Quote:
Originally Posted by SteveEisenberg
I used the free worldwide delivery a few times to send gifts to Taiwan and Germany.
Checking one current hardcover, the price at Amazon.com, to ship a book to Taiwan, is about equal to the price of the book  |
This might have been part of the site's downfall as well. While the delivery was technically free, it was in fact factored in the price based on your location, so you would be quoted a different price for the book depending on your IP address. Many people were gaming the system by using a VPN, so you would get a cheaper quote on the books but still get them delivered to the address you wanted for free.
If I recall they would punish this behavior by making the delivery very long, but perhaps it was only a minor deterrent.