The man, a 53-year-old German, was employed by a delivery company working for Swiss postal service Die Post, reported 20 Minutes.
According to the prosecutor during court proceedings in Wil, in the canton of St Gallen, the accused regularly opened packets being returned to Zalando by customers and stole the contents.
Between summer 2015 and February 2016 he took over 500 items including 128 t-shirts, 79 pairs of shoes, 69 pairs of trousers, 58 jackets and accessories such as Ray-Ban sunglasses.
Under questioning the defendant admitted taking the goods for him, his wife and his daughter.
He would open packages at random, take out the contents and reseal the packets, he told the court.
The public prosecutor began to investigate him after a tip-off, said the paper.