Buy your Kindle from Germany

[Bertolt]

The basic Kindle from Amazon.de costs 69 euros. In the UK Amazon rewards the Brits for their brand loyalty by charging us 69 GBP. If I needed a new one, I would ask a German friend to buy it for me as a present. However I have just bought a new Kobo Mini instead, which I got on Ebay for 44.99 GBP the regular price in one of the Ebay shops in the UK (including delivery). The Kobo is a touch edition and is lighter and smaller than the Kindle, features which I appreciate. It obviously pays to shop around, whatever model of ereader you buy.

[soulfuldog]

It does indeed pay to shop around, if you'd bought the Kobo Mini a month or so ago, it was on offer at £30 in a few places. It's back up to it's full price of £59 so even at £45 you got it for a good price.

In the UK, Amazon are in such a strong position in the ereader marker that they can compete on price for their ereaders but don't need to undercut (Kindle PW £109, Kobo Glo £99, basic Kindle £69, Kobo Mini £59). The aggressive price cuts of the Nook ST/Glowlight £29/£69, and even the Kobo Mini being available for £30 for a period, must have made inroads into that dominance though.

[Bertolt]

Originally Posted by l_macd

In the UK, Amazon are in such a strong position in the ereader marker that they can compete on price for their ereaders but don't need to undercut (Kindle PW £109, Kobo Glo £99, basic Kindle £69, Kobo Mini £59). The aggressive price cuts of the Nook ST/Glowlight £29/£69, and even the Kobo Mini being available for £30 for a period, must have made inroads into that dominance though.

I am sure that the reason for the aggressive price war in Germany is the emergence of a homegrown ereader, the Tolino Shine by Thalia. For your average user it is a much better buy than the Kindle Paperwhite. It's specs are similar to the paperwhite but you can buy books from a wide range of sources including Kobo. I would not be surprised if the Tolino Shine catches on in other parts of Europe too. German technology is widely respected inside and outside of Europe and the Tolino Shine's price at 99 euros is far more competitive than Kindle's Paperwhite.