Quote:
Originally Posted by Kretzer
Just wondering: Are there actually geographical restrictions for ebooks?
I have three Amazon accounts, US, UK and DE, without any problems and without giving any fake addresses - my billing address is always to my one and only Austrian credit card.
My Kindle account is at amazon.us (as you can only have one), and I don't remember ever being told that I can't download ebooks because of my location. That only happens only with videos and apps, as far as I noticed.
I don't know how this works with Amazon India, but if buying elsewhere is a legitimate way, why would it be immoral?
Personally I can't be bothered to go out of my way too much for some price difference, but I don't think it is immoral to buy where you get the best value. Most people do.
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Yes, there are some geo-restrictions. I am not supposed to buy the UK version of, say, Patricia Briggs. The book is out in the US, but the funds are controlled by different publishers and so the US version isn't supposed to be sold there and the UK version here. It's stupid, but the UK doesn't want to sacrifice sales dollars by having people buy it here. And so on.
I was given a gift ebook for the UK version. I was "not allowed" to buy it. I exchanged it for cash and applied it to the US version (which was 4 dollars more expensive). The different pricing is annoying and I would not have bought the book in ebook had it not been gifted to me and a favorite author. I would normally have just waited for the a cheaper copy of a used book, but I do try to support authors as much as possible.
Sometimes a book will be on discount in the US, but not other countries. Amazon tries to sell only to the country where you reside so they don't fall afoul of publisher restrictions.