I didn't know that a lot of companies exclude delivery to Switzerland because they are not part of the EU. Infact I was really dissapointed when a company in England told me blatently we are not interested in orders outside of the UK.
I thought the economy was taking a plunge. I thought I could contribute to the upswing.
I'm posibly naieve

What sort of items were you thinking of importing from the EU zone to CH ?

It's mostly preschool things.Small play-kitchen or tables and chairs. I would have liked to go for Swiss made but one small children's chair costs a hundred francs (give or take "ein funflieber")

We only want wooden products, no plastic and battery run sizzling noises.
If I was rich I'd order everything from Amrriswil but I'm not, so I cant.

I recently had a similar experience trying to order a camcorder battery from the UK. The first few companies I found would not deliver to CH. In the end we found a small supplier in the next village here.

I hope you find an alternative.

Larissa

Yep, I had this problem ordering something recently (well, in October). A friend who was visiting before xmas was going to bring them out with her. One problem after another, they arrived in the mail from her last week with one of the two items smashed. Wish I'd just bloody driven back to the UK!

Edit: and I do live in the bloody EU!

The reason for this is the customs... It is very complicated to get things in the country and the Zoll officers can really give an hard time both to the companies and the customers. It is simply not profitable and the companies opt to save a lot of hassle to deal with the customs. I used to buy furniture from Italian shops, and they have told me they stopped working with Switzerland based customers due to all the customs-drama.

If i were you, rather than importing from the UK, i would check the shops around the border in Germany or Austria. In most cases, they are used to it and offer the transport (plus custom clearance).

PS Also remember the VAT thing - if the merchandise is shipped, then it pays not VAT at source. The Swiss authorities will then charge you (you will save a few suissies because the VAT is lower here)

Thanks Lucy I think it would be worth it to take a van and buy what I need in one go. Up to now I've always shopped here but as I need so much and have a limited budget It would be worth the trip.

I've ordered Montessori equipment from the States and as I've spent over a certain amount they are shipping for free. I was really pleased.

Then oder locally..

http://www.kidoh.ch/index.html?com=h...ch&wea=2222023

http://www.markenarena.ch/?cmd=C9y5v...d=99&ma_id=175

http://www.spielland.ch/BasisNovum/P....aspx?AGID=154

None of these sites has the furniture I'm looking for. I have no problems buying toys here.

	Quote:	Oldhand
	It's mostly preschool things.Small play-kitchen or tables and chairs. I would have liked to go for Swiss made but one small children's chair costs a hundred francs (give or take "ein funflieber")

Have you had a look at BEA Verlag? They have quite a few wood kitchens and things - prices seem reasonable - the price always requires a certain number of Bea points- but their catalog gives you 500 points free. Here is an example of a kitchen stove and dishwasher combination for CHF 58:

http://www.bea-verlag.ch/shop/default.aspx?kat=53

I would take a look at IKEA for mini-size furniture as well.

Thanks DHB I've registered and should get a No. in the next few days. Now I just need to collect some Bea points.

Bea is probably your best best for a nice and resonably priced wooden kitchen. If you have a car and a Tamoil petrol station close by you get 500 Bea points per reciept - and if you tell them you want the reciept for the points mine always gives me loads of extra points.
Depending on what side of Zurich you live, you might want to try a trip over to Germany. Laufenburg has a Babyone http://babyone.de/index.html that sells play table and chairs, small toys and general baby stuff (furniture, clothes etc.) Otherwise there is a Babywalz in Konstanz www.babywalz.de I'm sure there are other places close to Zurich as well...

Aggarwac thanks for the info. The chairs and tables have to be strong as they will be used on a daily basis so toy ones are out. If you have spare points at some time I'd be happy to buy them off you. We don't use a car very often so that opportunity is out.

There is lots of things we could buy from Bea verlag.

I have always problems getting items delivered to Hungary where I currently live.

The funny thing is that many companies are struggling nowadays, yet they do not try to expand/ use every possibility to raise profit.

I am originally from the UK, yet I cannot buy most of the stuff from UK stores. I had to get used to what I can find locally, and sincerely Hungarian is not an easy language to learn.

I hope you will get the items you want.

Jack perhaps you should try the States, they are shipping my Montessori materials for free as I spent over $300.

We had similar problems, a lot of UK companies do not want the hassle of exporting to a non-EU country. We now get all our goods delivered to a UK depot and sent over here on pallets and we arrange the import. We can get the pallets delivered to our door, or to a depot just over the border from us in Austria where we can collect from (it's much cheaper this way).

Prices vary, but the more pallets you order, the cheaper it is. About SFr. 150 per pallet based on 5 I think, from about 300 for one. One point, the goods have to be put on Euro Pallets (not standard UK ones), the size is 1200x800mm and you can go to about 1800mm tall and up to 600 or 700 Kg I think.

PM me if you want a contact, they are very professional and helpful.