I didn't derail the thread. It was cut from another thread which was about supplements.
There has been a lot of press recently about the fact that most supplements are, for most people, a complete waste of money.
There was a thread about the prostitution booths in Zurich recently. Should that have just been about comparing Busty Bertha with Voluptuous Vanessa or about the morals and ethics of prostitution which were discussed?
Go to the iHerb website - it's home page is all about selling supplements to the worried well. Most of them have no, or very dubious health benefits.
So, what exactly am I derailing? This isn't a US worried-well health forum.
ANYway......I absolutely love Iherb and cannot sing it's praises enough! It's great for getting things you can't find here, especially if you're vegan or have special needs.
We always split our orders so to never go over the 8 usd shipping price. Sometimes we'll place like, 3 orders in one day. They are always super friendly and helpful too.
And, here's an off-beat tip...you can save the packing paper that they use. I just iron it on low, and it makes a great Eco-friendly, and rustic looking wrapping paper for gifts
Again, they sell all kinds of stuff. You may as well hop into a thread about Coop and complain about supplements.
And a big reason people sing its praises is because they are probably the only company that charges so little to deliver health foods that are difficult or impossible to find here...
I recently got taxed a 8% on some proteins and vitamins from iHerb, despite keeping the weight well within the 5kg limit. Anyone know if the regulation changed recently, or just got unlucky after many many deliveries.
Looking at the invoice it has been treated under tariff code 3304.9900 which is patently wrong since this corresponds to "33.04 Beauty, make-up, skin-care (incl. suntan), manicure... preparations 3304.9900.00 -up preparations and preparations for the care of the skin". I will follow up with DHL.
Just called DHL. They coded it wrong and have corrected and cancelled the invoice... 30chf saved, 5 mins... 450chf an hour productivity
Wondering if others have had the same experience with iHerb recently?
I have been ordering every few months from them, a variety of items and weights, all under CH62 including shipping, just to be sure to avoid customs/duties/whatever charges might be accrued once the package gets to Switzerland from the US. The DHL shipping was always about CH8.
I went to place another order recently, and noticed that the estimatted DHL charge was around CH20! I wrote to iHerb, and was told that they have decided to increase "some" of their shipping costs, but have simultaneously substantially lowered product costs. They said this will have minimal impact -- and will save most customers money -- since purchases over a certain threshhold are granted free shipping.
But for those of us in Switzerland, there is never free shipping. That only applies for orders shipped within the US.
New calculations being made, since this new pricing system offered by iHerb, as I understand it, significantly impacts the delight I formerly experienced. For a total cost of CH62 I used to receive CH54 worth of goods. Now for the same cash outlay I can only get CH42 in product.
Suggestions? Alternative resources or methods? Recent experiences?
I didn't have this experience when I ordered this week. I ordered 42 chf of products (vitamins) and was charged no shipping via the DHL global shipping option- it will take 2-3 more days but for free shipping that seems reasonable. Perhaps it's a difference in what we are ordering.
How interesting! I just reviewed what is in my cart (one bottle tablets, 9 boxes herbal tea), shipping weight 4.83 pounds (I can't figure out how a box of tea weighs 1/2 a pound...)) and get the message that DHL Global Mail is not available due to carrier's weight limit being exceeded.
I was about to reorder some products but then I realized about the shipping cost. It went from 8 to 20 USD!! I didn't know why and I wasn't aware of the policy change, so now it makes sense. It is really a shame, since it is very useful for a lot of products that you don't find easily in Switzerland (or even Europe).
Vitamins etc are taxed for VAT like books at 2.5% so you can order upto 200chf. You need to keep the total package weight under 5kg though or duty comes into play. So I limit orders to about 7lbs per the site.
You usually have to order over 40bucks to get the 8usd DHL rate. I havent noticed a problem, but am just about to do an order so will report back if a problem. EDIT: Im being quoted 10usd...on 70bucks of product... its stuff I cant source elsewhere in Europe (NuuN tablets... great) so will still order. Global mail is quoted at 3usd on the same order.
I just placed an order only a few days ago and haven't noticed any change in shipping price since my last order. I paid CHF4+ for an order of about CHF45. The shipping price jumps around as you play around with your cart. I noticed that adding one of the marked 'heat-sensitive' winter-only-shipping items drastically increased the shipping price. Maybe they put a premium on certain items?
I may have figured out the problem. Even though the shipping rates CAN be higher, it seems that the shipping rate quotes now vary dramatically depending on what is in the cart, rather than only on what the weight is, as used to be the case.
When I took the tea boxes out and looked at the shipping cost for just the tablets, I got a super low rate for the shipping charge. Also, there were options for both DHL and DHL Global, the latter being less expensive.
As soon as I added in one measly box of tea, just Celestial Seasonings for goodness sake, nothing fancy, not even in a tin, the shipping cost more than doubled.
So now the quest for how to get Roastaroma into my apartment continues, but at least I still have a way to get the supplements that I choose to ingest.