Oops, trouble switching addresses

Canuck_in_Japan · 01-17-2014, 10:34 PM

So in order to take advantage of some cheaper regional pricing I switched my address from Japan to the USA (that didn't even work out because when I used the 50% off coupon and then changed the address it said it was going to be $5.49 but when I hit the "buy" button it told me I had just bought the book for $10.99 doh!) Unfortunately it seems that now I can't switch back to Japan! When I go to the dropdown list of countries there is no "Japan" in the list anywhere that I can find (not even in kanji). So now I'm kind of stuck because while the normal prices of books are cheaper in the USA the rate of discount coupon acceptance is ridiculously less so I want to go back to the Japan store and bask in the deals.

I've now emailed Kobo support and sheepishly asked them to set my country back to Japan.

Lynx-lynx · 01-18-2014, 04:53 PM

Canuck I don't get what happened to you because I have accounts established in kobobooks.com for several countries, and can change the country at the checkout page - using both old and new checkouts.

Are you referring to kobobooks.com, as in the web site accessed via a pc?

Or are you referring to accessing Kobo via your device?

Uschiekid · 01-19-2014, 10:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lynx-lynx

Canuck I don't get what happened to you because I have accounts established in kobobooks.com for several countries, and can change the country at the checkout page - using both old and new checkouts.

Are you referring to kobobooks.com, as in the web site accessed via a pc?

Or are you referring to accessing Kobo via your device?

I think this is a japan-centric issue. When I read about changing countries to get different bookstores, I went to try it with japan, but japan was not listed. I successfully changed to germany and back, but japan is just excluded. I think its because of rakuten. Japan is pretty good at being closed market so that japanese tech cant be resold abroad (released much earlier and much cheaper to begin with, as well as prices fall quickly). However this is probably for the opposite reason of japan controlling what their customers have access to. Rakuten forces you to have a rakuten account to access their bookstore, kobo accounts dont work.

@canuck
I wonder if you could make sure your affiliate is rakuten on your kobo, then try to change your billing info directly from your device? Worth a try I think.

Canuck_in_Japan · 01-20-2014, 10:01 PM

So this is the reply I got from Kobo Rakuten:

Quote:

件名
---------------------------------------------------------------
Kobo Customer Care

これまでのスレッド
---------------------------------------------------------------
回答 Eメール経由(Eisuke Isaka) - 2014年01月21日 10:53
Dear Brendan

Thank you very much for your inquiry.
We would like to answer to your question.

Since your purchased is completed in the address in USA, it might not be able to access Kobo eBook Store in Japan,
Though, there is a possibility to be able to log in and use your account from the US by logging in from the log in with Rakuten ID.

You may also be able to access to the Kobo store in Japan with the IP address of the abroad.
However, Kobo offers service for multiple countries, and there is a limitation due to local laws,
so even if it is possible to access Kobo store in Japan, Kobo Customer Care Japan is not able
to support for overseas matters officially. Please excuse us in advance for your understanding.

After understanding that overseas support is not official, you may able to try following the steps bellow.
Access to http://rakuten.kobobooks.com/ in your browser, and if you are logged in, please log out.

1. Access to "Rakuten Ichiba" http://www.rakuten.co.jp/
and log in with your Rakuten ID, after that click to "Rakuten Member Management".
Please ensure Rakuten ID is registered address in Japan.
If it is not, please register an address in Japan.
2. Please delete browser cache, also the history.
3. Close the browser once, and restart browser again.
Please access to http://rakuten.kobobooks.com/.
4. Instead of "Log in to Kobo" Please click the icon of the left side "Cannot find usual Log in way?"
5. When you see the icon of "R" appears, please log in with Rakuten ID.
6. After the Login, click "My Account" then "Payment Information" tab,
Please input the "address of Japan" and save it.

If you have done the steps until here, books in Japanese should be displayed.
If display site is mixed Japanese and English, please note that the circumstances is due to the IP address.

If you have further questions, please feel free to contact us.
Thank you very much.
Sincerely,
=============================
Kobo Customer Care
http://rakuten.kobobooks.com/help
=============================

[---001:001907:42327---]

Oh, what a cluster! I had no idea it was going to be this difficult. I thought maybe, the company that is in charge of the whole thing could just go into your account and flip the settings to whatever country they wanted to but I guess not. I'm contacting the regular Kobo people now to see if they can do any better.
Let this be a warning for all people in Japan with Kobo accounts. Don't try switching your address to anywhere else because you won't be able to switch back!

Assuming that I am stuck with a non-Japanese account, how is the agency pricing thing going on on the US? Normally I would be overjoyed at having a US account as their prices are usually cheaper but I found that some of the books I tried to use coupons on wouldn't allow me to do so, probably due to the whole agency thing. In Japan, the coupons work on everything which is why I want to switch back. Are things changing in the US?
If not, does anyone know of another country that has cheap prices like the US but also allows you to use coupons on all the books?

davidfor · 01-20-2014, 11:20 PM

But, didn't your Aura in Japan? If you mention only that device, you might get somewhere.

As to other countries, I tend to use Norfolk Island. The prices seem to be good and a lot more books take the codes than in Australia. Others have suggested India. What I actually do when buying a book is to change the address on the purchase page. This updates the price and I can test whether it accepts the code. I "move" to the country that gives me the cheapest book.

Lynx-lynx · 01-21-2014, 04:28 AM

Canuck can I suggest that you create different Kobo accounts for the countries you are interested in?

Use a different email for each account eg an account for the US and another for say Hong Kong, and another for etc

India is defintely a cheap, no publisher restrictions, discount vouchers work site.

But - I don't buy using my Kobo device, I just buy using the PC and then I run my purchase through Calibre and then onto my Glo.

01-17-2014, 10:34 PM	#1
Canuck_in_Japan Wizard Posts: 1,476 Karma: 14328611 Join Date: May 2009 Location: Tokyo, Japan Device: Aura, Aura H2O, Kindle PW3	Oops, trouble switching addresses So in order to take advantage of some cheaper regional pricing I switched my address from Japan to the USA (that didn't even work out because when I used the 50% off coupon and then changed the address it said it was going to be $5.49 but when I hit the "buy" button it told me I had just bought the book for $10.99 doh!) Unfortunately it seems that now I can't switch back to Japan! When I go to the dropdown list of countries there is no "Japan" in the list anywhere that I can find (not even in kanji). So now I'm kind of stuck because while the normal prices of books are cheaper in the USA the rate of discount coupon acceptance is ridiculously less so I want to go back to the Japan store and bask in the deals. I've now emailed Kobo support and sheepishly asked them to set my country back to Japan.

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01-18-2014, 04:53 PM	#2
Lynx-lynx Treachery of images ... Posts: 4,122 Karma: 93720365 Join Date: May 2012 Location: Australia Device: Sony 650, Kobo Glo, H2O, Aura One, Forma, Libra 2, Libra Colour	Canuck I don't get what happened to you because I have accounts established in kobobooks.com for several countries, and can change the country at the checkout page - using both old and new checkouts. Are you referring to kobobooks.com, as in the web site accessed via a pc? Or are you referring to accessing Kobo via your device?

01-20-2014, 11:20 PM	#5
davidfor Grand Sorcerer Posts: 24,905 Karma: 47303824 Join Date: Jul 2011 Location: Sydney, Australia Device: Kobo:Touch,Glo, AuraH2O, GloHD,AuraONE, ClaraHD, Libra H2O; tolinoepos	But, didn't your Aura in Japan? If you mention only that device, you might get somewhere. As to other countries, I tend to use Norfolk Island. The prices seem to be good and a lot more books take the codes than in Australia. Others have suggested India. What I actually do when buying a book is to change the address on the purchase page. This updates the price and I can test whether it accepts the code. I "move" to the country that gives me the cheapest book.

01-21-2014, 04:28 AM	#6
Lynx-lynx Treachery of images ... Posts: 4,122 Karma: 93720365 Join Date: May 2012 Location: Australia Device: Sony 650, Kobo Glo, H2O, Aura One, Forma, Libra 2, Libra Colour	Canuck can I suggest that you create different Kobo accounts for the countries you are interested in? Use a different email for each account eg an account for the US and another for say Hong Kong, and another for etc India is defintely a cheap, no publisher restrictions, discount vouchers work site. But - I don't buy using my Kobo device, I just buy using the PC and then I run my purchase through Calibre and then onto my Glo.