Frequently Asked Questions

If you place an order for pick-up at the bookshop, you have to pay directly at the shop when picking up your order. Billing or online payment isn't possible in this case.

Please note that downloads and orders from foreign countries must be paid using a credit card.

Payment with credit cards, giftcards and vouchers cannot be mixed in one order.

When can't I select payment by bill?

if the delivery adress is outside of Switzerland

if you're buying a download

Which credit cards do you accept?

We accept American Express, VISA, Euro- bzw. Mastercard.

What's a CVC number and where can I find it?

The CVC number functions as an identification of the card owner. It's printed in the signatutre field of your credit card, constituting of the last three numbers printed there
For example, if the number pronted is 8691 553, your CVC number would be 553.

How can I place orders from foreign countries?

We can only accept orders from foreign countries if the order is placed using credit card payment.

What's an eBook?

An eBook is the digital version of a book, to read on the screen of PC/Mac, tablet, smartphone or eReader.

eBooks can downloaded instantly after purchasing them. Please note, that eBooks must be paid using a credit card.

Are your eBooks copy-protected??

Yes. Our PDF and ePub eBooks are protected by Adobe's Digital Rights Management (AdobeDRM). You can only read these eBooks on devices which support this copy-protection (most eReaders, certain iPad-Apps, programs on PC/Mac, etc.).

Please note that certain restrictions apply:

the eBooks can only be read on devices authorized for the same AdobeID
a maximum of 6 devices can be authorized for the same AdobeID
you can't print these eBooks
you need Adobe Digital Editions and an AdobeID to download and read these eBooks

Can I print my eBooks?

No. The Adobe Digital Rights Management (DRM) prohibits the printing of your eBooks.

On how many deviced can I read my eBooks?

You can read your eBooks on 6 devices (for example PC, eReader, iPad, smartphone, etc.), but all these readers must be aithorized to the same AdobeID.

How much do eBooks cost?

Generally they cost about 30% - 40% less than their prointed counterparts, though this can differ from publisher to publisher.

Why don't you offer eBook-versions of every book in your catalogue?

The publishing houses decide if they want to release their books as eBooks. Different reasons prevent certain publishers from wanting to release some or all of their books digitally.

What's the difference between ePub and PDF?

PDF eBooks are designed to look the same, no matter what screen the are viewed on. Every line break, image and letter is in exactly the same place - it doesn't matter if this is on a tiny phone-screen or on an huge HD TV. This especially makes sense for books with many graphs and images, study- and non-fiction books.

ePub eBooks are the opposite: they use dynamic text-flow. So, depending on the size of the screen, the line breaks and images are moved around to take advantage of the screen estate availible.

How do I use the search function?

Enter the name of the book/movie/author/game/etc you're looking for into the search field at the top of every books.ch page. You can also enter the EAN/ISBN od a specific product. Now click on the "Search"-button. Please note that all of books.ch will be scanned and not just the category that you might be browsing at the moment of entering the search.

How can I confine my search?

To the left of the search field you see a drop-down menu containing the different product categories on our shop. If you want to buy a specific product, for example an eBook, then you can select "eBook" from that drop-down menu, enter a search phrase in the search field and press "Search". Only eBooks will be displayed as search results.

You can also search all categories and then filter the results. To do this, just enter a search phrase and press "Search". All products found will bi displayed. To the left of the search results, you can filter the result by language, price, delivery time and product type - or any combination of these, for example "French eBooks under CHF 10.-".

What is "Advanced Search"?

Clicking on "Advanced Search" to the right of the search field, you will be redirected to a search mask. Here you can enter very specific data about the product you're looking for, for example the release date, if you're looking for a specific version of the book.

What is a Notepad?

On the Notepad you can create lists of products (that you would like to order or keep track of, etc). You can create multiple Notepads, print, send and edit them.

How can I add a product to my Notepad?

Under the covershot/image of every product in our shop there's an "Add to my Notepad"-button. Pressing that will add the item to your Notepad.

How can I edit my Notepad?

No matter where on books.ch you are at the moment, you will always have yor Notepad options right under your shopping cart. To edit or use the Notepad, press the "Go to Notepad"-button. Here you will see all items added to your Notepad. Every item has the option to be marked, by pressing the litte "mark"-box. These marked items can be edited by using the options at the bottom of the page:

move selected articles to basket (to buy them)
move selected items to notepad (move them to another notepad)
remove selected articles (delete them from notepad)
save notepad (enter desired filename and press save)
send notepad (enter an email adress and a comment)

Please note that certain options are only availible if you're logged in to your account.

How much does calling your cutomer service cost?

A call sosts 4 rappen per minute (we also pay 4 rappen/minute - it's a "Share Number", in which the costs are divided).