UK Kindle ebook store Now Open

pdurrant · 08-05-2010, 05:27 AM

The UK Kindle ebook store is now open for business. Amazon are also offering to transfer UK customer's Kindle store accounts from Amazon.com to Amazon.co.uk.

I've just done clicked the button to start this process. Hopefully it will be painless. The UK store has prices in £, not $.

Most prices seem to be a simple conversion from $ to £, with an exchange rate of about $1.55:£1. The current rate shown at xe.com is $1.58:£1, so it's not too bad at all.

It will be interesting to see how frequently Amazon update the UK price as the exchange rate changes.

Some UK prices are cheaper — as sometimes a cheaper paper version is available in the UK which isn't available in the US.

e.g. The Penguin Classics version of Kidnapped is $6.06 is the US Kindle store (including the 17.5% VAT for UK customers) but is only £1.89 in the UK Kindle store.

And no doubt some UK prices are higher.

Sweetpea · 08-05-2010, 05:31 AM

the UK store is even worse than the US:

Quote:

Kindle titles at Amazon.co.uk are available for UK customers only.

FlorenceArt · 08-05-2010, 06:03 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by pdurrant

The UK Kindle ebook store is now open for business. Amazon are also offering to transfer UK customer's Kindle store accounts from Amazon.com to Amazon.co.uk.

I've just done clicked the button to start this process. Hopefully it will be painless. The UK store has prices in £, not $.

Most prices seem to be a simple conversion from $ to £, with an exchange rate of about $1.55:£1. The current rate shown at xe.com is $1.58:£1, so it's not too bad at all.

It will be interesting to see how frequently Amazon update the UK price as the exchange rate changes.

Some UK prices are cheaper — as sometimes a cheaper paper version is available in the UK which isn't available in the US.

e.g. The Penguin Classics version of Kidnapped is $6.06 is the US Kindle store (including the 17.5% VAT for UK customers) but is only £1.89 in the UK Kindle store.

And no doubt some UK prices are higher.

A nice surprise! From the little research I have done (very little, really), I had gotten the impression that e-books sold on UK bookstores are more expensive than in the US. I suppose the VAT may explain this, but only in part.

Anyway, this doesn't really concern me, since Amazon has decided my money wasn't good enough for them

suecsi · 08-05-2010, 06:10 AM

Maybe they are going to have dedicated sites for the different European countries, given they have Amazon.fr, Amazon.de anyway?

At the end of the day, lots of titles are geo restricted to US only as well so it is a more transparent front end for the UK.

The prices are pretty good, as I looked up one I bought a few weeks ago in USD and it is showing at the exact same price it showed up on my card at.

Kumabjorn · 08-05-2010, 06:11 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sweetpea

the UK store is even worse than the US:

Quote:
Kindle titles at Amazon.co.uk are available for UK customers only.

Wouldn't that be a violation of EU Directive 3626/532 sub-section 4F?

shanghaichica · 08-05-2010, 06:22 AM

Well I'm really happy about this. I had a sneaking feeling that they would put the prices up in the UK store to match those of waterstones, wh smith etc. But they have maintained the same prices when you converted from dollars to pounds in the US store. The prices seem to be significantly cheaper than the stores I'm using at the moment.

This was the only place I could see Amazon falling down, but I'm so glad I got I got a chance to see the UK store before my kindle arrived.

Ben Thornton · 08-05-2010, 06:24 AM

I've moved my account which was painless, bought a £0 book and it synched to my ipod OK. The one strange thing was that I had an "order" for the New Oxford American Dictionary, which I hadn't knowingly ordered. I think that this is either because I've ordered a Kindle 3, or perhaps because they've introduced dictionary lookup on other platforms (like the ipod). In any case, I haven't been charged for it.

The selection seems to have much the same blind spots as Amazon.com; it will be interesting to see the extent to which .com/.co.uk diverge over time, if at all. My guess is that it all runs off the same database.

suecsi · 08-05-2010, 06:30 AM

This is going to be seriously bad for my bank account!

I have just found the UK Kindle edition of 'Nothing to Envy' by Barbara Demick at £4.04. The US Kindle edition is $14.30 and at BooksOnBoard, where it has been sitting on my wish list since it came out last year, it is still $22.00!

Amazon!

Sweetpea · 08-05-2010, 06:31 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by suecsi

Maybe they are going to have dedicated sites for the different European countries, given they have Amazon.fr, Amazon.de anyway?

At the end of the day, lots of titles are geo restricted to US only as well so it is a more transparent front end for the UK.

The prices are pretty good, as I looked up one I bought a few weeks ago in USD and it is showing at the exact same price it showed up on my card at.

But there is no Amazon.nl, or .be or .ch, or any other countries except France and Germany.

Juliette · 08-05-2010, 06:34 AM

No Times? Ach, so I'll have to keep things the other side of the pond. (When my K3 arrives, anyway.)

Graham · 08-05-2010, 06:49 AM

Impressive. UK Kindle store loads and searches significantly faster than Waterstone's or WH Smiths. Checked the book I've been meaning to buy:

Matter by Iain Banks: £4.86 (Kindle), £6.55 (WH Smiths), £7.54 (Waterstone's).

That's a big difference.

Graham

suecsi · 08-05-2010, 06:51 AM

Can other European countries buy from existing E-Book stores like Waterstones? I wondered if it was a publisher thing again - although, looking at the prices, I doubt it. I am sure there are ways round it the same as there have been ways round buying geo restricted at Amazon.com before, or anywhere else, for that matter. It's not ideal, but at least having one specific country store is a step in the right direction.

I guess for the rest of Europe it is business as usual with the usual geo restrictions and wait and see what happens.

Juliette · 08-05-2010, 06:57 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by suecsi

Can other European countries buy from existing E-Book stores like Waterstones? I wondered if it was a publisher thing again - although, looking at the prices, I doubt it. I am sure there are ways round it the same as there have been ways round buying geo restricted at Amazon.com before, or anywhere else, for that matter. It's not ideal, but at least having one specific country store is a step in the right direction.

I guess for the rest of Europe it is business as usual with the usual geo restrictions and wait and see what happens.

Yes, we can. Until Waterstones messes up with your Card (the card you pick up in stores, not the virtual one you can get at the site!) and your credit card won't work anymore. Ach! Anyway, for an English-language book it's still a good deal, you don't have to wait ages for post and you don't have to pay the post.

There are ways to get around geo restrictions

FlorenceArt · 08-05-2010, 06:59 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by suecsi

Can other European countries buy from existing E-Book stores like Waterstones? I wondered if it was a publisher thing again - although, looking at the prices, I doubt it. I am sure there are ways round it the same as there have been ways round buying geo restricted at Amazon.com before, or anywhere else, for that matter. It's not ideal, but at least having one specific country store is a step in the right direction.

I guess for the rest of Europe it is business as usual with the usual geo restrictions and wait and see what happens.

I bought at Watestone. I don't know if ALL their books are available in ALL European countries, but at least one is available in France

church mouse · 08-05-2010, 07:24 AM

Oh, the temptation of the Leviathan!

Nearly all my music, and so many other little nic-nacs etc I already purchase from Amazon. I eased my conscience by having a PRS300 and buying my e-books from Waterstones, WH Smiths, BooksonBoard.

This morning, I saw Amazon telling me its UK Kindle site was up and running and, when I took a look at my Waterstones wish list and the savings I could make by buying them from Amazon, it was oh so tempting.

Please, save me from feeding the monster!

Oh no, too late!!

08-05-2010, 05:27 AM	#1
pdurrant The Grand Mouse 高貴的老鼠 Posts: 71,504 Karma: 306214458 Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: Norfolk, England Device: Kindle Voyage	UK Kindle ebook store Now Open The UK Kindle ebook store is now open for business. Amazon are also offering to transfer UK customer's Kindle store accounts from Amazon.com to Amazon.co.uk. I've just done clicked the button to start this process. Hopefully it will be painless. The UK store has prices in £, not $. Most prices seem to be a simple conversion from $ to £, with an exchange rate of about $1.55:£1. The current rate shown at xe.com is $1.58:£1, so it's not too bad at all. It will be interesting to see how frequently Amazon update the UK price as the exchange rate changes. Some UK prices are cheaper — as sometimes a cheaper paper version is available in the UK which isn't available in the US. e.g. The Penguin Classics version of Kidnapped is $6.06 is the US Kindle store (including the 17.5% VAT for UK customers) but is only £1.89 in the UK Kindle store. And no doubt some UK prices are higher.

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08-05-2010, 06:10 AM	#4
suecsi Rock Chick Posts: 429 Karma: 4965 Join Date: May 2009 Location: near Heathrow Device: Kindle 2i, Kindle DX, Kindle 3G	Maybe they are going to have dedicated sites for the different European countries, given they have Amazon.fr, Amazon.de anyway? At the end of the day, lots of titles are geo restricted to US only as well so it is a more transparent front end for the UK. The prices are pretty good, as I looked up one I bought a few weeks ago in USD and it is showing at the exact same price it showed up on my card at.

08-05-2010, 06:22 AM	#6
shanghaichica Guru Posts: 989 Karma: 5782970 Join Date: Jul 2010 Device: Scribe,Kindle Oasis 3, iPad Pro 11, iPhone 13 Pro Max,iPad mini 6, PW5	Well I'm really happy about this. I had a sneaking feeling that they would put the prices up in the UK store to match those of waterstones, wh smith etc. But they have maintained the same prices when you converted from dollars to pounds in the US store. The prices seem to be significantly cheaper than the stores I'm using at the moment. This was the only place I could see Amazon falling down, but I'm so glad I got I got a chance to see the UK store before my kindle arrived.

08-05-2010, 06:24 AM	#7
Ben Thornton Guru Posts: 900 Karma: 779635 Join Date: Jan 2010 Location: UK Device: Kindle 3, iPad 2 (but not for e-books)	I've moved my account which was painless, bought a £0 book and it synched to my ipod OK. The one strange thing was that I had an "order" for the New Oxford American Dictionary, which I hadn't knowingly ordered. I think that this is either because I've ordered a Kindle 3, or perhaps because they've introduced dictionary lookup on other platforms (like the ipod). In any case, I haven't been charged for it. The selection seems to have much the same blind spots as Amazon.com; it will be interesting to see the extent to which .com/.co.uk diverge over time, if at all. My guess is that it all runs off the same database.

08-05-2010, 06:30 AM	#8
suecsi Rock Chick Posts: 429 Karma: 4965 Join Date: May 2009 Location: near Heathrow Device: Kindle 2i, Kindle DX, Kindle 3G	This is going to be seriously bad for my bank account! I have just found the UK Kindle edition of 'Nothing to Envy' by Barbara Demick at £4.04. The US Kindle edition is $14.30 and at BooksOnBoard, where it has been sitting on my wish list since it came out last year, it is still $22.00! Amazon!

08-05-2010, 06:34 AM	#10
Juliette I eat books Posts: 601 Karma: 5124 Join Date: Jun 2009 Location: Milan, Italy Device: Gen3 PRS-505 PRS-600 PB360 PB302 K2 Opus BebookMini OnyxBoox K3 KDXG	No Times? Ach, so I'll have to keep things the other side of the pond. (When my K3 arrives, anyway.)

08-05-2010, 06:49 AM	#11
Graham Wizard Posts: 2,743 Karma: 32912427 Join Date: Feb 2008 Location: North Yorkshire, UK Device: Kobo H20, Pixel 2, Samsung Chromebook Plus	Impressive. UK Kindle store loads and searches significantly faster than Waterstone's or WH Smiths. Checked the book I've been meaning to buy: Matter by Iain Banks: £4.86 (Kindle), £6.55 (WH Smiths), £7.54 (Waterstone's). That's a big difference. Graham

08-05-2010, 06:51 AM	#12
suecsi Rock Chick Posts: 429 Karma: 4965 Join Date: May 2009 Location: near Heathrow Device: Kindle 2i, Kindle DX, Kindle 3G	Can other European countries buy from existing E-Book stores like Waterstones? I wondered if it was a publisher thing again - although, looking at the prices, I doubt it. I am sure there are ways round it the same as there have been ways round buying geo restricted at Amazon.com before, or anywhere else, for that matter. It's not ideal, but at least having one specific country store is a step in the right direction. I guess for the rest of Europe it is business as usual with the usual geo restrictions and wait and see what happens.

08-05-2010, 07:24 AM	#15
church mouse Evangelist Posts: 482 Karma: 5277078 Join Date: Oct 2009 Location: UK Device: Kindle Voyage, Kobo Clara HD, Kobo H2O, Boox Poke 2	Oh, the temptation of the Leviathan! Nearly all my music, and so many other little nic-nacs etc I already purchase from Amazon. I eased my conscience by having a PRS300 and buying my e-books from Waterstones, WH Smiths, BooksonBoard. This morning, I saw Amazon telling me its UK Kindle site was up and running and, when I took a look at my Waterstones wish list and the savings I could make by buying them from Amazon, it was oh so tempting. Please, save me from feeding the monster! Oh no, too late!!