buying ebooks from Europe and geographic restrictions

Falchetta · 02-20-2013, 02:07 PM

Hope I'm posting in the right section, but I was wondering if anyone has had experience buying from European ebook stores as a Canadian.

The title in question is not available on the Kobo or Kindle, but I have found it in a couple of Italian sites. One, Mondadori, seems to be linked to Kobo (so it tells me that it's not available for me).

I did come across this store, http://www.cubolibri.it/home.php/, which downloads epubs (my preferred format). It does not appear to give me any geographic restrictions, but then again, I haven't gone through the hassle of setting up an account yet.

Might be a long shot, but thought I'd check on this board to see if anyone (Canadian) has actually successfully bought from them. Just didn't want to set up an account if there is no point. (Their FAQs do not mention anything about geographic restrictions, but then again, maybe they just assume that all customers are Italian?)

thanks for any help.

GeoffR · 02-20-2013, 04:35 PM

If the book is available at Kobo Italy, then just go into your Kobo account settings and change your country from Canada to Italy and you should be able to buy the book.

Falchetta · 02-20-2013, 08:10 PM

I suppose, I guess I've always been afraid of "messing" with the account and somehow loosing my current stuff or getting locked out.
Doesn't the system also check the IP and know that I'm from Canada? Is it easy to just toggle back and forth from Kobo Canada/Kobo Italia?

maybe I'm paranoid, I just don't want to screw my settings up

xendula · 02-20-2013, 09:18 PM

I encounter this problem all the time! The way I would go about it (what I found to be the easiest solution), is check if the book is available in the it kindle store, then copy and paste the exact title in the US/CA Kindle store. If you are lucky, they will have it - no messing with the account settings necessary.

With Calibre, you can convert it to any format with a single click.

GeoffR · 02-20-2013, 09:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Falchetta

I suppose, I guess I've always been afraid of "messing" with the account and somehow loosing my current stuff or getting locked out.
Doesn't the system also check the IP and know that I'm from Canada? Is it easy to just toggle back and forth from Kobo Canada/Kobo Italia?

I haven't tried Italy, but have had no problems switching my account from New Zealand to US or UK. It doesn't seem to matter to Kobo that I still have a New Zealand IP address.

Another way to do it is to create a new account using a secondary email address and gift the book to your Canadian account.

Janet56 · 02-21-2013, 01:50 AM

I was wondering about this myself - I really want to get the Phoebe Atwood Taylor books but so far they are not available to Canadians, just in the US at both Amazon and Kobo. So if I just change my country, it should work? Or would I have to put in a street/city address too?

Apache · 02-21-2013, 06:25 AM

https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sho...d.php?t=206278
See the above thread.
Apache

02-20-2013, 02:07 PM	#1
Falchetta Member Posts: 12 Karma: 44836 Join Date: Dec 2011 Location: Canada Device: Sony PRS-T1, Kobo Touch, Ipad with Kobo and Kindle apps	buying ebooks from Europe and geographic restrictions Hope I'm posting in the right section, but I was wondering if anyone has had experience buying from European ebook stores as a Canadian. The title in question is not available on the Kobo or Kindle, but I have found it in a couple of Italian sites. One, Mondadori, seems to be linked to Kobo (so it tells me that it's not available for me). I did come across this store, http://www.cubolibri.it/home.php/, which downloads epubs (my preferred format). It does not appear to give me any geographic restrictions, but then again, I haven't gone through the hassle of setting up an account yet. Might be a long shot, but thought I'd check on this board to see if anyone (Canadian) has actually successfully bought from them. Just didn't want to set up an account if there is no point. (Their FAQs do not mention anything about geographic restrictions, but then again, maybe they just assume that all customers are Italian?) thanks for any help.

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02-20-2013, 04:35 PM	#2
GeoffR Wizard Posts: 3,821 Karma: 19162882 Join Date: Nov 2012 Location: Te Riu-a-Māui Device: Kobo Glo	If the book is available at Kobo Italy, then just go into your Kobo account settings and change your country from Canada to Italy and you should be able to buy the book.

02-20-2013, 08:10 PM	#3
Falchetta Member Posts: 12 Karma: 44836 Join Date: Dec 2011 Location: Canada Device: Sony PRS-T1, Kobo Touch, Ipad with Kobo and Kindle apps	I suppose, I guess I've always been afraid of "messing" with the account and somehow loosing my current stuff or getting locked out. Doesn't the system also check the IP and know that I'm from Canada? Is it easy to just toggle back and forth from Kobo Canada/Kobo Italia? maybe I'm paranoid, I just don't want to screw my settings up

02-20-2013, 09:18 PM	#4
xendula eBookworm Posts: 2,300 Karma: 4525746 Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: East Coast brrrrr Device: Kindle 4B/K ~ Nexus 7 ~ Kindle Paperwhite 1&2 ~ iPad Air	I encounter this problem all the time! The way I would go about it (what I found to be the easiest solution), is check if the book is available in the it kindle store, then copy and paste the exact title in the US/CA Kindle store. If you are lucky, they will have it - no messing with the account settings necessary. With Calibre, you can convert it to any format with a single click.

02-21-2013, 01:50 AM	#6
Janet56 Enthusiast Posts: 38 Karma: 542 Join Date: May 2011 Location: Alberta, Canada Device: Kobo Glo HD, Libra, Forma (8 and 32 gb), Sage, Kindle Oasis	I was wondering about this myself - I really want to get the Phoebe Atwood Taylor books but so far they are not available to Canadians, just in the US at both Amazon and Kobo. So if I just change my country, it should work? Or would I have to put in a street/city address too?

02-21-2013, 06:25 AM	#7
Apache Readaholic Posts: 5,137 Karma: 89858112 Join Date: Sep 2011 Location: South Georgia Device: Surface Pro 6 / Galaxy Tab A 8"	https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sho...d.php?t=206278 See the above thread. Apache