Quote:
Originally Posted by crossi
Are the restrictions supposed to limit purchases to citizens of that country, residents of that country, or people who are currently IN that country? If buyers are supposed to be residents how long do you need to live there to qualify as a resident?
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There's one other feature to geographical restrictions - VAT. In theory, if you go to the US, load up on books, and bring them back home with you to [any country with VAT], you are supposed to pay the VAT on them when entering your country. (At least if the value of the stuff you're bringing back exceeds some limit.)
If a bookseller in the US ships you books, the package goes through some sort of customs process and, depending on the country and the value of the shipment, you may get hit for the VAT on your foreign purchases. Some booksellers (and other vendors) are wise to this and will low-ball the value of the shipment on the customs forms.
In most countries, p-books are low-rated for VAT anyhow. But "computer files" (which is how e-books are categorized) are full-freight VAT rated - at least in Europe.
What I don't get is that Amazon has managed the VAT issue for a long time now, particularly from their UK site. I buy lots of stuff from the UK site, and I'm charged the French VAT rate, no problem. Not sure why they won't sell e-books to those of us outside the UK when they'll ship us p-books with the appropriate adjustment for the VAT.