Kindle 3 question

[lizj]

Sorry - wrongly posted initially on the wrong forum...I am very interested in the Kindle 3. Briefly, I am a native English speaker, live in Spain, work outside Spain much of the year (south asia)and have a spanish credit card. I speak very little spanish and will buy most/all books for the foreseeable futute in English. My reading is primarily crime fiction, and most of that European, as well as autobiographies and magazines - mostly British.

I purchase paper books and DVDs from Amazon UK but have discovered that I cannot buy either the Kindle or any e-books from them.

Can anyone offer advice as to what would be the easiest way of purchasing a Kindle with all instructions etc in English - either online or in a store in Spain? Our nearest major city is Granada. And then for purchasing books?

thank you!

[mgmueller]

Originally Posted by lizj

Sorry - wrongly posted initially on the wrong forum...I am very interested in the Kindle 3. Briefly, I am a native English speaker, live in Spain, work outside Spain much of the year (south asia)and have a spanish credit card. I speak very little spanish and will buy most/all books for the foreseeable futute in English. My reading is primarily crime fiction, and most of that European, as well as autobiographies and magazines - mostly British.

I purchase paper books and DVDs from Amazon UK but have discovered that I cannot buy either the Kindle or any e-books from them.

Can anyone offer advice as to what would be the easiest way of purchasing a Kindle with all instructions etc in English - either online or in a store in Spain? Our nearest major city is Granada. And then for purchasing books?

thank you!

There's only a single version of Kindle: Kindle international.
You'll purchase from Amazon anyway and can purchase from >100 countries - it always will be the very same unit/technology.

For eBooks: Within your account, you can switch countries back and forth. I'm using my German account for hardware, and have added UK and US addresses for eBooks. I'm doing this with my German credit card. No gift cards or international credit card necessary. You even don't have to pay fees anymore, for downloading outside of the US. But book prices (may) differ from country to country.

[Mike L]

It's true that you can't buy the Kindle or ebooks from Amazon UK, but you can buy both from Amazon in the US. You can order a Kindle just like any other product. Pay for it with any credit card or debit card, and have it delivered to your address in Spain.

Be aware that the purchase price you see on Amazon's site doesn't include VAT. You will have to pay that either when you order or on delivery. But you would have to have paid that anyway, regardless of where you purchase the Kindle.

As for books, you will be able to buy those from Amazon in the US as well, but not all titles will be available in Spain. To find out which ones are available, just browse the Kindle store from within Spain. It will tell you if a given title is not available.

Keep in mind too that you don't have to buy your books from Amazon. In particular, there are many sites from which you can download free and out-of-copyright works in Kindle format, usually with no geographic restrictions.

Hope this helps.

[Magnesus]

Originally Posted by Mike L

IBe aware that the purchase price you see on Amazon's site doesn't include VAT.

In Poland Kindle 3 could be bought without paying VAT - Amazon pays it for you for orders below some amount of money. (So it's probably wise to buy just the Kindle and nothing more in one order.)

[Mike L]

Originally Posted by Magnesus

In Poland Kindle 3 could be bought without paying VAT - Amazon pays it for you for orders below some amount of money.

Are you sure about that?

It's more likely that Amazon don't collect the VAT. In that case, you would have to pay it at the point of delivery.

[Tiersten]

Originally Posted by mgmueller

There's only a single version of Kindle: Kindle international.

There are 3 different Kindle 3 models.

B006 = Kindle 3G+WiFi with an AT&T SIM.
B008 = Kindle WiFi
B00A = Kindle 3G+WiFi with a Vodafone SIM.

What determines whether you get a B006 or B00A is whatever country you're ordering from. Amazon will ship you whatever unit they have a better roaming agreement with in your country. If they've got a better deal from Vodafone in your country then you'll get a B00A. If they get a better deal with AT&T in your country then you'll get a B006.

For the end user however, there isn't any difference between the B006 or B00A units. Both have the same 3G access and abilities.

[niceboy]

I thought I saw a Kindle demo of Read-to-Me on youtube that had a UK voice as opposed to the US-English voices.

My experience with Amazon.ca in Canada is that if you try to buy a Kindle 3 you get transferred to the US Amazon.com website. Also the Kindle 3 accessories available at Amazon.com are not available at Amazon.ca.

[gertblij]

Originally Posted by Mike L

It's more likely that Amazon don't collect the VAT. In that case, you would have to pay it at the point of delivery.

Nope, Amazon adds it to the purchase price. I live in Cape Town, South Africa and I bought the $139 WiFi only K3. At checkout Amzon added $20 for shipping and another $20 for "local duties" (or something like that), for a total of $180 something.

[patrickt]

I spend a lot of time in Mexico and that's where I was when I ordered my K3. Yes, Amazon added our VAT tax and duties. My bank account is in the U.S. so my bank card is from that bank and my billing address is in the U.S. I have no problem ordering books and any books I can't order are flagged, "Not available in the U.S.".

When you're travelling it's totally irrelevant. If I go to Guatemala and connect via an internet cafe, the geographical location makes no difference.

[peca007]

In EU is goodies up to 150€ in total with postage and just for personal purposes is VAT and duty free. It can vary in some countries in EU, but I think that it will be the same in Poland and in Czech (where I am from).

[Mike L]

Originally Posted by gertblij

Nope, Amazon adds it to the purchase price.

Fair enough. But my point was that you have to pay the VAT one way or another. I just wanted to warn the original questioner about that, as it might not have been immediately obvious.