Terms & Privacy

BookSwap ("the Platform", "we", "us") is a peer-to-peer online marketplace for buying and selling second-hand books in Switzerland. These General Terms and Conditions ("AGBs") govern your use of the Platform and any transactions facilitated through it.

By registering an account or using the Platform, you confirm that you have read, understood, and accepted these AGBs in full. If you do not accept them, you may not use the Platform.

The Platform is operated by BookSwap, Stettbach, 8051, Zurich, Switzerland BookSwap acts solely as a facilitator connecting buyers and sellers and is not a party to any transaction between users.

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account and enter into legally binding transactions on BookSwap. Users between 16 and 17 may register with the express consent of a parent or legal guardian, who accepts liability for the minor's activity on the Platform.

You must provide accurate, complete, and current registration information. You are responsible for maintaining the confidentiality of your login credentials and for all activities conducted under your account. Notify us immediately at bookswap.site@gmail.com if you suspect unauthorised access to your account.

Each person may hold only one account. Creating multiple accounts to circumvent suspensions or other platform restrictions is prohibited.

BookSwap reserves the right to suspend or permanently delete accounts that violate these AGBs, without prior notice and without liability.

Seller obligations: By creating a listing, you confirm that:

• You are the lawful owner of the item or are otherwise entitled to sell it.
• The listing is accurate — condition, photos, price, and description honestly represent the item.
• The item is legal to sell in Switzerland and does not infringe any third-party rights.
• You will complete the sale if a buyer contacts you and terms are agreed.

Transactions: BookSwap is a discovery platform. Buyers and sellers make contact through the Platform's messaging system and then arrange the transaction — including payment and handover — directly between themselves. BookSwap does not process or intermediate any payments.

BookSwap reserves the right to remove any listing that violates these AGBs or applicable law, without prior notice.

Current fees: BookSwap charges 0% platform commission. The Platform is free to use for both buyers and sellers.

BookSwap does not process, hold, or intermediate payments. All financial transactions are arranged directly between buyers and sellers outside the Platform. BookSwap acts solely as a listing and messaging service.

Payment methods are agreed between the parties and may include cash at pickup, TWINT, bank transfer, or any other method mutually acceptable. BookSwap makes no representations about the safety or suitability of any particular payment method.

No buyer or seller protection. Because BookSwap does not process payments, it cannot offer refunds, dispute resolution, chargebacks, or any form of transaction protection. Users transact at their own risk. BookSwap strongly recommends preferring in-person pickup with cash or TWINT for lower-risk exchanges.

Safety tips:

• Prefer in-person pickup to inspect the book before paying.
• Use TWINT or cash for in-person transactions — both parties are protected by the physical exchange.
• If shipping, consider paying only after receiving a tracking number and confirming the item matches the description.
• Never pay in advance to someone you have not verified.
• If something feels wrong, trust your instincts and use the Report button.

You agree not to post, upload, or transmit content that:

• Is false, misleading, inaccurate, or fraudulent
• Infringes any copyright, trademark, or other intellectual property right
• Is illegal to sell in Switzerland (stolen goods, counterfeit items, prohibited publications)
• Contains hate speech, discrimination, or incitement to violence
• Includes pornographic, obscene, or otherwise harmful material
• Is not a book or directly book-related item

You agree not to:

• Harass, threaten, or abuse other users
• Create fake accounts or impersonate any person or entity
• Attempt to circumvent platform security measures
• Scrape, crawl, or automatically extract data from the Platform without written permission
• Use the Platform for spam or unsolicited commercial communications
• Interfere with the technical operation of the Platform

The Platform is provided "as is" without warranty of any kind. We do not guarantee continuous, error-free availability and are not liable for any direct, indirect, or consequential loss arising from use of or inability to use the Platform.

To the maximum extent permitted by Swiss law, BookSwap's total liability for any claim arising from use of the Platform is limited to CHF 100. This limitation does not apply in cases of wilful misconduct or gross negligence by BookSwap, or where mandatory Swiss law provides otherwise.

BookSwap is not liable for the accuracy of listings, the conduct of users, the outcome of transactions, or any content posted by users.

All software, design, and content created by BookSwap is protected by Swiss and international copyright law. You may not copy, reproduce, or distribute Platform content without written permission.

By uploading content (photos, text) to the Platform, you grant BookSwap a non-exclusive, royalty-free, worldwide licence to use, display, and distribute that content solely for the purpose of operating the Platform. You retain ownership of your content and may delete it at any time by removing or deleting your listing or account.

BookSwap may update these AGBs at any time. Registered users will be notified by email at least 30 days before material changes take effect. Continued use of the Platform after that date constitutes acceptance of the revised AGBs. If you do not accept the changes, you must delete your account before the effective date.

You may delete your account at any time by contacting bookswap.site@gmail.com. Account deletion will result in the removal of your profile and active listings. Some data may be retained for legal or security purposes as set out in section 14.

These AGBs are governed exclusively by Swiss law, excluding conflict-of-law provisions and the United Nations Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods (CISG).

Any disputes arising from or in connection with these AGBs that cannot be resolved amicably shall be subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of the competent courts of Switzerland.

If any provision of these AGBs is found to be invalid or unenforceable, the remaining provisions shall continue in full force and effect (severability).

This Privacy Policy describes how BookSwap collects, uses, stores, and protects your personal data in accordance with the Swiss Federal Act on Data Protection (nDSG / nFADP, in force since 1 September 2023) and, where applicable, the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).

We collect only the data necessary to operate the Platform (data minimisation principle). We do not sell, rent, or share your personal data with third parties for marketing purposes.

Legal bases for processing (nDSG Art. 6 / GDPR Art. 6):

• Contract performance — processing your account data and listings to provide the service you signed up for.
• Legitimate interest — server access logs and security monitoring to protect the Platform and its users.
• Consent — cookies that are not strictly necessary (you may withdraw consent via the cookie banner at any time).
• Legal obligation — retaining certain data to comply with Swiss law where required.

Account data: Email address, display name, canton, city, reading languages, and preferred genres. Collected at registration to create and operate your account. Your email address is never shown publicly on the Platform.

Profile data: Profile photo (optional), Goodreads URL (optional), phone number (optional). Used to display your public profile to other users.

Listing data: Book title, author, ISBN, condition, price, photos, description, delivery options, and pickup location. Published publicly to enable buying and selling.

Transaction data: Contact messages sent via the Platform (forwarded by email; not stored on our servers beyond the forwarding process). Reviews and ratings are stored to build seller trust.

Technical data: IP addresses and HTTP request logs are collected automatically by Vercel (our hosting provider) and Supabase (our database provider) for security and operational monitoring. This data is not used for profiling or advertising.

No automated decision-making: We do not use automated decision-making or profiling that produces legal or similarly significant effects on you (nDSG Art. 21 / GDPR Art. 22).

We use the following third-party processors who act on our instructions under data processing agreements:

For Open Library and Google Books API, only the ISBN you enter is sent to retrieve book metadata. No personal data (name, email, IP) is shared with these services.

Your data is primarily stored on servers within the European Union (Supabase in Frankfurt, Resend in Ireland), which is considered to provide an adequate level of data protection under nDSG and GDPR.

Vercel operates a global CDN. Static assets (HTML, CSS, JavaScript files) may be cached on edge nodes outside the EU to improve performance. No personal data is stored in these caches.

Google LLC and the Internet Archive (Open Library) are based in the USA. Only the ISBN number you enter during listing creation is transmitted; no personal data is involved. These lookups are subject to the respective providers' privacy policies.

Under the Swiss nDSG and GDPR, you have the following rights regarding your personal data. To exercise any of these rights, contact us at bookswap.site@gmail.com. We will respond within 30 days.

• Right of access (Art. 25 nDSG / Art. 15 GDPR) — request a copy of the personal data we hold about you.
• Right to rectification (Art. 32 nDSG / Art. 16 GDPR) — request correction of inaccurate or incomplete data. You can update most of your profile data directly on the Platform.
• Right to erasure (Art. 32 nDSG / Art. 17 GDPR) — request deletion of your account and personal data. We will action your request within 30 days, subject to retention obligations above.
• Right to restriction (Art. 32 nDSG / Art. 18 GDPR) — request that we limit processing of your data in certain circumstances.
• Right to data portability (Art. 28 nDSG / Art. 20 GDPR) — receive your data in a structured, machine-readable format.
• Right to object (Art. 32 nDSG / Art. 21 GDPR) — object to processing based on legitimate interest.
• Right to withdraw consent — where processing is based on consent (e.g. cookies), you may withdraw at any time using the cookie banner.

Right to lodge a complaint: If you believe your data protection rights have been violated, you have the right to lodge a complaint with the Swiss Federal Data Protection and Information Commissioner (FDPIC) at www.edoeb.admin.ch. EU residents may also contact their local supervisory authority.

BookSwap uses only strictly necessary cookies. We do not use advertising, tracking, or analytics cookies.

Because we only use strictly necessary cookies, the site functions the same whether you accept or decline the cookie notice. You can clear cookies at any time via your browser settings. Deleting the Supabase auth session cookie will log you out.

We do not use Google Analytics, Facebook Pixel, or any other third-party tracking technology.

The data controller responsible for your personal data under nDSG is:

For all privacy-related requests (access, rectification, deletion, portability), please email bookswap.site@gmail.com with the subject line "Data Request". We will respond within 30 days.

For general questions about these terms, contact the same address.