Posting to Switzerland

[MagdalenesWay]

Hi 

I have been asked by a customer whether I ship to Switzerland. I only ship to a few countries due to packaging laws and also thge security knowing it will be delivered to the person. So I was wondering if anyone has experience of sending to Switzerland? Are there any laws I need to know or any problems? I will be sending from the UK.

Thanks in advance!

Alice

[Marmalady · Accepted solution]

My son lives in Switzerland so I ship things to him several times a year via Royal Mail

No specific requirements -- just the usual customs declaration

Parcels tend to arrive very quickly -- even when i am a bit late posting his Christmas gifts!

[MagdalenesWay]

Brilliant, thank you. 

It is good to know that parcels arrive quickly

I was just wondering whether it would be different if it's showing as a small business/Etsy label?

Thanks!

[VogueVixens · Accepted solution]

Switzerland doesn't charge VAT, and doesn't have packaging laws.

The only thing is that if you buy your International postage label from Etsy, then it goes through Asendia which means it takes longer to get there, and following tracking is tricky. If you purchase a USPS label from another online service, it will be direct postal service, the tracking number will work. Go shippo, Pirateship, Paypsal, and a few other companies offer USPS labels.

[Marmalady]

The OP is in the UK -- so whether a shipping label is bought via Etsy, direct from Royal Mail or from the PO the parcel will still be sent via Royal Mail not a third party company such as Asendia

[VogueVixens]

Thanks, I thought their location was in the USA. I had actually checked, but obviously misread.

[CraftyCornishMaids · Accepted solution]

you have to have an invoice on the outside, in local currency - with the vat amount paid, you can take the information from the packing slip

[BadTimesDesigns]

Hi, I've been looking into this topic as well and I keep seeing commercial invoices being mentioned. Is this the same as a customs form/CN22/CN23 or is it a separate document? I've done some digging on google but I can't seem to find a definitive answer

[Marmalady]

@BadTimesDesigns 

A commercial invoice is a document which shows the senders name & address, the recipients name & address, price paid, amount of tax paid, date of purchase etc etc
You can either compose your own or modify Etsy's transaction receipt to add the missing information
This should be in a clear Documents envelope on the outside of the package

Although it contains much of the same information, it is in addition to the Customs CN22/23 form which is also required

[CraftyCornishMaids]

@BadTimesDesigns 

the cn22/23 does not have all the information on it, such as date of purchase, and tax vat number etc

and the information on the CN22/23 has to be in the sellers currency

The information on the invoice has to be in the buyers currency - which is why you take it from the packing slip, not the order receipt.

[ByVanillaMintDesigns]

@BadTimesDesigns  this is the commercial Invoice template I use, print three copies, I then print the Etsy packing slip of the order on the back and then put it into a document pouch on the outside of the package so that customs can access it easily. I use DAP for Incoterms and the currency needs to be of the country you send it to. Add your business info, address etc and HS tariff codes 

You also then do the CN22 form when shipping with your postal carrier, usually not needed when using express companies like UPS etc.  

https://www.tnt.com/express/en_nl/site/how-to/create-commercial-invoice.html

[MagdalenesWay]

Thank you @CraftyCornishMaids @Marmalady @VogueVixens,

You have been very helpful and answers my concerns  

Thank you so much

[4theloveofoils]

Please let us know if your Swiss customer makes a purchase. A similar thing happened to me last Thursday. I received a message from a potential customer asking if I would consider an exception and ship to Switzerland. I looked into the shipping regulations and decided yes to Switzerland. Normally, I sell within the USA and Canada. I used to ship all over the world, but I don’t have time to research each country’s, sometimes voluminous, shipping regulations. So my Switzerland shipping is toggled to the “on” position, but no word or order from the customer. 

this morning, I woke up to nearly 100 clicks on my Etsy ads, totaling close to $26, all happening in the middle of the night. The views were up to 1,200 per hour! This was going on for a 4-hour timeframe. This is very unusual algorithm for my shop. Normally it’s less than 60 views per hour with maybe 2 or 3 clicks overnight.

It gets even weirder. Stats have updated to include that range of time now and it says Etsy brought 93% of visits to me today, and I’m responsible for 7% of visits. The Etsy ads show 6 clicks, not the nearly 100 (98 to be exact) that occurred overnight. 

I contacted Etsy support and was told my etsy ads were fine, there was nothing wrong with them. 

I bring this up as when I used to ship worldwide, many ad clicks would come from places like Bahrain and Bangladesh in the middle of the night. This was back when Etsy showed this info to you and I could see it on Google analytics, too.  

sorry For the long story, but would be very interested if your Swiss customer returns for a purchase. I turn off Switzerland, contacted the customer to let her know I had turned it off, but she could contact me again and I would accommodate her. 

thanks for listening.