I don't buy towels on sale. I did it that once and never again. (Unless I see good brands on sale which I haven't.). Thanks anyway.

Beautiful assumptions. All opposite to how I feel about the country where I came from.

It would probably be much cheaper for you to buy a direct ticket to China since mostly all you're going to find in US and probably UK too is "Made In China". At least in Switzerland you can find labels "Made In Switzerland." I couldn't even find a decent 100% cotton bathrobe in USA they are all pretty polyester designs that don't absorb water! Just tacky...LOL

I really like Les Cortes Ingles. I got some gorgeous spanish designer shoes for a very good price, and some dresses that make my husband completely gaga!

If you want something from there, let me know, I am sure I could send it over to you!

The towels here are horrid and expensive... Though I may be biased, the best quality and value are in Canada (try The Bay) or any Kohls in the U.S. (house labels with a bit of bamboo rayon mixed in...roughly $10 or so for what would easily be chf 60 or more if you could find it here).

Ah thanks Nil I'm going back home for Christmas, and already have a shopping tour programmed with my mother. We are beating the El Corte Inglés like a SWAT team hihihi

But thank you for the offer!

Isn't that illegal here? In the UK, a product has to be on sale at its original retail price for certain time (14 days?) then can be marked as a sale item. I can't imagine it being that much different here.

The original mark-up from CHF 1 to CHF 70 is just plain cheeky and is probably normal for items being produced and shipped for peanuts from Asia but I don't think illegal.

kind of like printers... cheaper to buy a new printer than buy the cartridges.

Just when I was about to cave in and just accept the Swiss price system, I stumbled across a pair of nice dockers I really liked. Was on sale at a store in Zurich. Decent mens store as well. Sale price was CHF 200. Luckily, I decided just for old times sake, cross check with good old UK mens store. Well well well, would you believe, the same pant was £65.83 after deducting UK 20% sales tax + the store had a nice free international postage offer which I duly took advantage off . Oh I did not get any custom charges as well.

Summary - I just go into Swiss shops to try stuff on and I buy them online from Uk or when i go home for the weekend.

I just ignore the sales really, like most have said, i have noticed mostly junk in the sales although you can find some gems e.g. SchuhCafe have a nice sales.

This was many years ago. But I've been in Switzerland long enough to know that when they have "Ausverkauf", you usually end up seeing tons of stuff that was never on sale in the shops up til that point- and they always make it out to be amazing bargains. Now I totally avoid the shops in January and July (?). I'm sure there is also stock that has been marked down, but there's a lot of junk too that has been brought in just for this sales period. I even remember there being a report on it in Kassensturz a couple years ago. And apparently it is illegal.
http://www.kassensturz.sf.tv/Nachric...den-Ladentisch
Sorry, this is in german, but it basically comfirms what my neighbour told me.

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www.kokoandkalila.com

Yes they are specially kept for sales. Its pure customer trickery-and they are gullible enough to believe it.
Sometimes in Jelmoli you might get a good purchase but the prices are 25% more in Jelmoli anyhow so you never really get much of a deal.
These store's assume that the consumer is stupid.

This is indeed very common practice - even some of the labels like TF have done it/do it. A huge clue is normally the considerable amount of the same stuff on sale along with the pre-printed stickers.

Best to go to the section where they are selling off "the last of" as this is usually the merchandise that was not sold if you buy on sale and if you can find your size, you will probably have made a good deal.

Alternatively go to France or Italy.

I personally prefer to buy at the start of the season - I buy less clothing but get to choose exactly what I want. : ) It is a better strategy in the long run: the clothes fit, the quality is usually good and they can be worn for more than a season. The stuff that goes on (true) sale, especially near the end is often the really seasonal stuff nobody can get away with wearing a year later anyway.

Does everybody know that JCPenny now ships here? I hate to admit that I very rarely shop here. It is either JCP, LL Bean or Lands End. They are not out to "rip you off" with the shipping and there are always coupons available.
We were quite happy with a recent JCP order where we got everything ON SALE and a 20% off coupon. Plus the dollar vs franc is great now.

I also buy stuff from Sierra Trading Post in the US. Mostly overstocks. It's an online retailer, so of course you have to pick through the site. I've bought a lot of rather nice Calida underwear at really inexpensive prices. It's worth the cost of shipping and duty for what I save - and of course, given the strong franc, it's doubly a bargain.

Well, I can't comment as to whether the sales suck - I only go for entertainment purposes only ('what? people think this is a normal discounted price? what did it cost before the sale? etc etc') vs. actual acquisition and consumption...
My household is a testament to international logistics and cross-border imports And with addresses and mailboxes in the US and UK, I somehow struggle through

Set up a box with myusa.com and they can receive all your us mail and bulk ship it. you are still responsible for import duties but somehow still works out cheaper tried and trusted!

Well, I have to admit I did find a fantastic bargain last week at a Vögele Shoe store. Being new to Switzerland, the kiddos didn't have hiking shoes and this is just not acceptable for Waldtag in Kindergarten (or so I was told by a very helpful 4-5 year old!). So I go in looking for some shoes and got some for my 5 year old for 45 CHF - not too bad, as I was thinking I could do much more damage (of course, no fancy brand, but at 5 years old I was just happy she picked out a color that her brother could wear in 3 years time). However, the real bargain came when I went into the Fundgrube section to look for my 7 year old - I found 2 pairs for her - one in her current size and 1 in the next size for 9.90 CHF each...again, not Salomon (although they did have a pair that was just too boyish from that brand) but both with Vibram soles and marked down from 99 and 79 CHF...and I don't think that these were fake mark ups. These are truly the last pairs of shoes they have and you have to be lucky to find something in your size. Anyhow, I was ecstatic and look forward to finding more bargains there in the future!

Off-topic: this food market is amazing, but on the day I was there was an incredible amount of vicious pigeons. They were doing coordinated bombing runs on tourists.

Sounds like you need a trip to Konstanz in Germany, also look at what Aldi and Lidl have on offer in Switzerland, although the German stores are cheaper. Kik in Germany / Austria is also a favourate of ours for kids clothes http://www.kik-textilien.com

Shoes in Switzerland Germany and France always seem significantly more expensive that UK. I have never understood why, maybe it is a VAT (imposed) thang.

You can get a good pair of Goodyear welted brogues in UK for about 120 GBP (non sale). The cheapest compatible I have seen is 200EUR plus in Germany/France and even more in CH.

In the sales the same shoes are about 80quid (August or January).

Doc Marten boots are 89GBP UK London vs 189CHF Zürich

AYB

Sounds like the perfect day out. Shoes, visit Sea Life and lunch at Tolle Knolle.