how can i purchase a kindle 3 in germany

[kindlekitten]

Originally Posted by jbcohen

Ah, glad to see I am wrong about that. I'll add that to the growing list of things I have been wrong about, seems endless.

it's probably best to not answer questions in forums where you don't own the device

Originally Posted by B34M3R

Haaa, this is also my first post as an english speaker in Germany....

In my case however, I'm from the US, and live on an army base here, which brings me to my point.

These are sold on-base at standard prices, so my suggestion would be to make friends with a soldier somewhere nearby, give them the money, and have them buy one for you. I'd actually help you out myself, but I'm not going to be here much longer... good luck, and at the very least it something to look into

welcome to the forums! where are you at? I spent 4 years in Nuerenburg and 4 in Frankfurt!

[B34M3R]

lol, Ive spent 2 years or so plugging away over here in Baumholder...

[EowynCarter]

I am an English speaker living in Germany and many of my friends have said "buy Kindle".

With the kindle, the only place you can buy books, will be amazon uk. Amazon US will be out of bond in Germany. unless someone in the us can activate the kindle for you. (At least that my understanding, someone correct me if i'm wrong.)

Before someone goes "But, you can buy book at other place", I’m talking there about the books from the mainstream publishers...
On the other hand, getting ePub in English when you're not in the US or UK have become a bit hard. Kobo being the only place i know of that will allow you access to the uk catalog, when outside the UK.

The kindle will not read eBooks from the German publishers. So if you want to read these, go for a reader that reads ePub. If you're sure you want to read English only, kindle, why not.

[Bratzzo]

Hi,

Originally Posted by EowynCarter

With the kindle, the only place you can buy books, will be amazon uk. Amazon US will be out of bond in Germany. unless someone in the us can activate the kindle for you. (At least that my understanding, someone correct me if i'm wrong.)

Before someone goes "But, you can buy book at other place", I’m talking there about the books from the mainstream publishers...
On the other hand, getting ePub in English when you're not in the US or UK have become a bit hard. Kobo being the only place i know of that will allow you access to the uk catalog, when outside the UK.

I think you messed up a little with UK and US! It goes the other way around!
As a German, you can buy the Kindle and Kindle-books from amazon.com but not from amazon.co.uk.

But I don't know, how it works, if you are an american and want to send the Kindle to germany. Maybe amazon accepts different billing adress an delivery adress (but outside the US?) .

Originally Posted by EowynCarter

The kindle will not read eBooks from the German publishers. So if you want to read these, go for a reader that reads ePub. If you're sure you want to read English only, kindle, why not.

Just in case that the book contains DRM.
If there is no DRM, then you can change the format to mobi without any problem.
Sometimes there is no DRM when you buy a book (look at http://www.beam-ebooks.de/). And sometimes there is DRM but only a few seconds after you bought a book. ;-)


@ xlinc
Go for the Kindle and enjoy a great device!


Bratzzo

[xlinc]

thanks for the replies guys. I am an expat who has been in Germany long term. I have read ebooks on my phone for a while and now think that with the Kindle prices for ereaders are now reaching a sensible level and i would like to own a dedicated ebook reader. Everybody i know likes the kindle.

I just find it extraordinary that Amazon has overlooked what a goldmine they are sitting on by pricing themselves out of the German market. As they already have a flourishing german site, which is a market leader, it seems to make no sense to have their own readers unavailable. Particularly as Germans are hugely interested in tech products.

A major competitor in the online book market has put out a reader for €139 which is definitely pitched against the kindle. It downloads from the store much in the same way as the kindle and offers many books in german language.

http://www.thalia.de/shop/oyo/show/?ProvID=10907024

So i just dont understand why there isn't a Kindle 3 for sale here (with a german power adapter and no delivery charge) for €139.

I guess i overreacted about double the price. However these costs, plus the fact that international credit card fees also kick in, puts it into a price bracket with the more expensive readers, not to mention the delays.

USD 139.00
Shipping & Handling: USD 20.98
Total Before Tax: USD 159.98
Estimated Tax To Be Collected:* USD 0.00
Import Fees Deposit USD 30.40
Order Total: USD 190.38

I am currently considering getting a friend to pick me up a kindle in the US when they go the week after next.

[xlinc]

Originally Posted by EowynCarter

With the kindle, the only place you can buy books, will be amazon uk. Amazon US will be out of bond in Germany. unless someone in the us can activate the kindle for you. (At least that my understanding, someone correct me if i'm wrong.)

Before someone goes "But, you can buy book at other place", I’m talking there about the books from the mainstream publishers...
On the other hand, getting ePub in English when you're not in the US or UK have become a bit hard. Kobo being the only place i know of that will allow you access to the uk catalog, when outside the UK.

The kindle will not read eBooks from the German publishers. So if you want to read these, go for a reader that reads ePub. If you're sure you want to read English only, kindle, why not.

i am assured this is not a problem

[xlinc]

Originally Posted by B34M3R

Haaa, this is also my first post as an english speaker in Germany....

In my case however, I'm from the US, and live on an army base here, which brings me to my point.

These are sold on-base at standard prices, so my suggestion would be to make friends with a soldier somewhere nearby, give them the money, and have them buy one for you. I'd actually help you out myself, but I'm not going to be here much longer... good luck, and at the very least it something to look into

thanks for the idea.