Buy Kindle DXG from UK or USA?

Tuba · 07-13-2010, 07:20 AM

Recently moved to London, UK from New York, USA and want to buy the Kindle DXG. Primary use will be in the UK (for a few years).

I have a US based Amazon.com account linked to my US address.

But should I make a new UK account with Amazon.co.uk before ordering?

suecsi · 07-13-2010, 09:41 AM

You'll be geo restricted on what you can buy over here in the UK. If you still have a credit card registered at a US address, I'd stick with leaving the USA as your country, unless there is something really desperate you can't get in the USA but can in the UK (which I don't think is very frequent on the Kindle Bookstore at least).

mgmueller · 07-13-2010, 11:09 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by suecsi

You'll be geo restricted on what you can buy over here in the UK. If you still have a credit card registered at a US address, I'd stick with leaving the USA as your country, unless there is something really desperate you can't get in the USA but can in the UK (which I don't think is very frequent on the Kindle Bookstore at least).

You can generate a new account, linked to whatever country you'd like, whenever you want. Your credit card doesn't need to be registered to any US address (I'm permanently using my German credit card). You only need a valid US address (or for whatever country you'd like to link your account to).

suecsi · 07-13-2010, 12:31 PM

mgmueller

So are you using your German credit card but with a valid US address to register the Kindle? Not sure about Amazon, but other e-book shops get awfully upset when the geo area of the book and the credit card billing address don't match.

Mike L · 07-13-2010, 12:36 PM

Tuba,

It makes no difference what account you use to purchase the Kindle. What's important is the account you register the Kindle to. As others have said, that might affect what books you are allowed to buy.

Diegan · 07-13-2010, 02:37 PM

Does this mean that if I buy a kindle from Spain and register it in Spain, I may not be able to download or buy all the books I see in the amazon book store?

What about free books?

Mike L · 07-13-2010, 02:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Diegan

Does this mean that if I buy a kindle from Spain and register it in Spain, I may not be able to download or buy all the books I see in the amazon book store?

What about free books?

Forget where you buy the Kindle. That's irrelevant.

If you register it to an account in Spain, then, yes. You won't be able to buy all the books in the Amazon store. You can only buy the ones that are available in Spain.

In fact, that's true of all countries. There's no one country where all Amazon books are available. (But the majority are available in the US.)

Note added later:
Amazon say they have 410,000 books available in Spain. That compares with 390,000 in the UK, and 620,000 in the US.

As for free books, if you download a book from, say, the Mobile Read E-Books section, or a public-domain site like Feedbooks, there will be no geographic restrictions.

(But that doesn't mean there won't be copyright issues. Some free books might still be in copyright in Spain. You'll still be able to download them, but it's up to you to keep within the law in your own country.)

Diegan · 07-13-2010, 03:07 PM

Thank you, when I asked for free, I meant the free books from kindle store (the ones that are pre-19xx for example).

Is there a way to check which books are available in Spain?

Why can't I just register my kindle as if I were from US?

cheerio6414 · 07-13-2010, 03:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by suecsi

mgmueller

So are you using your German credit card but with a valid US address to register the Kindle? Not sure about Amazon, but other e-book shops get awfully upset when the geo area of the book and the credit card billing address don't match.

Sounds a little shady to me, best of luck to you

Mike L · 07-13-2010, 04:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Diegan

Is there a way to check which books are available in Spain?

Yes. Just go to the Kindle Store. Don't log into an account. Just browse or search for any books. Amazon will detect that you are in Spain, and only show you the books that are available to you.

As for the free books in the Kindle Store, I would think that most or all of these are available to you. But you can see for yourself. Go to main Kindle Books page, and look for the control in the top-right corner where you can choose the sort order. Choose Price: Low to High. You should see a large number of free titles.

Tuba · 07-13-2010, 07:15 PM

Thanks for all the help. Sounds like I want to stay as US focused as possible to keep my range of books as wide as possible.

Will being registered in the US impact my wireless fees using the Kindle here in the UK? I've tried to figure this out but can't find any answers.

mgmueller · 07-14-2010, 03:20 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by cheerio6414

Sounds a little shady to me, best of luck to you

How so? You easily can have an address in the US, work in UK and have a Spanish credit card (just to give an example of one of my colleagues).
And it's exactly like that in the T&Cs of Amazon. You need a valid billing address: Can be a PO box or whatever, bingo. You need a valid credit card: They easily would be able to check, whether the billing address of the credit card does match the one you've registered. They're not doing it, nor do they insist on them being identical.

And I guess, this totally makes sense.
Just an example: Let's say, you're US citizen, working for 3 years in Europe. It makes sense for you to get a European credit card. As you travel a lot, you stick to your US address, although the credit card is inked to the address of your employer. Of course you still should be able to use your US account. But how should Amazon differentiate between this case and someone who only has got a PO box in the US or is using his uncle's address?
But with the introduction of the international Kindles, they had to find a solution for this. In the beginning, they've tried scenarios like additional fees for downloading content outside your home region. If you sell a gadget globally, you have to give access to the tools (content) globally. If you want to force geo restrictions onto your customers, you proactively have to state so in your T&Cs. And: I'm no lawyer. But as far as I know, the legal situation is similar to copyright of physical media like DVDs. If someone copies a DVD (different situation, but similar legal argumentation), that's only illegal, if there has been some copy protection in place. In our example here: If they'd check IPs and we would use VPN, this certainly would be a different situation. But as long as they only insist on a valid billing address...

Mike L · 07-14-2010, 04:45 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tuba

Will being registered in the US impact my wireless fees using the Kindle here in the UK? I've tried to figure this out but can't find any answers.

My understandig is that the additional wireless fee no longer applies in the UK. I can't confirm that form personal experience, because I am outside wireless range.

However, there is still the added cost of VAT. That won't apply if Amazon sees you as an entirely US-based customer, but I don't know if that would work with wireless delivery. A US customer, either physically in the US or one purchasing books via download to the computer (as opposed to wireless), doesn't pay the VAT.

HansTWN · 07-14-2010, 04:59 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by cheerio6414

Sounds a little shady to me, best of luck to you

You are paying -- nothing shady about it.

suecsi · 07-14-2010, 05:07 AM

mgmueller

I'm glad it does work - as your scenario is indeed, entirely realistic, having been PA to a number of expats over the years. It would seem Amazon is currently not as tightly controlled on the geo restrictions as some shops, who insist that the billing address of your credit card and 'registered country' must match - usually something that can be overcome with vouchers in some retailers, since they don't require an address match.

However, I have seen quite a bit of IP tracing going on where you sometimes get away with buying the book and get the 'you appear to be in another country' prompt which prevents you from downloading it unless you use HideMyAss or another VPN via the USA. Fictionwise were particular culprits for this.

I did once try changing my country to USA on the Manage My Kindle page but when I tried to buy a book - just going to the checkout - it gave me a similar 'you aren't in the right country' message - so I guess one would need to remove the registered one click credit card and use vouchers or something.

That's why I was surprised it worked.

07-13-2010, 07:20 AM	#1
Tuba Enthusiast Posts: 35 Karma: 592 Join Date: Jul 2010 Device: Kindle DX Graphite	Buy Kindle DXG from UK or USA? Recently moved to London, UK from New York, USA and want to buy the Kindle DXG. Primary use will be in the UK (for a few years). I have a US based Amazon.com account linked to my US address. But should I make a new UK account with Amazon.co.uk before ordering?

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07-13-2010, 09:41 AM	#2
suecsi Rock Chick Posts: 429 Karma: 4965 Join Date: May 2009 Location: near Heathrow Device: Kindle 2i, Kindle DX, Kindle 3G	You'll be geo restricted on what you can buy over here in the UK. If you still have a credit card registered at a US address, I'd stick with leaving the USA as your country, unless there is something really desperate you can't get in the USA but can in the UK (which I don't think is very frequent on the Kindle Bookstore at least).

07-13-2010, 12:31 PM	#4
suecsi Rock Chick Posts: 429 Karma: 4965 Join Date: May 2009 Location: near Heathrow Device: Kindle 2i, Kindle DX, Kindle 3G	mgmueller So are you using your German credit card but with a valid US address to register the Kindle? Not sure about Amazon, but other e-book shops get awfully upset when the geo area of the book and the credit card billing address don't match.

07-13-2010, 12:36 PM	#5
Mike L Wizard Posts: 1,479 Karma: 3846231 Join Date: Apr 2009 Location: Edinburgh, Scotland Device: Kindle 3, Samsung Galaxy	Tuba, It makes no difference what account you use to purchase the Kindle. What's important is the account you register the Kindle to. As others have said, that might affect what books you are allowed to buy.

07-13-2010, 02:37 PM	#6
Diegan Member Posts: 15 Karma: 10 Join Date: Dec 2007 Device: Jinke V3	Does this mean that if I buy a kindle from Spain and register it in Spain, I may not be able to download or buy all the books I see in the amazon book store? What about free books?

07-13-2010, 03:07 PM	#8
Diegan Member Posts: 15 Karma: 10 Join Date: Dec 2007 Device: Jinke V3	Thank you, when I asked for free, I meant the free books from kindle store (the ones that are pre-19xx for example). Is there a way to check which books are available in Spain? Why can't I just register my kindle as if I were from US?

07-13-2010, 07:15 PM	#11
Tuba Enthusiast Posts: 35 Karma: 592 Join Date: Jul 2010 Device: Kindle DX Graphite	Thanks for all the help. Sounds like I want to stay as US focused as possible to keep my range of books as wide as possible. Will being registered in the US impact my wireless fees using the Kindle here in the UK? I've tried to figure this out but can't find any answers.

07-14-2010, 05:07 AM	#15
suecsi Rock Chick Posts: 429 Karma: 4965 Join Date: May 2009 Location: near Heathrow Device: Kindle 2i, Kindle DX, Kindle 3G	mgmueller I'm glad it does work - as your scenario is indeed, entirely realistic, having been PA to a number of expats over the years. It would seem Amazon is currently not as tightly controlled on the geo restrictions as some shops, who insist that the billing address of your credit card and 'registered country' must match - usually something that can be overcome with vouchers in some retailers, since they don't require an address match. However, I have seen quite a bit of IP tracing going on where you sometimes get away with buying the book and get the 'you appear to be in another country' prompt which prevents you from downloading it unless you use HideMyAss or another VPN via the USA. Fictionwise were particular culprits for this. I did once try changing my country to USA on the Manage My Kindle page but when I tried to buy a book - just going to the checkout - it gave me a similar 'you aren't in the right country' message - so I guess one would need to remove the registered one click credit card and use vouchers or something. That's why I was surprised it worked.

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