs know if the bikes (or any belongings) are considered new and require the 7.6% tax? Can we just ride them around a bit here and then ship them? Maybe this is a stupid question, but thanks!

Here is what the helpful book called "Living and Working in Switzerland" by David Hampshire (amazon.com link) has to say about this:

"When you enter Switzerland to take up residence, household or personal effects that you have used for at least six months can be imported without paying duty or VAT. A complete list of the items being imported must be provided at the time of customs clearance, together with a request for duty-free import (a form is provided). VAT (7.6%) must be paid on any articles you have used for less than six months. Itemised invoices should be provided."

So, just riding them around the block won't get you around this officially. However, in practice we had a list of the main things that we were bringing into the country, and although the customs guy asked a few questions when we picked the stuff up from the shipping agent at the airport (4 bikes, a computer, and some other electronic stuff), he certainly didn't want to look inside any of the boxes or ask how old any of the items were, or to see invoices (which we didn't even have, and I don't think most people would).

So, I would just just ignore this 6-month rule and not expect to pay any tax since you are moving here with them. Report the true value, and if it does come down to them saying that they are brand new, tell them that you bought them at the end of last year but haven't used them because it's been winter. However, I doubt that they are going to be very interested in the exact details of the personal belongings that you're bringing with you.