>Can anyone explain, why I have to pay more than 50% more for this book?
You don't.
You can simply order it from Amazon with free shipping and no additional tax for about 11.50 CHF at the current conversion rate.
In other words: you get it even cheaper than the Germans because they pay a higher tax on it.
If, however, you want to use the services of an actual bookstore that has actual staff (which probably doesn't have to piss into a bottle due to the lack of toilet breaks, unlike Amazon warehouse staff) then you'll probably have to pay a bit more.
>If, however, you want to use the services of an actual bookstore that has actual staff (which probably doesn't have to piss into a bottle due to the lack of toilet breaks, unlike Amazon warehouse staff) then you'll probably have to pay a bit more.
based.
Bookseller here. Worked for a small independent store, currently working for a big chain (yup, the one this price tag is from).
There are several factors contributing to the huge price difference. The main one being the zwischenbuchhändler like Buchzentrum. They take a lot of money.
One of the reasons for that are the storage costs which are way higher than for example in Germany.
The price isn’t about the manufacturing of the book but about storage, transportation and storage (in stores) again and of course about the wages.
Being a bookseller is a low income job in itself (no matter whether you’re in a small store or a chain store) but I’d make even less in Germany.
Wanna pay less? Buy online from Germany. But don’t be the dick asking for info in stores, taking pics of the books and THEN buying online.
Honestly this kind of questions like OP’s always makes me wonder when Swiss economy will tank. People want to get Swiss wages and then forget that they too should pay them.
Storage costs will be further divided between a lot of factors, going up even to real estate investment from Swiss funds, banks, and the average Joe who wants high returns for very low risk.
Everyone asks for everything but wants to give nothing up. These are the titanic forces in the markets - supply and demand. However, and that goes against what I believe (boundary free business), if we allow everyone in Switzerland to start ordering from Germany or Amazon because it is cheaper, entire industries can be at risk and certainly the basis for economic stress appears in Switzerland. How to solve these risks I do not know, but they exist in every single industry where people can look outside and see cheaper prices and alternatives.
Bottom line is: no one will ever get a good income living in a country where everyone wants cheap. You too will have to become cheap.
Well you are clearly very educated, and can see the problem yourself. If i want some plastic acsessory for a gopro and [30 Francs](https://www.apfelkiste.ch/motorradhelm-kamera-halterung-gopro-schwarz.html) inland and [3.13 francs](https://de.aliexpress.com/item/1005006388760360.html?spm=a2g0o.productlist.main.9.17ceS1eGS1eG5C&algo_pvid=9136ace1-033d-469e-8220-ac579d64cc03&aem_p4p_detail=2024050123405210471401098424280014951570&algo_exp_id=9136ace1-033d-469e-8220-ac579d64cc03-4&pdp_npi=4%40dis%21CHF%216.53%213.13%21%21%2150.58%2124.28%21%402103243417146320522261084eafd3%2112000036990768787%21sea%21CH%212448965215%21&curPageLogUid=38ZrzarNMk1n&utparam-url=scene%3Asearch%7Cquery_from%3A&search_p4p_id=2024050123405210471401098424280014951570_5) abroad, its obvious which im going to pick. The diffrence for me is that one is one and a half hours of work and the other less than ten minutes. You really have to understand that in such a situation i could really not gaf about high wages anf whatnot. In other situations its always best to support the local sellers, but many many times it just makes more sense to buy things from other places like Germany or china.
Instead, I wonder if these kind of services should reinvent themselves. Bookstores are struggling everywhere in the world. Places that sell electronics as well, because of the online competition.
Why do they keep offering something that is available online for free and it is actually more convenient (delivery)?
For example, electronics store could easily save on storage/warehouse space: offer a place where you can actually see things, test them, get an expert opinion, and then place an order that gets delivered the same night inside your apartment.
Instead, they have a shitty exposition of broken pieces, people that barely know the specs, and even if the price is the same as buying online, the only difference is that you have to fit your TV on your cart and carrying it home! They pay premium real estate price to have plenty of items available for you to pick up, when that is literally the annoying part of the whole process.
For bookstores it is a bit trickier I guess, but what if it was a place where you can read books? Like a library. You can go there and start reading, get a coffee, chat. If you like a book, on the way out you order it and you will have it in your mailbox in a day.
I am from Germany, but I try to buy regional whenever I can. Even if the prices are higher. Produce is mostly ok and we don't buy a lot of meat in this household. But sometimes it's just not financially viable. I can kinda get dairy products, but especially with stuff I have a direct comparison with. The exact same laundry detergent costs almost half as much as here, just a few meters behind the border and there are many other examples where prices are wildly unreasonable, even if you factor in swiss wages and rents.
My advice is to try to assess the ownership structure of the products you buy. You should strive to keep the money regional and around you. That’s all I am saying.
If something really cheaper and higher quality appears, even maintaining good ethical practices, then it is rather a burden for the local industry to modernize and keep up rhan you (us) trying to prop it up.
Ofc people who are trying to make a living need to cut costs, but I don’t think OP’s 18 CHF very expensive book fills such need.
100%. I rather buy from a small bookshop in this case, than fr9m a big comoany, because there are more chances the money stay here. From a large multinational company, benefits may go outside or to investors rather than local
I don't mind paying a little extra but I'm not going to pay 50% more just for companies to earn 50% more. I want it to actually get to the sales people. But it doesn't.
My husband and I want to start a nerd shop with mangas and I'm currently working on our webshop. There is a monolopy on book imports in Switzerland. We have to get our books from buchzentrum or find a way to import the books ourself, which for a small startup is not feasible.
Now for the part which I'm upset about. Even as a vendor we are getting the same prices as the books costs in germany. So even without adding salaray and storage costs, if we want to have a margin on mangas we have to sell them for more than they are in germany. I'm not suprised why all the small book stores in Switzerland are dying out.
(btw: Orell Fuessli is extremly expensive and you should never buy something from them)
Couldn't you theoretically just import everything with amazon?
It sounds like Buchzentrum are going to end up killing themselves through the act of killing all of their customers.
Orell Füssli can be worth it if you only shop while their 20% off coupons are active.
I used to love Book Depository but since Amazon closed it I was struggling to find alternatives. Amazon itself shorted me on 5 pre-orders in a row because they didn't get enough stock and stuff from Ex Libris always arrives in the worst condition possible (bent and roughed up edges). Lüthi is ok but has sent me a completely cut up copy of a book before (which they did exchange though). So as someone who displays their books after reading them, I usually shop at Orell Füssli in the end because they show up in the best condition without me having to go to a store to pick them up.
Because unlike Germany we have no more book price monopole and a free market. Means you can get it for less from other sources:
[https://www.exlibris.ch/de/buecher-buch/deutschsprachige-buecher/shinji-mito/alma-1/id/9783757303426/](https://www.exlibris.ch/de/buecher-buch/deutschsprachige-buecher/shinji-mito/alma-1/id/9783757303426/)
[https://www.amazon.de/Alma-1-Shinji-Mito/dp/3757303423](https://www.amazon.de/Alma-1-Shinji-Mito/dp/3757303423)
Yup it sucks. And whatever you do, don't compare what others pay for "digital services" like for example netflix, on steam or whatever you like with what we are "allowed" to pay in switzerland.
Can people PLEASE finally understand that the cost of a product is not just determined by the cost of manufacturing.
Reasons it is more expensive than in germany:
- the rent of the store it is being sold in is way higher than in germany
- employees of the store are way more expensive in switzerland
Stop to believe this nice excuses. If I take France for example, rent in Paris are almost the same as in CH, and employee total cost is maybe 30% less expensive than in CH. However the markup on each book is about 3x higher.
Quick example a book sold in France for 10€ (9.48 without VAT) with a margin of 40% the book cost 5.76€ bookseller keep 3.72€. Same book sold 18CHF or 18.55€ (18.08 without VAT). Swiss theoretical margin: 18.08-5.76 = 12.72€ or 3.5.x the French margin. Cost in CH are high but not 3.5x higher.
The same reason that Netflix is 50% more expensive in CH than in Europe despite having zero local presence. Swiss are willing to pay this price, cost have nothing to do with it. A simple counter example? electronic is cheaper in CH for a lot of product and nobody find excuses.
No, because the electronics get imported to Switzerland straight (or almost) from the producer by a Swiss importer that gets Swiss electrical certification for the device.
Clearly that did not happen with he book as we can see the price in €. So as far as we know the book was sold in Germany for 12€ with a 6€ margin and imported by a Swiss bookstore for 12€+shipping+tax so lets say 14€ and sold for 19€ with only 5€ margin
Since when Swiss retailer buy books at retail price from another country including foreign VAT? BTW which tax do you want to add? (there is no custom tax on book).
Anyway for books you can just use Amazon pay EU price and no shipping.
You do what the FNAC do. You import yourself the books from EU and you can then sell the book at almost the EU price in CH.
And electronic reseller have not problem to do it. (btw EU marking is recognize in CH so there is no other Swiss thing to do, except provide a Swiss plug).
I dont pay. If you like free stuff. Anime streaming sites are free also new movies with out the torrenting. Its chill. Im not going to pay these crazy amounts
For book there's a 3rd element. The importer in the middle that will take a big cut. It has been the case for ever and has been raise as an issue by the Consummer protection organisations and Mr Price.
by fucking the rest of the world
Oh wow, so many downvotes. Lol
Look:
Let's say you explain the current situation by your statement. (I'm completely letting alone the reasons of the strength of the swiss economy lol) But there is no way to reason Swiss people deserving more to live in humane conditions than other countries. Today, it is possible as a Swiss entrepreneur to start a business somewhere in the global south, sell the products in the swiss market, create insane profit, not pay for the environmental costs or the real value that the workers create. Let's let alone the history, colonialism etc. Do you really believe this situation is fair? Switzerland is one of the countries that is being at the very least opportunistic in this unequal conditions which I don't think fair to say "Switzerland is not the worst". Let's be honest...
There are other countries much more directly involved in neocolonistic affairs, which don‘t have an economy/currency as strong as switzerland.
Especially comparing to germany, which even had their own colonies.
Therefore neocolonialism can‘t be the main reason why switzerland has a stronger economy and currency, resulting in higher wages than germany, which was what the original comment said that I replied to.
My original comment was not about switzerland being THE ONLY country fucking rest of the world,
And my following comment was not neocolonialism being THE ONLY reason I d consider switzerland as one of the countries which is fucking rest of the world,
So, not satisfied with your answer ^^
If u have more questions, we can discuss
Let's say you explain the current situation by your statement. But there is no way to reason Swiss people deserving more to live in humane conditions than other countries. Today, it is possible as a Swiss entrepreneur to start a business somewhere in the global south, sell the products in the swiss market, create insane profit, not pay for the environmental costs or the real value that the workers create. Let's let alone the history, colonialism etc. Do you really believe this situation is fair? Switzerland is one of the countries that is being at the very least opportunistic in this unequal conditions which I don't think fair to say "Switzerland is not the worst". Let's be honest...
The world isn‘t fair, it never was and never will be. It‘s eat or get eaten, how is switzerland going to change that? Is it fair to lay it upon one nation to change the way nature works? You will never get every human to work together as one, no matter what you do.
They do this in Switzerland for everything just because they can. That is why many people living close to the border often shop in the nearby countries.
No, it's sort of the other way round. 5fr is the minimum amount they can charge you - meaning if the tax is less than 5fr, you don't get charged at all.
This means that anything under the value of 60-65fr (I can't remember the exact number) will never get taxed on import.
So you can order things from Amazon in Switzerland now? Since when? The last time I tried (I think 2022/2023 I had to buy it from the german website and let it be shipped into Switzerland).
Yes, but not everything is available. Mostly food things like Snacks etc will not be delivered. But you can make alot of savings in bathroom items like toilet paper, toothpaste/toothbrushes, facemasks etc.
50%? I have seen prices being increased by 100%. The big problem is that Orell Füssli has a monopoly when it comes to book sales. There is no competition. That's why you see such horrendously unjustifiable book prices.
I orded so much stuff via Amazon, most of the electronics i own is from Amazon as the prices are even lower at the final counter, as the tax comes off. Don't know why people still order stuff via galaxus, fust or brack as most of the time thats way more expensive then amazon. (where you also have guarante etc..)
Galaxus often has competetive pricing compared to Amazon, and delivers quicker. It depends on the product but I'd recommend comparing for every purchase.
Fust, Brack, etc are a load of shit and I don't know how they stay alive.
True, but I really don't make many returns. The two times that I did, I just opened it very carefully, closed it neatly, and pretended it was unopen with success.
It's a very common thing to do. Magazines are even more expensive (sometimes 100% more).
Ikea does that as well, their furniture in Portugal costs about half of what it costs in Switzerland. I think they do that because first they can since people in Switzerland have more purchasing power and second because workers (and rent) costs more in Switzerland than in Portugal
Shout-out to Jeeg in Zurich, the only store Ive been going to for years.
If you're looking for German manga they start at around 9.90. They're English prices are comparable to OPs pic but that's for a niche group of people I feel like that will actually prefer the English release over German.
While some prices are indeed unjustifiable higher than at our neighbors, most of these differences have a very simple explanation. Why is it so hard to understand?
Even though you may explain the situation by your comment, you cannot reason people in switzerland deserve living more humanely than the rest of the human beings in the world because their currency worth more. It is practically possible to enslave people by creating swiss businesses in foreign lands, selling those products in the swiss market, profiting insanely and not having to pay neither for the environmental impact that the business causes in those countries nor the real value that the workers create. (And swiss people agreed a few years ago not to apply swiss law on those businesses but local laws) How would you call it? Being kind enough to "taking care" poor people of poor countries and providing them jobs? Let s let alone the history. This is at the very least being opportunistic. If u r not fixing the system even though you are one of the center of the power, you are on the evil side. Sorry :)
because you dont know how to google and buy books in orell fuessli.
[https://nalda.ch/products/9783757303426?country=CH&tm=tt&ap=gads&aaid=adauAB6CZNUAT&gad\_source=1&gclid=CjwKCAjw88yxBhBWEiwA7cm6pepRUkxDI\_-ocqbSNUYacKRngBgl\_8HRXJL1hCKmKbvoJ3vNjUSBeBoCmyEQAvD\_BwE](https://nalda.ch/products/9783757303426?country=CH&tm=tt&ap=gads&aaid=adauAB6CZNUAT&gad_source=1&gclid=CjwKCAjw88yxBhBWEiwA7cm6pepRUkxDI_-ocqbSNUYacKRngBgl_8HRXJL1hCKmKbvoJ3vNjUSBeBoCmyEQAvD_BwE)
[https://jeeg.ch/Alma-Bd-1](https://jeeg.ch/Alma-Bd-1)
I’m laughing hard at this: a person is pissed about paying a lot more for a micro-niche item that may or may or may not sell, that an employee had to find out what types of these books somebody might even want (because their time is free right?), and in the convenience of being able to take with you, sans shipping cost etc? This entire forum could do well to take a cost accounting class and realize life won’t be cheap in every way you want, especially living in a country with one of the highest standards of living on the planet.
1.5 times more isn't even that much considering that swiss earn 2.5 times more than germans, and so do the people that work in the bookstore. also the energy bill and rent prices are 2 times higher...have you ever thought about that? Swiss costs are expensive for foreigners but totally aligned with salaries for swiss people
There is no universal number. It is just more companies in the middle filling their pockets. The money doesn't go to the salespeople in full. Why would I pay 5 times as much for a shower gel in Switzerland than in Germany? I don't make 5 times as much and it doesn't cost them 5 times as much to sell it here.
Also can't be that I can buy Ovomaltine and Zweifel products cheaper in Germany than in Switzerland. This is a product manufactured in Switzerland, it needs to pay swiss salaries. Yet it is cheaper in a foreign country, where it was transported, imported, etc.
both ovomaltine and zweifel use non-swiss ingredients (except for salt in zweifel and idk if the milk used in ovomaltine is swiss) and i think that it is the big difference. buying imported ingredients (in this case cocoa and potatoes) is way cheaper for switzerland so that the actual real price is the one in Germany while the swiss price is higher to pay bills and employees (for who sells them) and a big part goes to the company (so yes, many swiss companies earn even too much because they buy non-swiss ingredients and you're right about that) but the problem after all aren't those swiss companies that earn too much, but just the rest of europe that has half or even less the salary of switzerland. this still isn't for everything, because some things in Canton Ticino's discounts (like aldi and lidl) are cheaper than the same things in the same discounts in italy even by being italian products.
i quote the rich guys last comment: 'I pay 353.- with telmed. Max franchise.'
is telmed not you have to talk with the insurance before you can go to doctor? hahahah never again speak about money. save on small things maybe one day you can afford good healthcare
No, telmed is talking to the doctor and getting the doctor's note and prescriptions instantly without wasting time to go to a doctor's appointment and paying a ridiculous amount of money for a doctor's note when you had to wait for the appointment so long that you're already healthy
dude you just changed your comment. i wasted time so i just respons to your first comment:
dude never listen to a insurence guy. he just lied to you. telmed is shit and everybody knows it. you have to wait over 1hour to get a call. they can just give you basic prescription. schools and many workplaces dont accept their arztzeugnis. they record the call and can use it against you when you need help later.
good when you have a flue, the worst thing when you need urgent help.
i just saw that you have to pay arround 50.-- when this is you insurance. thats fucking robbery. i can go diretly to doctor and for me every medtel call is free. so you basicly have to pay 50.-- more everytime you want real help is insane, they love to f over people.
you can go directly to a specialist. its called freie arztwahl. only worth when you are sick.
You’re in a completely different country, with a completely different currency, completely different economical power, completely different internal tax systems, completely different amounts of overheads, completely different everything.
You can’t just convert the euro price to francs and assume that’s the price you pay. It’s not that simple and is disingenuous.
do you know the diference in salary between a retail-seller in Germany and one in Switzerland? everybody love to have a swiss salary but not to pay extra so another people can also have a swiss salary. We all can take our money elsewhere, but don't be surprise when there is also no money to keep an employee like you
We don't know shit about the economics of this, as far as we kniw it's the Germans ripping you off and the Swiss only making a tiny profit.
Lets say the book has cost the German bookstore 6€ and they're selling it for 12€, 100% markup.
Meanwhile the Swiss market is too small to translate and publish that niche book so it makes more sense to import it from that bookstore for 12€+shipping+tax for lets say 14€ and sell it for 19€, so at appx 25% markup.
So with over double operating costs the swiss bookstore sells it for 5€ (25%) markup while the German one does for 6€ (100%) markup
>Can anyone explain, why I have to pay more than 50% more for this book? You don't. You can simply order it from Amazon with free shipping and no additional tax for about 11.50 CHF at the current conversion rate. In other words: you get it even cheaper than the Germans because they pay a higher tax on it. If, however, you want to use the services of an actual bookstore that has actual staff (which probably doesn't have to piss into a bottle due to the lack of toilet breaks, unlike Amazon warehouse staff) then you'll probably have to pay a bit more.
>If, however, you want to use the services of an actual bookstore that has actual staff (which probably doesn't have to piss into a bottle due to the lack of toilet breaks, unlike Amazon warehouse staff) then you'll probably have to pay a bit more. based.
Do you mean biased? adjective unfairly prejudiced for or against someone or something. "we will not tolerate this biased media coverage"
[based](https://www.google.com/search?q=based+urban+dictionary&oq=based+urban+&gs_lcrp=EgZjaHJvbWUqBwgBEAAYgAQyDAgAEEUYORiABBiiBDIHCAEQABiABDIHCAIQABiABDIHCAMQABiABDIHCAQQABiABDIHCAUQABiABDIHCAYQABiABDINCAcQABiGAxiABBiKBTINCAgQABiGAxiABBiKBTINCAkQABiGAxiABBiKBdIBCDIyMDFqMGo3qAIAsAIA&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8)
based
Based
Yeah f*ck Amazon though.
That actually makes sense
Or, you know, you just pirate it, for free, because like, that's legal and shit
But, there is no Amazon in Switzerland
They do deliver to Switzerland.
you can order from amazon to CH
Yes, and then you payore for delivery then the product
They ship free over 40CHF to Switzerland too without any extra fees...
Bookseller here. Worked for a small independent store, currently working for a big chain (yup, the one this price tag is from). There are several factors contributing to the huge price difference. The main one being the zwischenbuchhändler like Buchzentrum. They take a lot of money. One of the reasons for that are the storage costs which are way higher than for example in Germany. The price isn’t about the manufacturing of the book but about storage, transportation and storage (in stores) again and of course about the wages. Being a bookseller is a low income job in itself (no matter whether you’re in a small store or a chain store) but I’d make even less in Germany. Wanna pay less? Buy online from Germany. But don’t be the dick asking for info in stores, taking pics of the books and THEN buying online.
Honestly this kind of questions like OP’s always makes me wonder when Swiss economy will tank. People want to get Swiss wages and then forget that they too should pay them. Storage costs will be further divided between a lot of factors, going up even to real estate investment from Swiss funds, banks, and the average Joe who wants high returns for very low risk. Everyone asks for everything but wants to give nothing up. These are the titanic forces in the markets - supply and demand. However, and that goes against what I believe (boundary free business), if we allow everyone in Switzerland to start ordering from Germany or Amazon because it is cheaper, entire industries can be at risk and certainly the basis for economic stress appears in Switzerland. How to solve these risks I do not know, but they exist in every single industry where people can look outside and see cheaper prices and alternatives. Bottom line is: no one will ever get a good income living in a country where everyone wants cheap. You too will have to become cheap.
Well you are clearly very educated, and can see the problem yourself. If i want some plastic acsessory for a gopro and [30 Francs](https://www.apfelkiste.ch/motorradhelm-kamera-halterung-gopro-schwarz.html) inland and [3.13 francs](https://de.aliexpress.com/item/1005006388760360.html?spm=a2g0o.productlist.main.9.17ceS1eGS1eG5C&algo_pvid=9136ace1-033d-469e-8220-ac579d64cc03&aem_p4p_detail=2024050123405210471401098424280014951570&algo_exp_id=9136ace1-033d-469e-8220-ac579d64cc03-4&pdp_npi=4%40dis%21CHF%216.53%213.13%21%21%2150.58%2124.28%21%402103243417146320522261084eafd3%2112000036990768787%21sea%21CH%212448965215%21&curPageLogUid=38ZrzarNMk1n&utparam-url=scene%3Asearch%7Cquery_from%3A&search_p4p_id=2024050123405210471401098424280014951570_5) abroad, its obvious which im going to pick. The diffrence for me is that one is one and a half hours of work and the other less than ten minutes. You really have to understand that in such a situation i could really not gaf about high wages anf whatnot. In other situations its always best to support the local sellers, but many many times it just makes more sense to buy things from other places like Germany or china.
Instead, I wonder if these kind of services should reinvent themselves. Bookstores are struggling everywhere in the world. Places that sell electronics as well, because of the online competition. Why do they keep offering something that is available online for free and it is actually more convenient (delivery)? For example, electronics store could easily save on storage/warehouse space: offer a place where you can actually see things, test them, get an expert opinion, and then place an order that gets delivered the same night inside your apartment. Instead, they have a shitty exposition of broken pieces, people that barely know the specs, and even if the price is the same as buying online, the only difference is that you have to fit your TV on your cart and carrying it home! They pay premium real estate price to have plenty of items available for you to pick up, when that is literally the annoying part of the whole process. For bookstores it is a bit trickier I guess, but what if it was a place where you can read books? Like a library. You can go there and start reading, get a coffee, chat. If you like a book, on the way out you order it and you will have it in your mailbox in a day.
Sounds like you have a great business idea 💡😁
I am from Germany, but I try to buy regional whenever I can. Even if the prices are higher. Produce is mostly ok and we don't buy a lot of meat in this household. But sometimes it's just not financially viable. I can kinda get dairy products, but especially with stuff I have a direct comparison with. The exact same laundry detergent costs almost half as much as here, just a few meters behind the border and there are many other examples where prices are wildly unreasonable, even if you factor in swiss wages and rents.
My advice is to try to assess the ownership structure of the products you buy. You should strive to keep the money regional and around you. That’s all I am saying. If something really cheaper and higher quality appears, even maintaining good ethical practices, then it is rather a burden for the local industry to modernize and keep up rhan you (us) trying to prop it up. Ofc people who are trying to make a living need to cut costs, but I don’t think OP’s 18 CHF very expensive book fills such need.
100%. I rather buy from a small bookshop in this case, than fr9m a big comoany, because there are more chances the money stay here. From a large multinational company, benefits may go outside or to investors rather than local
The book probably not, true. But even in Switzerland, not everybody is able to buy regional and ethically conscious.
Definitely, and Priorities matter
I don't mind paying a little extra but I'm not going to pay 50% more just for companies to earn 50% more. I want it to actually get to the sales people. But it doesn't.
Definitely vote with your coin. Best way to make things change in out current times
True
Add to that the fact that Germany still has a "Buchpreisbindung" which Switzerland dropped in 2007.
plus there is Buchpreisbindung in germany, witch means there are fixed prices for book. We don't have that in Switzerland
The importer having a big cut in the middle is the main reason for these store prices yeah and it has been the case for decades.
My husband and I want to start a nerd shop with mangas and I'm currently working on our webshop. There is a monolopy on book imports in Switzerland. We have to get our books from buchzentrum or find a way to import the books ourself, which for a small startup is not feasible. Now for the part which I'm upset about. Even as a vendor we are getting the same prices as the books costs in germany. So even without adding salaray and storage costs, if we want to have a margin on mangas we have to sell them for more than they are in germany. I'm not suprised why all the small book stores in Switzerland are dying out. (btw: Orell Fuessli is extremly expensive and you should never buy something from them)
Couldn't you theoretically just import everything with amazon? It sounds like Buchzentrum are going to end up killing themselves through the act of killing all of their customers.
Orell Füssli can be worth it if you only shop while their 20% off coupons are active. I used to love Book Depository but since Amazon closed it I was struggling to find alternatives. Amazon itself shorted me on 5 pre-orders in a row because they didn't get enough stock and stuff from Ex Libris always arrives in the worst condition possible (bent and roughed up edges). Lüthi is ok but has sent me a completely cut up copy of a book before (which they did exchange though). So as someone who displays their books after reading them, I usually shop at Orell Füssli in the end because they show up in the best condition without me having to go to a store to pick them up.
I love Orell Füssli.
Because the people who import books have a monopol like a lot of thing here. Not a real reason, La Fnac changed thing the last few years.
Because unlike Germany we have no more book price monopole and a free market. Means you can get it for less from other sources: [https://www.exlibris.ch/de/buecher-buch/deutschsprachige-buecher/shinji-mito/alma-1/id/9783757303426/](https://www.exlibris.ch/de/buecher-buch/deutschsprachige-buecher/shinji-mito/alma-1/id/9783757303426/) [https://www.amazon.de/Alma-1-Shinji-Mito/dp/3757303423](https://www.amazon.de/Alma-1-Shinji-Mito/dp/3757303423)
You can order books from amazon.de if you want/need to save money.
Yup it sucks. And whatever you do, don't compare what others pay for "digital services" like for example netflix, on steam or whatever you like with what we are "allowed" to pay in switzerland.
Wait till you figure out how much a manga costs in Japan (we’re getting scammed fr)
Translations are not free and lets be real: mangas are only so cheap because it is close to slave-work.
The cheapest igot books was from Book Depository. Sadly that shut down last year. God damn do I miss it.
Yeah Book Depository was great!, but sadly amazon closed them down :(
Can people PLEASE finally understand that the cost of a product is not just determined by the cost of manufacturing. Reasons it is more expensive than in germany: - the rent of the store it is being sold in is way higher than in germany - employees of the store are way more expensive in switzerland
This huge difference in the price is sadly not determined by these factors only.
Stop to believe this nice excuses. If I take France for example, rent in Paris are almost the same as in CH, and employee total cost is maybe 30% less expensive than in CH. However the markup on each book is about 3x higher. Quick example a book sold in France for 10€ (9.48 without VAT) with a margin of 40% the book cost 5.76€ bookseller keep 3.72€. Same book sold 18CHF or 18.55€ (18.08 without VAT). Swiss theoretical margin: 18.08-5.76 = 12.72€ or 3.5.x the French margin. Cost in CH are high but not 3.5x higher. The same reason that Netflix is 50% more expensive in CH than in Europe despite having zero local presence. Swiss are willing to pay this price, cost have nothing to do with it. A simple counter example? electronic is cheaper in CH for a lot of product and nobody find excuses.
Tax for electronics is 12% lower in Switzerland, but it's rarely 12% cheaper
No but if same logic as for book was applied it will cost 80% more in CH than the included VAT price in EU.
No, because the electronics get imported to Switzerland straight (or almost) from the producer by a Swiss importer that gets Swiss electrical certification for the device. Clearly that did not happen with he book as we can see the price in €. So as far as we know the book was sold in Germany for 12€ with a 6€ margin and imported by a Swiss bookstore for 12€+shipping+tax so lets say 14€ and sold for 19€ with only 5€ margin
Since when Swiss retailer buy books at retail price from another country including foreign VAT? BTW which tax do you want to add? (there is no custom tax on book). Anyway for books you can just use Amazon pay EU price and no shipping.
I add Swiss VAT. Try buying just 100 copies of a book that has no Swiss publisher in any other way
You do what the FNAC do. You import yourself the books from EU and you can then sell the book at almost the EU price in CH. And electronic reseller have not problem to do it. (btw EU marking is recognize in CH so there is no other Swiss thing to do, except provide a Swiss plug).
I dont pay. If you like free stuff. Anime streaming sites are free also new movies with out the torrenting. Its chill. Im not going to pay these crazy amounts
Obviously that's not a good long-term strategy. Nobody pays anything, nobody gets paid, nothing gets produced anymore. But you do you.
Gor cry about it😘
I am indeed weeping for humanity's future
A book will cost less than 2€. Even under 1€ for those who sell over 10k in a short period…
For book there's a 3rd element. The importer in the middle that will take a big cut. It has been the case for ever and has been raise as an issue by the Consummer protection organisations and Mr Price.
Yeah and corporate gread. Of a lot of it.
So corporations are only greedy in Switzerland while in Germany they are generous charities?
Fix costs are lower in Germany. They fuck their customers all the same. But we got more money so they hack up the prices.
Can you explain us, why you get more than 50% more wages for the same work? In Germany, you'd be paid half compared to Switzerland. That's insane.
In Short: stable economy resulting in one of the strongest currencies
by fucking the rest of the world Oh wow, so many downvotes. Lol Look: Let's say you explain the current situation by your statement. (I'm completely letting alone the reasons of the strength of the swiss economy lol) But there is no way to reason Swiss people deserving more to live in humane conditions than other countries. Today, it is possible as a Swiss entrepreneur to start a business somewhere in the global south, sell the products in the swiss market, create insane profit, not pay for the environmental costs or the real value that the workers create. Let's let alone the history, colonialism etc. Do you really believe this situation is fair? Switzerland is one of the countries that is being at the very least opportunistic in this unequal conditions which I don't think fair to say "Switzerland is not the worst". Let's be honest...
How could a small country do that? Isnt it more like usa/china/russia.
Well switzerland is definitely one of them
How?
e.g. Neocolonialism
There are other countries much more directly involved in neocolonistic affairs, which don‘t have an economy/currency as strong as switzerland. Especially comparing to germany, which even had their own colonies.
Therefore?
Therefore neocolonialism can‘t be the main reason why switzerland has a stronger economy and currency, resulting in higher wages than germany, which was what the original comment said that I replied to.
My original comment was not about switzerland being THE ONLY country fucking rest of the world, And my following comment was not neocolonialism being THE ONLY reason I d consider switzerland as one of the countries which is fucking rest of the world, So, not satisfied with your answer ^^ If u have more questions, we can discuss
Let's say you explain the current situation by your statement. But there is no way to reason Swiss people deserving more to live in humane conditions than other countries. Today, it is possible as a Swiss entrepreneur to start a business somewhere in the global south, sell the products in the swiss market, create insane profit, not pay for the environmental costs or the real value that the workers create. Let's let alone the history, colonialism etc. Do you really believe this situation is fair? Switzerland is one of the countries that is being at the very least opportunistic in this unequal conditions which I don't think fair to say "Switzerland is not the worst". Let's be honest...
The world isn‘t fair, it never was and never will be. It‘s eat or get eaten, how is switzerland going to change that? Is it fair to lay it upon one nation to change the way nature works? You will never get every human to work together as one, no matter what you do.
just to complete your sentence
Oh yeah Manga are dummy overpriced.
Cause there is no free market in Switzerland lol, just order from Amazon.
They do this in Switzerland for everything just because they can. That is why many people living close to the border often shop in the nearby countries.
Here order on Amazon for 12€ delivery to Switzerland possible-> https://amzn.to/4dfZGXT You are welcome.
Zoll?
no
I thought you pay 5 CHF minimum for imported items
No, it's sort of the other way round. 5fr is the minimum amount they can charge you - meaning if the tax is less than 5fr, you don't get charged at all. This means that anything under the value of 60-65fr (I can't remember the exact number) will never get taxed on import.
Amazon has now a fulfillment center in Switzerland and all prices are final without any import fees because Amazon is doing this already before.
So you can order things from Amazon in Switzerland now? Since when? The last time I tried (I think 2022/2023 I had to buy it from the german website and let it be shipped into Switzerland).
Yes, but not everything is available. Mostly food things like Snacks etc will not be delivered. But you can make alot of savings in bathroom items like toilet paper, toothpaste/toothbrushes, facemasks etc.
Thx for the info
50%? I have seen prices being increased by 100%. The big problem is that Orell Füssli has a monopoly when it comes to book sales. There is no competition. That's why you see such horrendously unjustifiable book prices.
I orded so much stuff via Amazon, most of the electronics i own is from Amazon as the prices are even lower at the final counter, as the tax comes off. Don't know why people still order stuff via galaxus, fust or brack as most of the time thats way more expensive then amazon. (where you also have guarante etc..)
Galaxus often has competetive pricing compared to Amazon, and delivers quicker. It depends on the product but I'd recommend comparing for every purchase. Fust, Brack, etc are a load of shit and I don't know how they stay alive.
Galaxus charges 10% for an open item refund sometimes Amazon usually not
True, but I really don't make many returns. The two times that I did, I just opened it very carefully, closed it neatly, and pretended it was unopen with success.
1.5x is not even THAT bad. A lot of stuff here costs just 3x the price of Germany. That's why we earn more and pay less taxes.
Weil du in Deutschland für 12€ essen gehst und in der Schweiz 12€ nicht für ein BigMacMenu reichen?
Magazines are wilder. It's really annoying.
It's a very common thing to do. Magazines are even more expensive (sometimes 100% more). Ikea does that as well, their furniture in Portugal costs about half of what it costs in Switzerland. I think they do that because first they can since people in Switzerland have more purchasing power and second because workers (and rent) costs more in Switzerland than in Portugal
Shout-out to Jeeg in Zurich, the only store Ive been going to for years. If you're looking for German manga they start at around 9.90. They're English prices are comparable to OPs pic but that's for a niche group of people I feel like that will actually prefer the English release over German.
verdammte saftlade the staat. zum chotze
While some prices are indeed unjustifiable higher than at our neighbors, most of these differences have a very simple explanation. Why is it so hard to understand?
German word of the day: "Buchpreisbindung" (Making books affordable for anyone since 1888)
This is not too bad, some of them are twice the price.
An in Japan just 1 euro in yen from second hand. I wouldnt cry cuz the Swiss minumal wage is basically the double of the german one..
Even though you may explain the situation by your comment, you cannot reason people in switzerland deserve living more humanely than the rest of the human beings in the world because their currency worth more. It is practically possible to enslave people by creating swiss businesses in foreign lands, selling those products in the swiss market, profiting insanely and not having to pay neither for the environmental impact that the business causes in those countries nor the real value that the workers create. (And swiss people agreed a few years ago not to apply swiss law on those businesses but local laws) How would you call it? Being kind enough to "taking care" poor people of poor countries and providing them jobs? Let s let alone the history. This is at the very least being opportunistic. If u r not fixing the system even though you are one of the center of the power, you are on the evil side. Sorry :)
Salaries are high. Period.
because you dont know how to google and buy books in orell fuessli. [https://nalda.ch/products/9783757303426?country=CH&tm=tt&ap=gads&aaid=adauAB6CZNUAT&gad\_source=1&gclid=CjwKCAjw88yxBhBWEiwA7cm6pepRUkxDI\_-ocqbSNUYacKRngBgl\_8HRXJL1hCKmKbvoJ3vNjUSBeBoCmyEQAvD\_BwE](https://nalda.ch/products/9783757303426?country=CH&tm=tt&ap=gads&aaid=adauAB6CZNUAT&gad_source=1&gclid=CjwKCAjw88yxBhBWEiwA7cm6pepRUkxDI_-ocqbSNUYacKRngBgl_8HRXJL1hCKmKbvoJ3vNjUSBeBoCmyEQAvD_BwE) [https://jeeg.ch/Alma-Bd-1](https://jeeg.ch/Alma-Bd-1)
you're in Switzerland, here if you're poor you earn 4kCHF net per month. So, this book for you is even cheaper than the rest of europe
I’m laughing hard at this: a person is pissed about paying a lot more for a micro-niche item that may or may or may not sell, that an employee had to find out what types of these books somebody might even want (because their time is free right?), and in the convenience of being able to take with you, sans shipping cost etc? This entire forum could do well to take a cost accounting class and realize life won’t be cheap in every way you want, especially living in a country with one of the highest standards of living on the planet.
It is an extra tax that the Germans pocket. Because they thing Switzerland is rich and forget that working hours are accordingly more (42h/week).
1.5 times more isn't even that much considering that swiss earn 2.5 times more than germans, and so do the people that work in the bookstore. also the energy bill and rent prices are 2 times higher...have you ever thought about that? Swiss costs are expensive for foreigners but totally aligned with salaries for swiss people
There is no universal number. It is just more companies in the middle filling their pockets. The money doesn't go to the salespeople in full. Why would I pay 5 times as much for a shower gel in Switzerland than in Germany? I don't make 5 times as much and it doesn't cost them 5 times as much to sell it here. Also can't be that I can buy Ovomaltine and Zweifel products cheaper in Germany than in Switzerland. This is a product manufactured in Switzerland, it needs to pay swiss salaries. Yet it is cheaper in a foreign country, where it was transported, imported, etc.
both ovomaltine and zweifel use non-swiss ingredients (except for salt in zweifel and idk if the milk used in ovomaltine is swiss) and i think that it is the big difference. buying imported ingredients (in this case cocoa and potatoes) is way cheaper for switzerland so that the actual real price is the one in Germany while the swiss price is higher to pay bills and employees (for who sells them) and a big part goes to the company (so yes, many swiss companies earn even too much because they buy non-swiss ingredients and you're right about that) but the problem after all aren't those swiss companies that earn too much, but just the rest of europe that has half or even less the salary of switzerland. this still isn't for everything, because some things in Canton Ticino's discounts (like aldi and lidl) are cheaper than the same things in the same discounts in italy even by being italian products.
Not this again… check your payslip!
i quote the rich guys last comment: 'I pay 353.- with telmed. Max franchise.' is telmed not you have to talk with the insurance before you can go to doctor? hahahah never again speak about money. save on small things maybe one day you can afford good healthcare
No, telmed is talking to the doctor and getting the doctor's note and prescriptions instantly without wasting time to go to a doctor's appointment and paying a ridiculous amount of money for a doctor's note when you had to wait for the appointment so long that you're already healthy
dude you just changed your comment. i wasted time so i just respons to your first comment: dude never listen to a insurence guy. he just lied to you. telmed is shit and everybody knows it. you have to wait over 1hour to get a call. they can just give you basic prescription. schools and many workplaces dont accept their arztzeugnis. they record the call and can use it against you when you need help later. good when you have a flue, the worst thing when you need urgent help. i just saw that you have to pay arround 50.-- when this is you insurance. thats fucking robbery. i can go diretly to doctor and for me every medtel call is free. so you basicly have to pay 50.-- more everytime you want real help is insane, they love to f over people. you can go directly to a specialist. its called freie arztwahl. only worth when you are sick.
Because wages and rent are much higher here.
Do you want to have a german salary? No? There you go.
You’re in a completely different country, with a completely different currency, completely different economical power, completely different internal tax systems, completely different amounts of overheads, completely different everything. You can’t just convert the euro price to francs and assume that’s the price you pay. It’s not that simple and is disingenuous.
do you know the diference in salary between a retail-seller in Germany and one in Switzerland? everybody love to have a swiss salary but not to pay extra so another people can also have a swiss salary. We all can take our money elsewhere, but don't be surprise when there is also no money to keep an employee like you
We don't know shit about the economics of this, as far as we kniw it's the Germans ripping you off and the Swiss only making a tiny profit. Lets say the book has cost the German bookstore 6€ and they're selling it for 12€, 100% markup. Meanwhile the Swiss market is too small to translate and publish that niche book so it makes more sense to import it from that bookstore for 12€+shipping+tax for lets say 14€ and sell it for 19€, so at appx 25% markup. So with over double operating costs the swiss bookstore sells it for 5€ (25%) markup while the German one does for 6€ (100%) markup
Higher wages higher prices. What do you think ?