Is there anywhere online to buy EPUB ebooks? - Page 2

ottdmk · 04-03-2016, 06:32 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cinisajoy

HarryT,
I cannot use a Walmart prepaid Visa gift card at online stores outside the US.
Let me clarify that, if the online store charges a fee for currency exchange.
But had I read the card before grabbing it, I would have read it is only good for US stores.
$4.95 fee up front and you can put any amount on it.
Note this card is not reloadable.

I'm failing to understand what the problem is, as Kobo operates a US store that uses US currency based prices.

Can people in the US get Kobo's e-gift cards? I've done it that way before: bought an email-gift card for the total amount I wanted to spend and applied it to my account as a credit

Cinisajoy · 04-03-2016, 06:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ottdmk

I'm failing to understand what the problem is, as Kobo operates a US store that uses US currency based prices.

Can people in the US get Kobo's e-gift cards? I've done it that way before: bought an email-gift card for the total amount I wanted to spend and applied it to my account as a credit

If the person doesn't have a credit card of some sort or paypal, it is hard to buy an email gift card.
That is where I think the OP is running into problems.

GoldThreader · 04-03-2016, 11:26 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cinisajoy

If the person doesn't have a credit card of some sort or paypal, it is hard to buy an email gift card.
That is where I think the OP is running into problems.

Yes I do not have a credit card and I would rather just buy simple gift cards than to try and pay extra for special credit cards or such.

GoldThreader · 04-03-2016, 11:36 PM

The Kobo website is terrible. The only stores it claims to have gift cards are Best Buy and Frys in United States and like I said I have been to a few of them and never seen Kobo gift cards available. I just checked in regards to egift cards and those arent available to purchase either. So my last idea is hopefully you can make a wishlist for friends/family to buy books for you individually, but sadly they have no such feature. You can make a wishlist on your device, but you can't share it and there is no such feature on the website. The only option Kobo gives you is to buy there books individually online.

Cinisajoy · 04-03-2016, 11:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by GoldThreader

The Kobo website is terrible. The only stores it claims to have gift cards are Best Buy and Frys in United States and like I said I have been to a few of them and never seen Kobo gift cards available. I just checked in regards to egift cards and those arent available to purchase either. So my last idea is hopefully you can make a wishlist for friends/family to buy books for you individually, but sadly they have no such feature. You can make a wishlist on your device, but you can't share it and there is no such feature on the website. The only option Kobo gives you is to buy there books individually online.

My suggestion would be buy a Kindle or get the free kindle app and buy from Amazon.
They have easy to find gift cards.
Or if you have a tablet, Google play gift cards are easy to find.

GoldThreader · 04-04-2016, 01:59 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cinisajoy

My suggestion would be buy a Kindle or get the free kindle app and buy from Amazon.
They have easy to find gift cards.
Or if you have a tablet, Google play gift cards are easy to find.

Thing is I really like my device. Just need a way to get EPUBs for it. Another person mentioned google play if that has a good selection and is DRM free then I can just buy from there

meeera · 04-04-2016, 02:10 AM

If you prefer to buy at Amazon, just buy there, strip the DRM and convert with Calibre.

BearMountainBooks · 04-04-2016, 09:37 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by GoldThreader

Thing is I really like my device. Just need a way to get EPUBs for it. Another person mentioned google play if that has a good selection and is DRM free then I can just buy from there

The big publisher books all have DRM on them at Google.

Baen is DRM free...I don't know the gift card situation there.

The kobo gift card issue has been ongoing. I asked one of the guys who works there two years ago and he said they were trying to get gift cards for the US again (they had terrible fraud problems so had to discontinue the cards. This was only one of the problems they were having if I recall correctly). If you are in the US, you might look into getting a library card at one of the major libraries. Not quite the same as buying, but might work for you. I don't know the situation with California libraries and ebooks; some states have been selection and sharing across libraries than others!

4691mls · 04-04-2016, 09:57 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by GoldThreader

Let me elaborate a little bit. I own a Kobo Glo and I would love to buy more books for it, however stores that supposedly carry Kobo gift cards in my region never do. I can't purchase Kobo cards to buy anything. I am hoping there is an online store that sells EPUB format books and I can easily go to a store and buy a gift card for. I know you can convert books if you need to but I would rather just be able to quickly use my gift card and drag the book right to my device on the computer. Anyways, thanks for any help in advance.

If you can find gift cards in your local stores for either Google Play or Books a Million, both of those sell epubs online.

DiapDealer · 04-04-2016, 11:08 AM

Can't Kobos be registered to an AdobeID? If so, I fail to see why DRM-free is a requirement (assuming DRM-free is a functionality concern and not an idealistic one, of course). Google Play books use Adobe encryption, Kobo devices can read ADE fulfilled epubs (if you register your device to a free Adobe ID), and Google Play gift cards are sold in all kinds of B&M stores. Bing, bam, boom.

Unless there's a "don't want no stinking Adobe ID" requirement I missed somewhere in the list lof demands.

HarryT · 04-04-2016, 11:09 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DiapDealer

Can't Kobos be registered to an AdobeID? If so, I fail to see why DRM-free is a requirement (assuming DRM-free is a functionality concern and not an idealistic one, of course). Google Play books use Adobe encryption, Kobo devices can read ADE fulfilled epubs (if you register your device to a free Adobe ID), and Google Play gift cards are sold in all kinds of B&M stores. Bing, bam, boom.

Unless there's a "don't want no stinking Adobe ID" requirement I missed somewhere in the list lof demands.

Yes, Kobos support Adobe DRM.

DiapDealer · 04-04-2016, 11:20 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by HarryT

Yes, Kobos support Adobe DRM.

That's what I thought. The Google Play Books store sounds like a perfect match in that case: inherent format support (DRMed or DRM-free) and a widespread availability of giftcards at brick and mortar stores. Heck ... even the mom & pop grocer in my one-horse podunk of a town has Google Play giftcards for sale.

Cinisajoy · 04-04-2016, 11:21 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DiapDealer

That's what I thought. The Google Play Books store sounds like a perfect match in that case: inherent format support (DRMed or DRM-free) and a widespread availability of giftcards at brick and mortar stores. Heck ... even the mom & pop grocer in my one-horse podunk of a town has Google Play giftcards for sale.

I got my Google Play gift card at Family Dollar.

Rbneader · 04-04-2016, 02:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by GoldThreader

I use to live closer to Fry's theres none near me But, when I did I never saw any Kobo cards there. The website also claims best buy has them but again I have never seen them on any of the gift card racks.

You want DRM-free ebooks, or DRM removal software. DRM is software that keeps you from putting books you own onto another piece of hardware. Books without it can be freely transfered to whatever device you read on.

DRM-free Sci-Fi/Fantasy: Baen ebooks, http://www.baen.com/baenebooks

Smashwords sells indie books (books that don't have a publisher) for free. However, quality varies widely so YMMV.

There's a lot of fanfic that can be downloaded for free with Calibre (https://calibre-ebook.com/) and the FanficFare plugin, or Archive of Our Own has native epub downloads. If you like comics, a tv show or a book series there's a lot of reading material out there for you and some of it is quite good.

Google Play sells ebooks as Epubs. You'll need to install ADE to download them and remove the DRM with Apprentice Alf's plugins, though. Make sure to get ADE 2 or ADE 3, not ADE 4 (current version).

Once you have Calibre and the Apprentice Alf plugins set up, you can buy books from Amazon, Kobo, Google Play, anywhere except Barnes and Noble, download them to your PC, run them through the plugins and put them on your ereader. Many people on MobileReads have done that for years.

Rbneader · 04-04-2016, 02:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DiapDealer

Can't Kobos be registered to an AdobeID? If so, I fail to see why DRM-free is a requirement (assuming DRM-free is a functionality concern and not an idealistic one, of course). Google Play books use Adobe encryption, Kobo devices can read ADE fulfilled epubs (if you register your device to a free Adobe ID), and Google Play gift cards are sold in all kinds of B&M stores. Bing, bam, boom.

Unless there's a "don't want no stinking Adobe ID" requirement I missed somewhere in the list lof demands.

Yes, but it's a hassle. Setting up Calibre + Apprentice Alf is easy, and also means you can manage your library more easily.

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04-03-2016, 11:36 PM	#19
GoldThreader Zealot Posts: 130 Karma: 1230 Join Date: Mar 2011 Device: Kobo Glo	The Kobo website is terrible. The only stores it claims to have gift cards are Best Buy and Frys in United States and like I said I have been to a few of them and never seen Kobo gift cards available. I just checked in regards to egift cards and those arent available to purchase either. So my last idea is hopefully you can make a wishlist for friends/family to buy books for you individually, but sadly they have no such feature. You can make a wishlist on your device, but you can't share it and there is no such feature on the website. The only option Kobo gives you is to buy there books individually online.

04-04-2016, 02:10 AM	#22
meeera Grand Sorcerer Posts: 5,818 Karma: 68407974 Join Date: Dec 2011 Location: Australia Device: Kobo Libra 2, iPadMini4, iPad4, MBP; support other Kobo/Kindles	If you prefer to buy at Amazon, just buy there, strip the DRM and convert with Calibre.

04-04-2016, 11:08 AM	#25
DiapDealer Grand Sorcerer Posts: 28,586 Karma: 204624552 Join Date: Jan 2010 Device: Nexus 7, Kindle Fire HD	Can't Kobos be registered to an AdobeID? If so, I fail to see why DRM-free is a requirement (assuming DRM-free is a functionality concern and not an idealistic one, of course). Google Play books use Adobe encryption, Kobo devices can read ADE fulfilled epubs (if you register your device to a free Adobe ID), and Google Play gift cards are sold in all kinds of B&M stores. Bing, bam, boom. Unless there's a "don't want no stinking Adobe ID" requirement I missed somewhere in the list lof demands.

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