It is well known that the Swiss are overcharged for nearly everything. However, when products are being sent from a warehouse outside Switzerland one would expect the pre-tax price to be the same. This is rarely the case. The Romande Consumer Federation (FRC) has looked at a number of brands and found unjustifiable price differences as high as 93%.
The FRC found an average price difference of +35% on clothing, sportswear, white goods, video games, furniture and consumer electronics when comparing identical products on different geographic versions of the same website.
H&M was ranked highest on the FRC’s naughty step with a +93% pre-VAT price difference over prices charged for the same products in France. These companies are artificially and unjustifiably inflating prices, according to FRC. The clothing company Zara (+77%) was not far behind H&M with its price gouging, according to the FRC’s price comparisons.
Other companies culpable of overcharging Swiss consumers include Adidas (+42%), Nike (+41%), Philips (+41%), Ikea (+40%), Birkenstock (+37%) and Zalando (+35%).
The only category of products where Swiss consumers were not being fleeced was consumer electronics.
When contacted, many of the brands said the price differences were justified. H&M cited differences in salaries (the products are produced and warehoused outside Switzerland), delivery costs (these were not included in the comparison), taxes (VAT is lower in Switzerland), sales costs (goods were bought online) and general costs and local external variables (blah blah blah).
These price comparisons are easy to do. Pick any large brand and compare prices on the site versions for different countries. For example, an ironing board listed on the Spanish version of Zara Home costs Euro 129 (CHF 124). The same product on its Swiss website is CHF 229, a shocking CHF 105 more. When VAT (8.1% in Switzerland and 21% in Spain) is removed the underlying price difference rises to CHF 110 (CHF 102 versus CHF 212). The underlying Swiss price is 2.1 times the Spanish one. And this product will be shipped from the same warehouse in Spain. Delivery costs may vary a little, but these are not included in this comparison. They are added on separately at check out.
In 2022, Switzerland passed a law banning geo-blocking where companies block access to foreign versions of their website. While companies have complied with this law, they block purchases from websites outside Switzerland by refusing to deliver, effectively getting around the objective of the law. The only difference now is Swiss consumers can access foreign websites to see how much they are being ripped off.
One sure fire way to avoid price gouging is to have goods sent to an address across the border in France or Germany. If you don’t have a cross-border friend, there are companies that offer such services. There is typically a charge for the service, but the often significant savings usually more than cover this cost.
Another dirty trick is to block cards with a Swiss address, although using services such as Apple Pay and Paypal can usually get around this.
Another sure fire strategy is to limit shopping from Switzerland to a bare minimum. Those who travel from time to time or live near a border are highly conversant with this hack. When crossing a land border it is often possible to boost savings by reclaiming the relatively high VAT charged in neighbouring countries and then pay the lower Swiss rate on entry to Switzerland, although this isn’t required if the value is below CHF 150 per person per day.
And it is not only international brands and online retailers that are gouging Swiss consumers. One product sold in Switzerland that you can save a bundle on by buying it abroad is the painkiller ibuprofen. If you are ever able to swing by a Costco in the US (you’ll need to be with a member to gain access) a double pack (500 units x 2) of 200 Mg tablets will set you back US$ 12.99 (CHF 11.56), a little more than 1 cent a tablet. In Switzerland, a singly 200 Mg tablet typically costs 60 cents (CHF 11.95 for 20). Swiss brands and retailers are the culprits here.
More on this:
FRC article (in French) – Take a 5 minute French test now
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