We would like to make you aware that EquipSent charges a small “receiver fee” for every shipment of equipment which allows us to cover our operational expenses. We need to charge this fee because EquipSent is a non-profit organisation and we do not receive any external funding.
What are our operational expenses?
- Case related costs (Apostilles, Documentation)
- Packaging materials
- Local transportation costs to collect donated equipment, e.g. car rental (100-200 CHF/ rental)
- Fixed costs ~ 300 CHF/ year
- IT infrastructure (ca. 150 CHF)
- Bank account (card 40 CHF)
- Postal address (40 CHF)
- Marketing, e.g. printing of flyers, posters, etc. (ca. 50-100 CHF)
How much is the receiver fee?
The receiver fee will be calculated based on the size and the value of the equipment and lies between 10 and 500 CHF.
Here are a few examples on how the receiver fee was set in previous cases:
Case 1
Donated Equipment: UV-vis spectrometer
Receiver fee: 52 CHF
Case 2
Donated Equipment: analytical balance, electrophoretic cell
Receiver fee: 35 CHF
Case 3
Donated Equipment: HPLC system, pH Meter, analytical balance, large centrifuge, hot plate, vortex mixer, horizontal electrophoresis system, vertical electrophoresis system
Receiver fee: 200 CHF
Last: Please do not refrain from applying in case you do not have additional funding available apart from the shipping costs. We will find the best solution together – either by reducing the fee or applying for third-party funding.