Quote:
Originally Posted by kiwipippa
I'm in the same boat as I'm in New Zealand. Geographic restrictions are driving me crazy. The books I want to buy are not available at Smashwords. WH Smiths have a great selection - but UK only. I am willing to PAY MONEY but no one wants to take it! Does anyone know if kindle and amazon have similar geographic restrictions? Because if they don't I am seriously considering getting one and keeping my kobo for library books (which I CAN borrow irrespective of where I am, but the waiting lists are so long). Geographic isolation went out when the jet was invented, why do publishers insist in bringing it back in again!  |
Amazon also has geo-restrictions. If you go to the Kindle store in the left top corner you can choose your region. That way you can check which books are available for your region.
How to circumvent geo-restrictions:
If you need a US VPN a lot of people use Hotspot Shield (free) or AlwaysVPN ($8.50). I use AlwaysVPN myself.
To get a US or UK address just google a valid address. If you want to use an address that you "own" you can use a mail forwarding address from sites like for example Borderlinx.
Fictionwise: Register your account with a US address. Use that same address as billing address for your credit card.
In a very few cases you will get a credit card check on your bookshelf instead of a download link. In that case download the book using
www.hidemyass.com. I assume that a VPN would also work.
Kobobooks: Register your account with a US address. Use that same address as billing address for you credit card. I did not need a VPN.
B&N: Register you account with a US address. Use that same address as billing address for your credit card. You will also have to use a VPN (no VPN needed when in Canada).
B&N uses its own ePub DRM. So you need an e-reader like the Nook, or one of the B&N software readers to read the books.
Other US bookstores: Try registering your account with an US address and using that address as the credit card billing address. In a lot af cases this will probably work. If it fails try to use a VPN.
The new WH Smith UK store (
www.whsmith.co.uk):
Last saturday I was able to buy books by registering my account with an UK address and using that address as billing address for my credit card.
I do not know if this still works.