Content Kindle store anomalies?

[ntamas]

Originally I wanted to buy the book from Amazon to have a compatible version with Kindle.

But after that I realized that it could also be bought on snowbooks.com cheaper. So eventually I decided to buy that one but I hadn't known that the format would be epub. There was no reference to that. So I had to convert it to mobi but somehow the conversion failed because one time on certain parts the pictures overlap the text clumsily, the other time the publisher fonts vanished etc..

And after that I wanted to buy the Kindle version again but by the time I got there, it had already been unavailable.

So are you saying that you can't buy any books from Amazon

No, that would be rather a gross exaggeration.

Perhaps they blocked you because of your work around.

And I'm not a thief either.

[Cinisajoy]

Originally Posted by ntamas

Originally I wanted to buy the book from Amazon to have a compatible version with Kindle.

But after that I realized that it could also be bought on snowbooks.com cheaper. So eventually I decided to buy that one but I hadn't known that the format would be epub. There was no reference to that. So I had to convert it to mobi but somehow the conversion failed because one time on certain parts the pictures overlap the text clumsily, the other time the publisher fonts vanished etc..

And after that I wanted to buy the Kindle version again but by the time I got there, it had already been unavailable.



No, that would be rather a gross exaggeration.



And I'm not a thief either.

Ok then are you using a translator program?
One of your posts said you couldn't buy any books from Amazon. That was why I got confused.
Never called you a thief.

Now if you use Calibre you can convert from epub to a kindle friendly format.

Anyway good luck.

[Cinisajoy]

Originally Posted by ntamas

Or it might be that you should have a UK account to buy it.



How can you be so sure about that?

AnemicOak said the most likely reason for that:

b) the author or publisher pulled it from sale for some reason



OK, but that's the smaller problem, the bigger is that I can't even buy ebooks at all just because I don't have US address.

Or another example I did use that workaround because I wanted to try the Kindle Active Content. So it was not about the fact I didn't want to pay at all. But they didn't give me a chance to pay for it. As if I didn't deserve the contents that are only available for US customers just because I'm European. It's discriminative.
From the customers' point of view it doesn't matter at all why the ebook or the content is not available if they can see that others are allowed to buy stuff like that. And I very often encounter this problem.

What I bolded is your exact quote that says you can't buy ebooks at all.

[ntamas]

Oh, it is my misinterpretation I think. I thought about ebooks that you can't buy from Europe, but only from the US.

No, I don't use a translator program. Shall I?

[Cinisajoy]

Originally Posted by ntamas

Oh, it is my misinterpretation I think. I thought about ebooks that you can't buy from Europe, but only from the US.

No, I don't use a translator program. Shall I?

Please don't. Your English is good. Better than mine at times.
Oh so you didn't mean all ebooks just some ebooks.

Now as to the why. It usually comes down to money.

[darryl]

Originally Posted by issybird

It's perfectly ethical. Why shouldn't stakeholders in a book maximize their profits by using entirely legal methods of price discrimination? It's not even as if ebooks are a necessity.

I think the ethical aspect comes into play with those who exercise the workaround you mention (with the exception, of course, of Australia and any other jurisdiction where the workaround are legal). A book can be someone's livelihood; he's not obligated to sell it to you at the price you want to pay.

Very few things are a necessity. For many Mobileread regulars books in some form come very close. But the fact is that we do not require them to live, though our lives would be much poorer without them. With respect what is legal and illegal often has very little to do with ethics, unless of course you take the view that to break any law is of itself unethical. Failing this, if a practice is itself unethical the fact that it may not be illegal in Australia or some other countries would seem to make no difference. There is no absolute right to maximise profits by price discrimination any more than there is an absolute right to circumvent such price discrimination. I would suggest that either may cross ethical boundaries depending on the particular circumstances.

[knc1]

Originally Posted by ntamas

Oh, it is my misinterpretation I think.
I thought about ebooks that you can't buy from Europe, but only from the US.

If you are really serious about learning the answer to your questions, you must ask the person that is making the decision.

Mobileread is not who is making the distribution and pricing decisions on the book(s) you want to buy.
You are asking in the wrong place, instead ask the appropriate person at the appropriate place.
Otherwise, you are just trying to waste everyone's time.

[ntamas]

There is no absolute right to maximise profits by price discrimination any more than there is an absolute right to circumvent such price discrimination.

I had to reread your post several times and finally I managed to understand what you are going to say with that sentence. I must say: I agree.

Just a question:

Are there any ebooks being only available to Australia?

[ntamas]

knc1:

you are just trying to waste everyone's time.

I'm sorry for wasting your time.

[Cinisajoy]

Originally Posted by ntamas

I had to reread your post several times and finally I managed to understand what you are going to say with that sentence. I must say: I agree.

Just a question:

Are there any ebooks being only available to Australia?

More than likely yes. I am sure you have ebook stores that have Hungarian books that I can't get here.

[ntamas]

Cinisajoy

And why would you read in Hungarian at all?

It's more likely that a Hungarian will learn English than an American will learn Hungarian. Don't you think so?

you have ebook stores that have Hungarian books

Oh, of course, but they have nothing to do with Amazon. And as far as I know Amazon is a global (or at least "wants to be") ebook store. Am I wrong?

[Cinisajoy]

Originally Posted by ntamas

Cinisajoy

And why would you read in Hungarian at all?

It's more likely that a Hungarian will learn English than an American will learn Hungarian. Don't you think so?



Oh, of course, but they have nothing to do with Amazon. And as far as I know Amazon is a global (or at least "wants to be") ebook store. Am I wrong?

You are probably correct on the Hungarian is more likely to learn English than an American would learn Hungarian.

On Amazon, yes they are global. As far as the ebook store goes, they also have to be mindful of what is not permitted in some countries. Now as far as publishing goes, except for the their imprints, Amazon is not a publishing company but merely a distributor or store. They can only distribute to the countries that the publisher authorizes.
In other words, if you or me wants to put a book on Amazon, we get to choose where we want it sold. I could say US only so I don't have to deal with bank fees. I think there are only 3 International banks in the US.

Kind of off topic but does your country have Hungarian cookbooks?
I collect cookbooks.

[ntamas]

if you or me wants to put a book on Amazon, we get to choose where we want it sold.

Well, but then it would be easier to find a normal international publisher like Snowbooks or similar companies who don't really care from where you want to buy something. As far as I remember I only had to give them an email address and maybe a password and that's all. No geographic restrictions.

does your country have Hungarian cookbooks?

What did you mean by Hungarian?

Shall the book be in Hungarian?
Or shall it be in English but with Hungarian dishes?
Or shall it be in English with international dishes but by Hungarian authors?

Cookbooks in ebook format?

[Cinisajoy]

Originally Posted by ntamas

Well, but then it would be easier to find a normal international publisher like Snowbooks or similar companies who don't really care from where you want to buy something. As far as I remember I only had to give them an email address and maybe a password and that's all. No geographic restrictions.



What did you mean by Hungarian?

Shall the book be in Hungarian?
Or shall it be in English but with Hungarian dishes?
Or shall it be in English with international dishes but by Hungarian authors?

Cookbooks in ebook format?

A cookbook with Hungarian recipes written by Hungarian cooks.
Or is Hungary like the US in that the cooking varies by the region one lives in?
Ebook or paper. I'm not picky.

[ntamas]

OK, I've sent a private message.