May be of interest..we had been looking for a new set of sofas and 1) couldn't find anything softer than a lump of concrete (germanic style I guess) and b) when we did find something marginally soft were horrfied by the local pricing...7000 CHF
I called DFS (the UK sofa store) and have ordered one from them..sadly no four years interest free BUT they do manage the VAT (20% now) back process for you and arrange shipping. I paid a crazy price of 1000 GBP flat delivery fee including admin for vat back etc..but on my 2000 GBP sofa set the vat back nearly covers the delivery charge plus even if it didnt it is still less than the 70000chf comparable sofa set i was looking at here..
I have a contact in the UK where i can buy sofas dirt cheap but problem was getting it here. They got a quote of £600 to deliver it which is more than the sofa costs. Anyway i clicked on the removals company ad on here and asked them about one off deliveries to CH and they do this aften, bringing large items ordered online in the UK to here for £200 if item is delivered to their depot or £300 if they collect it. Bargain!
Fab news - to be honest it is more the selection that is the challenge for me here - I don't like low or really deep sofas and it seemed that one sofa in Ikea was the answer. John Lewis will also deliver here and costs slightly more than the VAT reduction but I would like something more moderately priced than JL. Thanks for the update
I have been searching for the perfect sofa too and it just does not exist here, the choice is awful - glad to have found a solution to get one in the UK with delivery, customs charges etc... it will still cost a fraction of the not so great sofas i have seen available here
This sounds like a brilliant idea, but for the sake of my not so bright brain, please could you run the numbers by me again ... 20% back on £2000, but then add on a £1000 fee for delivery, admin etc? (which could be reduced if one follows the tips in this thread as I understand) Its just that I can't make 20% of £2000 almost cancel out the additional £1000 delivery charge ....
Then the Swiss customs .. do you know how that works ... do you receive a bill or do you have to go to declare it or what?
As I say, it sounds like a great idea and as we are in the market for a sofa, will definitely be looking into it (and visiting DFS along with everybody else this Bank Holiday Easter Monday .... )
I know!!! thank you for this! And now you have mentioned John Lewis and I am starting to hyperventilate ... must go and drink a calming cup of camomille ... too much for a Friday afternoon ..
Germany is another good option for sofa hunters. There are several stores near Laufenberg* who stock low, med and high end sofas and they're very used to dealing with Swiss customers.
Ok..so my maths was off..the point I was trying to make is ..it is not that much to ship a decent suite in from the UK and actually (for me at least) get the style and level of comfort I am atuned too..when you compare it to something comparable (which is difficult to find) in the regional area...