Selling PDFs in Switzerland: a practical guide

Basically anything that is valuable to others and belongs to you. In practice there are two main groups:

• Custom work for a specific client – such as expert reports, valuations, assessments or feasibility studies.
• Knowledge products that can be sold any number of times – such as e-books, guides, checklists, templates, sewing patterns or market studies.

With custom work, the main point is that the client pays before receiving the document. With knowledge products, what matters is that buying is as easy as possible and the document does not circulate freely online.

By email and invoice. The classic: send the PDF, attach an invoice, hope. Works with regular clients, but means chasing payments and the risk of never being paid.

Your own online shop. A shop system with a plugin for digital products gives you full control – but costs time for setup, updates, payment integration and security. Usually only worth it for a larger range.

International platforms. Marketplaces for digital products are quick to set up, but often rely on subscriptions, charge high commissions or do not support Swiss payment methods such as TWINT.

A payment-link solution like PayDoc. You upload the PDF, set a price and get a link. Buyers pay on a payment page and then download the document. No shop, no tech – ideal for single documents and small ranges.

In Switzerland, credit and debit cards as well as TWINT are the most important payment methods for online purchases. Especially for smaller amounts and on mobile, many buyers choose TWINT. For customers abroad, card payment is essential.

It is also important that buyers do not have to create an account. Every extra step costs sales.

With PayDoc, buyers pay via Stripe by card, TWINT and other methods – without registering. The download link is also sent by email.

A few points should be clarified before your first sale. This section is guidance, not legal advice:

• Rights to the content: Only sell what you created yourself or hold the necessary rights to – including images, graphics and quotes in the document.
• Clear seller information: Anyone selling online in Switzerland must clearly and fully state their identity and contact address (Art. 3 para. 1 let. s UCA).
• VAT: From worldwide annual turnover of CHF 100,000 from taxable supplies you are generally liable for VAT. More on this in our article on VAT for digital products.
• Data protection: You receive data from your buyers. Handle it in line with the Swiss Federal Act on Data Protection (FADP).

• Create an account – as an individual or a company.
• Link your bank account for payouts – our payment partner Stripe handles the processing.
• Upload the PDF, set the title, description and price.
• Choose the number of downloads and the access period.
• Share the link – by email, on your website, on LinkedIn or Instagram.

After that, the most important success factor is not the technology but a good description: say clearly who the document is for, which problem it solves and exactly what it contains.