Do you pay Swiss import VAT and customs charges when ordering from Bobbies?
Bobbies ships from France and its terms say prices for addresses outside the EU include any applicable customs duties, with nothing more due at the door. The terms say nothing about Swiss import VAT at 8.1%, so a carrier bill near CHF 44 on a CHF 400 order cannot be ruled out.
The confidence is low because the only relevant statement promises freedom from customs duties, not from import VAT, and Swiss duty on footwear is already zero. The price clause showing non EU orders exclusive of tax pulls the other way, and no Swiss delivery report was found to resolve it.
Bobbies is the French company Bolze & Moogy, selling shoes and leather goods shipped from mainland France. Switzerland appears in the delivery country list on the Delivery and Returns page. The terms of sale state that for a delivery country outside the European Union the displayed prices include any applicable customs duties, and that the customer has no additional customs duties to pay on delivery. Read at face value, that is a duty paid arrangement with the import charges settled by the shop.
The wording covers customs duties only. Shoes and leather goods carry no Swiss duty since January 2024, so the promise costs Bobbies nothing, and the charge a Swiss buyer actually faces is import VAT at 8.1% plus a carrier clearance fee. The same terms say prices for non EU delivery addresses are shown exclusive of tax, which points away from Swiss VAT being collected at checkout. No Swiss VAT number, no carrier name for Switzerland and no Swiss buyer reports were found to settle the point.
A parcel handed over DAP would reach the buyer with 8.1% import VAT plus the carrier clearance fee, which the duties wording does not cover.
“If the delivery country is not part of the European Union, the sale prices shown on the website include any applicable customs duties. In this case, the CUSTOMER will not have any additional customs duties to pay upon delivery.”
“Exclusive of tax for CUSTOMERS who have provided a delivery address outside the European Union.”
“Home delivery within 2 to 5 business days after dispatch.”
“Will customs duties be applied to my order?”
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