Can I email books to someone else's Kindle without a charge?

ficbot · 09-01-2011, 03:56 PM

My cousin in Israel bought a Kindle, registered it with her Israeli credit card and then went on a sabbatical to China. She says she can't download anything there; she is not tech-savvy so I am not quite sure what she means, but she is struggling to get books onto the Kindle and I'd like to help her. I have tried just flat-out emailing her a book I downloaded from the library here. I am waiting to see if she can load it onto the Kindle without difficulties. But if I have to email her the books anyway, I am wondering if I can send them directly to her Kindle. If so, will I be charged for it? Will she? What would be the best way to get a tech-clueless newbie to have some books on her Kindle without having to do much work on her own end?

susan_cassidy · 09-01-2011, 04:18 PM

It depends on whether she has a Kindle 3G with wi-fi, or an older one. If she has one with wi-fi, if you send a book to her free.kindle.com email address (and your email address is registered with her Manage Your Kindle page as being allowed to email to her Kindle), no charge is incurred. If something is delivered via 3G, there is a 15 cent per megabyte charge. Most books are less than a megabyte in size.

Library books normally have DRM, and would not work on her Kindle (until library lending is enabled later this year, but she would have to download it herself).

If she has a current Kindle, and can't download anything, how could she get email?

ATDrake · 09-01-2011, 04:43 PM

Isn't China still on Amazon's list of blocked countries Kindle-wise, at least as far as 3G reception and being able to obtain books goes? Or maybe the Great Firewall is interfering with the downloads.

In any case, if she receives the books via 3G, there's a 99 cent charge per megabyte outside the US that's paid by the recipient, as detailed in Amazon's Kindle FAQ.

To avoid accidentally incurring the charges, she can go into her Manage Your Kindle page at Amazon and set the max document charges accepted to $0.00, which will effectively block any 3G transfers.

susan_cassidy · 09-01-2011, 04:49 PM

I guess I was thinking she was just visiting China, and didn't think about the higher charge for document delivery outside the US.

stickybuns · 09-01-2011, 06:08 PM

Is the document delivery charge based on where the Kindle is physically located or where the Kindle is registered?

If the OP's cousin has her computer with her, the OP could just email the ebook file to the cousin's regular email account and walk her through the steps for side-loading the file.

ATDrake · 09-01-2011, 07:26 PM

Per the FAQ, it's both. Non US-residents get the higher charges regardless, and US residents travelling outside also get the higher charges.

ficbot · 09-01-2011, 09:02 PM

Thanks for the answers. I emailed her a book with instructions for side-loading, and she was successful. I had previously tried talking her through a shared dropbox folder setup, but she was not able to manage. I guess I will just have to email her the books one by one.

ETA: I meant to clarify, I sent her a non-DRM book from this Mobile Read library

It seems the problem she was having with the Kindle store was a conbination of her own tech cluelessness, and the Great Firewall of China. It looks like I will have to manually email her the books for side-loading. Fortunately, I have numerous omnibus books like HarryT's Sherlock Holmes one, so I won't have to deal with TOO many files...

Blossom · 09-01-2011, 10:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ficbot

Thanks for the answers. I emailed her a book with instructions for side-loading, and she was successful. I had previously tried talking her through a shared dropbox folder setup, but she was not able to manage. I guess I will just have to email her the books one by one.

ETA: I meant to clarify, I sent her a non-DRM book from this Mobile Read library

It seems the problem she was having with the Kindle store was a conbination of her own tech cluelessness, and the Great Firewall of China. It looks like I will have to manually email her the books for side-loading. Fortunately, I have numerous omnibus books like HarryT's Sherlock Holmes one, so I won't have to deal with TOO many files...

If you do a shareble link to a folder in Dropbox. She just needs the url and a browser to get access to the folder, no account needed. You can only share the folder by going to Dropbox's site under the File tab, check the folder you want to share then choose the "more" button on menu at the top and then click "Get Shareble link" from the dropdown options. Then you can email them the link and they can download from the folder directly.

09-01-2011, 03:56 PM	#1
ficbot Wizard Posts: 2,409 Karma: 4132096 Join Date: Sep 2008 Device: Kindle Paperwhite/iOS Kindle App	Can I email books to someone else's Kindle without a charge? My cousin in Israel bought a Kindle, registered it with her Israeli credit card and then went on a sabbatical to China. She says she can't download anything there; she is not tech-savvy so I am not quite sure what she means, but she is struggling to get books onto the Kindle and I'd like to help her. I have tried just flat-out emailing her a book I downloaded from the library here. I am waiting to see if she can load it onto the Kindle without difficulties. But if I have to email her the books anyway, I am wondering if I can send them directly to her Kindle. If so, will I be charged for it? Will she? What would be the best way to get a tech-clueless newbie to have some books on her Kindle without having to do much work on her own end?

09-01-2011, 09:02 PM	#7
ficbot Wizard Posts: 2,409 Karma: 4132096 Join Date: Sep 2008 Device: Kindle Paperwhite/iOS Kindle App	Thanks for the answers. I emailed her a book with instructions for side-loading, and she was successful. I had previously tried talking her through a shared dropbox folder setup, but she was not able to manage. I guess I will just have to email her the books one by one. ETA: I meant to clarify, I sent her a non-DRM book from this Mobile Read library It seems the problem she was having with the Kindle store was a conbination of her own tech cluelessness, and the Great Firewall of China. It looks like I will have to manually email her the books for side-loading. Fortunately, I have numerous omnibus books like HarryT's Sherlock Holmes one, so I won't have to deal with TOO many files... Last edited by ficbot; 09-01-2011 at 09:39 PM.

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09-01-2011, 04:18 PM	#2
susan_cassidy Wizard Posts: 2,251 Karma: 3720310 Join Date: Jan 2009 Location: USA Device: Kindle, iPad (not used much for reading)	It depends on whether she has a Kindle 3G with wi-fi, or an older one. If she has one with wi-fi, if you send a book to her free.kindle.com email address (and your email address is registered with her Manage Your Kindle page as being allowed to email to her Kindle), no charge is incurred. If something is delivered via 3G, there is a 15 cent per megabyte charge. Most books are less than a megabyte in size. Library books normally have DRM, and would not work on her Kindle (until library lending is enabled later this year, but she would have to download it herself). If she has a current Kindle, and can't download anything, how could she get email?

09-01-2011, 04:43 PM	#3
ATDrake Wizzard Posts: 11,517 Karma: 33048258 Join Date: Mar 2010 Location: Roundworld Device: Kindle 2 International, Sony PRS-T1, BlackBerry PlayBook, Acer Iconia	Isn't China still on Amazon's list of blocked countries Kindle-wise, at least as far as 3G reception and being able to obtain books goes? Or maybe the Great Firewall is interfering with the downloads. In any case, if she receives the books via 3G, there's a 99 cent charge per megabyte outside the US that's paid by the recipient, as detailed in Amazon's Kindle FAQ. To avoid accidentally incurring the charges, she can go into her Manage Your Kindle page at Amazon and set the max document charges accepted to $0.00, which will effectively block any 3G transfers.

09-01-2011, 04:49 PM	#4
susan_cassidy Wizard Posts: 2,251 Karma: 3720310 Join Date: Jan 2009 Location: USA Device: Kindle, iPad (not used much for reading)	I guess I was thinking she was just visiting China, and didn't think about the higher charge for document delivery outside the US.

09-01-2011, 06:08 PM	#5
stickybuns Evangelist Posts: 405 Karma: 479729 Join Date: Feb 2011 Device: Kindle 3, Kindle Paperwhite 2	Is the document delivery charge based on where the Kindle is physically located or where the Kindle is registered? If the OP's cousin has her computer with her, the OP could just email the ebook file to the cousin's regular email account and walk her through the steps for side-loading the file.

09-01-2011, 07:26 PM	#6
ATDrake Wizzard Posts: 11,517 Karma: 33048258 Join Date: Mar 2010 Location: Roundworld Device: Kindle 2 International, Sony PRS-T1, BlackBerry PlayBook, Acer Iconia	Per the FAQ, it's both. Non US-residents get the higher charges regardless, and US residents travelling outside also get the higher charges.

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