Retailer file · ricardo.ch
Buy from Ricardo
anywhere in the world.
Switzerland's largest consumer marketplace. Auctions and fixed-price listings, mostly from private sellers, mostly used.
Everything on this site is a private sale, and that changes the economics rather than just the logistics. There is no VAT to reclaim, no retailer warranty, no returns right, and a seller who will not respond to a foreign buyer. What you get instead is access to a used market that is genuinely closed to outsiders.
The checkout wall
Where Ricardo stops you,
and how we get through.
These are the gates a foreign buyer hits at this checkout, in the order they hit them. Left is the wall as the retailer states it. Right is what we actually do about it.
Bidding requires a verified Swiss account. Sellers routinely refuse buyers with no rating and no Swiss address.
We bid from an established Swiss account with a long rating history. Sellers deal with a domestic buyer, which is the only reason many of these transactions happen at all.
Sellers expect TWINT or a Swiss bank transfer within days, often with collection in person.
We settle in CHF immediately and collect where collection is required. Prompt payment is most of what keeps a seller rating intact.
Listings are written by private individuals. Descriptions are optimistic, photographs are poor, and there is no returns right.
This is the gate that matters. We inspect on arrival, photograph and function-test before shipping. If it is not as described, we pursue the seller in Switzerland while return is still practical.
A private sale carries no VAT invoice, so there is nothing to reclaim, and used goods need careful valuation.
We declare the actual price paid with the listing as supporting evidence. Honest valuation, and no 8.1% credit — we will not pretend otherwise.
None at all. A private seller has no obligation to provide anything.
We issue the commercial invoice as exporter of record, with the listing and payment record attached.
Worth buying
What Ricardo is actually good for.
A used market that is effectively closed to anyone without a Swiss account, and occasionally the only place a thing still exists.
- ✓Discontinued Swiss goodsOlder Victorinox editions, obsolete Jura models, discontinued watch references. Frequently the only remaining source.
- ✓Vintage Swiss watchesA deep private market at prices well below international dealers. Authentication risk is real and we inspect accordingly.
- ✓Collectables and militariaSwiss Army surplus, railway memorabilia, vintage advertising. Almost nothing here reaches foreign auction sites.
- ✓Out-of-production spare partsWhen the manufacturer has stopped supplying, the private market often has not.
- ✓Books, records and printed matterSwiss and Romansh material that exists nowhere else.
- ✓Bargain-priced heavy itemsSellers price for local collection, which makes some things very cheap if you can solve the freight.
Not worth buying
What we will not bid on.
The risk profile here is entirely different from retail, so the refusals are different too.
- ✕Anything requiring authentication we cannot performHigh-value watches and jewellery where provenance cannot be verified. We will recommend a dealer instead.
- ✕Listings from sellers with poor ratingsA bad rating on a private marketplace is a reliable signal and we treat it as one.
- ✕Items described as untested or for partsNo returns right plus unknown condition is a bad combination at any price.
- ✕Anything where freight exceeds the item valueCheap and heavy is why it was cheap. We will say so before bidding.
- ✕Regulated goodsWeapons, restricted electronics and anything needing a licence. No exceptions on a private sale.
- ✕Auctions above your stated ceilingWe bid to your limit and stop. We will not exceed it and ask afterwards.
Practical notes
What our buyers know
about Ricardo.
Accumulated from running orders through this retailer. Most of it is the kind of thing you only learn by getting it wrong once.
Start here
Send a Ricardo link.
Get the landed cost.
Paste the product page, tell us where it is going, and we return a full breakdown — goods, Swiss VAT refunded, our fee, freight, duty and import tax — before you commit to anything.
No account needed for a quote. A Swiss buyer verifies stock and price before we charge you anything.
One payment, in your own currency1×
Questions
Buying from Ricardo, answered.
Can you bid on an auction for me?
Yes. Tell us the listing and your maximum, and we bid from an established Swiss account with a long rating history — which matters, because private sellers routinely refuse unrated foreign buyers. We bid to your ceiling and stop. If we lose, you pay nothing.
Why is there no VAT refund on Ricardo purchases?
Because a private seller is not VAT-registered and issues no VAT invoice, so there is nothing to reclaim. The 8.1% credit that appears on our retail quotes genuinely does not exist here. We would rather explain that plainly than quietly show a smaller discount and hope you do not notice.
What if the item is not as described?
We inspect and function-test everything from this site before it ships, so we usually find out while the goods are still in Switzerland and the seller is still reachable. At that point we pursue it domestically, which is enormously easier than pursuing a Swiss private seller from abroad. It is the single strongest argument for buying used through us rather than through a forwarder.
Is buying used from Switzerland worth the freight?
For discontinued, collectable or Swiss-specific items, often yes — the private market here is closed to outsiders and prices reflect local demand. For ordinary used goods available in your own country, almost never, and we will tell you so.
Send a listing and your maximum bid.
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