Category file · electronics

Buy electronics from
Switzerland, voltage and all.

Whatever Digitec and Galaxus stock, which is most of the European catalogue at Swiss retail prices, plus the Swiss-market configurations and keyboard layouts that never appear on a foreign storefront.

Classified HS 8471.30 / 8517.13Portable computers, telephones and consumer electronics
The battery decides how it travels. The voltage decides whether it works.

Electronics are admissible almost everywhere and the duty is usually zero, so this category looks easy and is not. Anything with a lithium cell is dangerous goods, which restricts the routing and occasionally the destination. And a Swiss appliance is built for 230 V at 50 Hz, which is exactly wrong for North America and Japan.

Provisional · awaiting verification

Battery routing rules and destination type-approval requirements on this page are drafted from carrier dangerous-goods guidance and the general regulatory position. They are checked per shipment before purchase, but the summary here has not been reviewed by a dangerous-goods specialist.

586 CHF/kgValue density on a typical laptop — freight is a few percent of the order
0%Duty on computers and phones in every destination we serve
UN 3481Lithium batteries installed in equipment, declared on every shipment
230 VSwiss mains voltage, at 50 Hz — check this before anything else

Where it can go

Swiss electronics,
destination by destination.

Admissibility is decided by what the goods are, not by what they cost. This is the row of the grid for Swiss electronics — every cell links to the full country file behind it.

Can it arrive · HS 8471.30 / 8517.138 clear · 8 conditional
United Statesconditional

Admissible and duty free, but Section 301 applies from the first franc since de-minimis ended. FCC rules govern radio equipment.

 Japanconditional

Duty free under the CH–JP EPA. Radio equipment needs MIC type approval — a device without the Giteki mark cannot legally be used.

 Australiaclear

Admissible and duty free. GST applies from the first dollar. 230 V at 50 Hz matches Swiss mains exactly.

 Canadaconditional

Duty free once Swiss origin is declared, but 120 V at 60 Hz. Anything mains-powered needs the local-voltage variant or a rated transformer.

 United Arab Emiratesclear

Admissible. 5% duty on the CIF value, 5% VAT. 230 V at 50 Hz matches Swiss mains.

 Singaporeclear

Admissible and duty free — a free port. GST at 9% is the only charge. 230 V at 50 Hz matches.

 United Kingdomclear

Admissible and duty free with proof of Swiss origin. 230 V at 50 Hz matches, and the plug is the only difference.

 Germanyclear

Admissible and duty free. 230 V at 50 Hz matches Swiss mains exactly.

 Franceclear

Admissible and duty free. 230 V at 50 Hz matches.

 Chinaconditional

Admissible, but radio equipment needs local type approval and multiple units are treated as commercial import.

 Indiaconditional

Admissible with BIS requirements on some categories. Layered duty is steep on consumer electronics.

 Saudi Arabiaclear

Admissible. 230 V at 50 Hz matches. 5% tariff and 15% VAT.

 South Koreaconditional

Duty free on originating goods, but 220 V at 60 Hz and radio equipment needs KC certification. PCCC required.

 South Africaconditional

Admissible but no origin relief. ICASA type approval applies to radio equipment.

 New Zealandclear

Admissible. 230 V at 50 Hz matches, and duty is not collected below NZD 1 000.

 Brazilconditional

ANATEL homologation is required for radio equipment and the tax stack is the heaviest we quote.
Personal quantities assumed. Every destination admits consumer electronics; the constraints are the battery, the radio type-approval and, on anything that plugs into a wall, the voltage. Commercial volumes of radio equipment need a local importer in most of these markets. Showing 16 of 190 destinations — the full table is searchable, and every rule here is the same record that prices your quote.

Is it worth moving

Weight decides
more than duty does.

Air freight is charged on the greater of actual and volumetric weight, so what matters is value per chargeable kilo rather than value alone. A watch and a wheel of cheese are taxed similarly and shipped completely differently.

Freight as a share of goods valuetypical order → Japan
Swiss watches one watch3%
Swiss electronics one device6%
Swiss cosmetics two sets10%
Swiss coffee machines one machine11%
Swiss outdoor equipment a pack and a jacket22%
Swiss chocolate 20 boxes24%
Swiss cheese six pieces, 6.6 kg59%

At 379 CHF per chargeable kilo, Swiss electronics carries a moderate freight share on a realistic order. Sensible on its own, and better still consolidated with something denser.

Worth ordering

What is worth buying here.

Swiss electronics pricing is not universally good — it is good in specific places, and those are the ones worth the freight. Digitec and Galaxus between them carry the deepest consumer catalogue in the country, and the Swiss keyboard layout is not sold anywhere else.

  • ✓Laptops and monitors from DigitecPriced against a large domestic market rather than a small one, so the delta against Canadian, Australian and Gulf retail is real. Value density is high enough that freight is a rounding error.
  • ✓Swiss keyboard layoutsThe Swiss French and Swiss German layouts are not sold outside the country and cannot be retrofitted properly. If you want one, this is the only route to it.
  • ✓Photography and audio equipmentA deep specialist catalogue at Galaxus, including European-market models that never reach North America. Small, dense and worth shipping.
  • ✓Components and storageGPUs, SSDs and memory where Swiss retail undercuts your local pricing. Light, dense, duty free almost everywhere and easy to consolidate.
  • ✓Discontinued and end-of-line stockSwiss retailers clear inventory on schedule rather than by demand, so a model discontinued elsewhere is often still on the shelf here at a clearance price.
  • ✓Anything mains-powered, at 230 V destinationsAustralia, the UK, the Gulf and Singapore all run 230 V at 50 Hz. A Swiss appliance works there straight out of the box, with an adapter for the plug shape only.

Not worth ordering

What we will not do.

Most of this list is about batteries and radios. Neither is a formality: a lithium cell changes what a carrier will accept, and an unapproved transmitter is illegal to operate in several of these markets even though customs will let it through.

  • ✕Loose lithium batteries and power banksBatteries shipped on their own fall under UN 3480 and most express carriers refuse them outright on passenger aircraft. Installed in the equipment they are UN 3481 and travel normally. We will not ship a spare battery separately, and we will tell you before you buy the spare.
  • ✕Radio equipment without local type approvalA phone or router without MIC approval in Japan, or FCC in the United States, may clear customs and still be illegal to switch on. We check the model's approval status for your destination and decline where it has none.
  • ✕Mains appliances to 120 V destinations, unflaggedWe will ship it, but only after telling you plainly. Canada, the United States and Japan run 100–120 V. A 230 V Swiss appliance on that supply either does nothing or fails once, expensively.
  • ✕Commercial quantities of radio equipmentAbove personal quantities most of these markets require a registered local importer for anything that transmits. We are not one, and we decline rather than declaring your order as something it is not.
  • ✕Drones, to most destinationsRegistration, remote-ID and airspace rules vary sharply and several destinations restrict import outright. We handle these case by case and refuse more often than we accept.
  • ✕Region-locked goods sold as unlockedSome models are carrier-locked or region-restricted in ways that are invisible on the product page. Where we cannot confirm the unit is genuinely open, we say so rather than let you discover it on arrival.

Handling

How we pack
and move it.

Category-specific handling, applied as standard rather than sold as an upgrade.

Check the voltage line firstEverything else on this page is secondary. 230 V at 50 Hz works in Australia, the UK, the Gulf and Singapore. It does not work in Canada, the United States or Japan without the local-voltage variant or a rated step-up transformer, which we quote on the same line.
Batteries stay in the deviceInstalled cells ship as UN 3481 and route normally. Spares and power banks do not. If you need a spare, buy it locally — we would rather say that than take the order and have it refused at the airport.
Volumetric weight, not actualA monitor is light and enormous. Freight is charged on the greater of actual weight and volume ÷ 5 000, so the box decides the price. We strip retail packaging and repack, which on displays regularly moves the shipment a whole band.
The warranty is usually EuropeanMost manufacturer warranties on Swiss-bought electronics are honoured in Europe, not worldwide. We tell you the manufacturer's stated territory before purchase; it is the most common regret in this category after voltage.
Keyboard layout is not a settingA Swiss French or Swiss German keyboard is physical. If you want a US layout, say so before we buy — it cannot be changed afterwards without replacing the keyboard.

Where we buy it

The Swiss retailers
behind this category.

Each one has its own checkout wall, its own lead time and its own quirks. We hold accounts at all of them.

Digitec

3/5 blocked
Sitedigitec.ch
The electronics specialist. Deepest stock, Swiss-market configurations and the clearance channel..

Galaxus

3/5 blocked
Sitegalaxus.ch
The general catalogue of the same group. Wider range, occasionally better priced on the same model..

Ricardo

4/5 blocked
Sitericardo.ch
The consumer marketplace, for discontinued and end-of-line units. No retailer warranty and no returns, which we state on the quote..

Questions

Buying Swiss electronics, answered.

Will a Swiss laptop work where I live?

A laptop, yes — modern power supplies handle 100–240 V and only the plug shape differs. A coffee machine, a hair dryer or anything with a heating element or a motor, no: those are built for 230 V at 50 Hz. We flag the voltage on the quote and offer the local-voltage variant or a rated transformer where one exists.

Can you ship a power bank?

Not on its own. A loose lithium battery is UN 3480 and express carriers refuse it on passenger aircraft, which is what almost every route out of Geneva uses. Batteries installed inside a device are UN 3481 and travel normally, so a laptop is fine and its spare battery is not.

Is there duty on electronics?

Almost never. Computers and phones are duty free in every destination we serve, so the cost is freight and your local sales tax. The exception is the United States, where the Section 301 measure applies from the first franc regardless of the tariff heading.

What about the Swiss recycling fee?

Swiss electronics prices include an advance recycling contribution. It is not a tax and is not refundable on export, so it stays in the goods value on your invoice. We mention it because customers spot the line on the Swiss product page and ask.

Do I get a warranty I can actually use?

You get the manufacturer's warranty as sold in Switzerland, which for most brands means European coverage rather than worldwide. Where a brand operates a genuinely international warranty we say so. Where it does not, we say that too, before you buy.

Send the product link. We will check voltage and battery routing before quoting.

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