country of residence

Maritmaria · 11-18-2011, 02:55 PM

Hello,

I live in Canada (my country of residence). I want to purchase an eBook Reader here in Canada. I'm German and want to buy and download eBooks from German eBook stores. Is that possible?

For example:
If I buy an amazon Kindle (which will be shipped from the US to Canada) from amazon.com. Can I access amazon.de in Germany and buy and download books from their website?

How about a Kobo or Sony or another brand?
Can I buy from ebook stores in Germany and having my country of resindence in Canada.

Thanks for your help
Maritmaria

EowynCarter · 11-18-2011, 03:49 PM

Ah, the joy of being expatriate and geo-restiction

For amazon, the best way is to get a kindle from amazon.de, and have someone in germany forward it to you after activation and link it to amazon.de Then the kindle is identified as german, so the "europe" geo-restictions apply. Downside, is that you lose the available in canada but not in europe stuff.

Amazon.com a a "region" option you can use. searsh the books with the "Canada" and "Europe" setting, should tell you what's restricted.

Sony, not sure about canada.Their geo restrictions are pretty lenient anyway.

Kobo will usually display whatever's available. so just search the book, if they show up, you're good.

carpetmojo · 11-18-2011, 03:51 PM

Not being too techy, my response to your question is simple - why not ?

Sits back and waits for enlightenment - but I have a feeling the content will have copywright/geographic problems, and the hardware - well, there's not really any reason, is there?
But I bet kindle at least will have thought of one....

ATDrake · 11-18-2011, 04:44 PM

Both Amazon and Kobo will let you buy books in German from the Canadian versions of their stores. They may not have the full range of titles available, but if it's available in that language and not specifically geo-restricted, then Canadians can buy the books.

Here's an example: the translation of Elizabeth Chadwick's historical novel "Shadows and Strongholds", translated as Die Erbin der Festung by Random House GmbH and available at both Kobo and Amazon for $7.59, which incidentally is cheaper in German than it is in the original English.

Kobo does have the advantage that you will be paying in Canadian dollars and can currently use Chapters gift cards to pay for purchases and you can further discount their books with coupons if they are not from an Agency publisher (if a book listing has two prices in their catalogue, a List Price with a Our Price/You Save % value under it, you can use the coupons).

Unfortunately, they seem to have removed the category option for showing only books in a certain language and you will essentially have to know which title/author you want to buy before you can see if the German language of the book is available.

At Amazon, on the other hand, if you scroll down the left-hand sidebar of the Kindle Store page, then you use the Foreign Language Books link to browse through the German-language books. But their listings are cluttered by a lot of public domain titles you can get free at Project Gutenberg.

If you want an Amazon.de account so you can take advantage of the full range of available titles and any special deals they might offer, I'm afraid you're probably going to have to lie about your residence to them and use a German address, and possibly also a VPN proxy that gives you a German IP and pay with gift certificates from Amazon DE rather than your regular presumably Canadian credit card, just in case (sometimes Amazon demands proof of residence for people buying from outside the location indicated by their IP address if it consistently doesn't match their registered country).

Hope this helps, and welcome to MobileRead!

EowynCarter · 11-19-2011, 05:18 AM

Quote:

Both Amazon and Kobo will let you buy books in German from the Canadian versions of their stores.

Not all of them.

Quote:

If you want an Amazon.de account so you can take advantage of the full range of available titles and any special deals they might offer, I'm afraid you're probably going to have to lie about your residence to them and use a German address, and possibly also a VPN proxy that gives you a German IP and pay with gift certificates from Amazon DE rather than your regular presumably Canadian credit card,

Amaeon thought about that. And peole going to hollidays and sush. What matter is not the country the kindle is physicly located, but the contry it's registred to. As long as you're located in germany when first activating it.

Yep, good point about curency.

taming · 11-19-2011, 05:50 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ATDrake

Kobo does have the advantage that you will be paying in Canadian dollars and can currently use Chapters gift cards to pay for purchases and you can further discount their books with coupons if they are not from an Agency publisher (if a book listing has two prices in their catalogue, a List Price with a Our Price/You Save % value under it, you can use the coupons).

Unfortunately, they seem to have removed the category option for showing only books in a certain language and you will essentially have to know which title/author you want to buy before you can see if the German language of the book is available.

Kobo lets you choose between English, French, and German for the website itself. If you type a word (any word) into the search you will then see (on the screen that results) that you have a choice to refine your search according to languages. Currently your choices are English, French, German, or Spanish. If you leave the search box blank and click on it, you have those same choices appear and then can refine your results by language.

To the best of my knowledge, the only books I will see are the books that have German language rights available in Canada. If a Publisher selling in Canada has not purchased the German rights, those books will not be available. If the Publisher has not sent the German book to Kobo, youwon't get it either.

I don't know, btw, if you will get something different if you put either or both a German address or a German credit card in your Kobo account. At one time, the country of the credit card established your country for Kobo's purposes.

SensualPoet · 11-19-2011, 06:49 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by EowynCarter

What matter is not the country the kindle is physicly located, but the contry it's registred to. As long as you're located in germany when first activating it.

I'm not sure that is actually correct. I believe Amazon only cares what your current country of residence is. I can flip between Canada and the US and see somewhat different selection of books, publishers and prices. To established a new country of residence, you just change your account details to reflect a valid shipping address. So, you needn't activate the device and get stuck with the original country.

For Kobo, you can surf to http://www.kobobooks.de/ as starting page and the website defaults to German; you can flip back to English using the drop down menu at the top right corner. This is a work in progress, alas, and lots of English pokes through at the moment. Once you do any search, the left-column menu displays a further language filter. If the title is available in the country your Kobo account is registered to, you should see it listed and be able to purchase it.

EowynCarter · 11-19-2011, 06:53 AM

Quote:

I'm not sure that is actually correct. I believe Amazon only cares what your current country of residence is. I can flip between Canada and the US and see somewhat different selection of books, publishers and prices. To established a new country of residence, you just change your account details to reflect a valid shipping address. So, you needn't activate the device and get stuck with the original country.

As kindle ownner, you probably have more clue on this than I do.

Nancy Fulda · 11-21-2011, 08:45 AM

When I spoke with Amazon technical support about a similar problem (I live in Germany but sometimes wish to order books that are available only in the USA), they said that all I'd need to do was update the address in my profile when I wanted to switch geographic regions.

I haven't tried it out, though. The idea of re-entering my address so frequently drives me nuts. I prefer to just use my husband's Amazon account, which is still registered in the US.

patrickt · 11-21-2011, 10:09 AM

For Amazon, where you buy the Kindle is irrelevant. To comply with copyright law, Amazon considers the source of your bank card and the billing address. My card is from a U.S. bank and has a U.S. billing address so I'm considered to be located in the U.S. They ignore the fact that they shipped me the Kindle in a foreign country and my internet service is in a foreign country.

Also, for Amazon Kindle, I would call or email Kindle customer service directly. They're amazingly friendly and helpful.

11-18-2011, 02:55 PM	#1
Maritmaria Junior Member Posts: 3 Karma: 10 Join Date: Nov 2011 Device: None	country of residence Hello, I live in Canada (my country of residence). I want to purchase an eBook Reader here in Canada. I'm German and want to buy and download eBooks from German eBook stores. Is that possible? For example: If I buy an amazon Kindle (which will be shipped from the US to Canada) from amazon.com. Can I access amazon.de in Germany and buy and download books from their website? How about a Kobo or Sony or another brand? Can I buy from ebook stores in Germany and having my country of resindence in Canada. Thanks for your help Maritmaria

11-18-2011, 03:49 PM	#2
EowynCarter Wizard Posts: 4,337 Karma: 4000000 Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: Paris Device: Cybooks; Sony PRS-T1	Ah, the joy of being expatriate and geo-restiction For amazon, the best way is to get a kindle from amazon.de, and have someone in germany forward it to you after activation and link it to amazon.de Then the kindle is identified as german, so the "europe" geo-restictions apply. Downside, is that you lose the available in canada but not in europe stuff. Amazon.com a a "region" option you can use. searsh the books with the "Canada" and "Europe" setting, should tell you what's restricted. Sony, not sure about canada.Their geo restrictions are pretty lenient anyway. Kobo will usually display whatever's available. so just search the book, if they show up, you're good. Last edited by EowynCarter; 11-18-2011 at 03:51 PM.

11-18-2011, 04:44 PM	#4
ATDrake Wizzard Posts: 11,517 Karma: 33048258 Join Date: Mar 2010 Location: Roundworld Device: Kindle 2 International, Sony PRS-T1, BlackBerry PlayBook, Acer Iconia	Both Amazon and Kobo will let you buy books in German from the Canadian versions of their stores. They may not have the full range of titles available, but if it's available in that language and not specifically geo-restricted, then Canadians can buy the books. Here's an example: the translation of Elizabeth Chadwick's historical novel "Shadows and Strongholds", translated as Die Erbin der Festung by Random House GmbH and available at both Kobo and Amazon for $7.59, which incidentally is cheaper in German than it is in the original English. Kobo does have the advantage that you will be paying in Canadian dollars and can currently use Chapters gift cards to pay for purchases and you can further discount their books with coupons if they are not from an Agency publisher (if a book listing has two prices in their catalogue, a List Price with a Our Price/You Save % value under it, you can use the coupons). Unfortunately, they seem to have removed the category option for showing only books in a certain language and you will essentially have to know which title/author you want to buy before you can see if the German language of the book is available. At Amazon, on the other hand, if you scroll down the left-hand sidebar of the Kindle Store page, then you use the Foreign Language Books link to browse through the German-language books. But their listings are cluttered by a lot of public domain titles you can get free at Project Gutenberg. If you want an Amazon.de account so you can take advantage of the full range of available titles and any special deals they might offer, I'm afraid you're probably going to have to lie about your residence to them and use a German address, and possibly also a VPN proxy that gives you a German IP and pay with gift certificates from Amazon DE rather than your regular presumably Canadian credit card, just in case (sometimes Amazon demands proof of residence for people buying from outside the location indicated by their IP address if it consistently doesn't match their registered country). Hope this helps, and welcome to MobileRead! Last edited by ATDrake; 11-18-2011 at 04:50 PM. Reason: Minor clarification.

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11-18-2011, 03:51 PM	#3
carpetmojo Wizard Posts: 3,117 Karma: 9269999 Join Date: Feb 2011 Location: UK Device: Sony- T3, PRS650, 350, T1/2/3, Paperwhite, Fire 8.9,Samsung Tab S 10.5	Not being too techy, my response to your question is simple - why not ? Sits back and waits for enlightenment - but I have a feeling the content will have copywright/geographic problems, and the hardware - well, there's not really any reason, is there? But I bet kindle at least will have thought of one....

11-21-2011, 08:45 AM	#9
Nancy Fulda I write stories. Posts: 700 Karma: 16437432 Join Date: Jul 2011 Location: Northern Germany Device: kindle	When I spoke with Amazon technical support about a similar problem (I live in Germany but sometimes wish to order books that are available only in the USA), they said that all I'd need to do was update the address in my profile when I wanted to switch geographic regions. I haven't tried it out, though. The idea of re-entering my address so frequently drives me nuts. I prefer to just use my husband's Amazon account, which is still registered in the US.

11-21-2011, 10:09 AM	#10
patrickt Wizard Posts: 1,221 Karma: 8381518 Join Date: Oct 2009 Location: Oaxaca, Mexico Device: Paperwhite 4 X 2	For Amazon, where you buy the Kindle is irrelevant. To comply with copyright law, Amazon considers the source of your bank card and the billing address. My card is from a U.S. bank and has a U.S. billing address so I'm considered to be located in the U.S. They ignore the fact that they shipped me the Kindle in a foreign country and my internet service is in a foreign country. Also, for Amazon Kindle, I would call or email Kindle customer service directly. They're amazingly friendly and helpful.

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