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Old 10-15-2010, 03:13 AM   #1
Wendywu
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Amazon ebooks pricing - UK -v- US
Why are Amazon ebooks so much pricier in the UK than the US? It seems to me that books priced $5 in the US are about £5 in the UK. This totally sucks. I have a US account but my Kindle is linked to my UK account and I can't download Amazon US books to it. I get re-directed to the vastly more expensive UK edition.

I think this is more of a rant than a question - there's damn all anyone can do about it.....
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Old 10-15-2010, 03:25 AM   #2
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When the UK Kindle store first came out I was pleasantly surprised at the UK ebook prices - many of the books I like are between £3-5 which I don't consider to be pricey for a novel but then I'm not comparing with prices in the US, just with UK prices. There are so many books I want to read that, if I think a book is too expensive I'll just move on to the next book I'm interested in. So really I vote with my wallet and publishers who are being "greedy" in my opinion don't get a penny from me.

When ebooks are newly released they do tend to be very expensive - some I've seen for £16 which I personally would not pay. I just wait until the paperback version comes out and then the price of the ebook version also drops.

Luckily for you, there are members here who have methods of obtaining US ebooks while actually residing in other countries. Not something I do so hopefully someone else can fill you in
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Old 10-15-2010, 04:26 AM   #3
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If you have a US address you can add that address to your UK Amazon account, add a i-click payment method for that address (in the UK site) then go to the Manage Your Kindle Page, scroll down to Country click edit then select your US address and your account will migrate to the US site, then you will be able to buy books in the US but not in the UK. If you want to come back you simply select your UK address on the Manage Your Kindle page in the US site
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Old 10-15-2010, 04:47 AM   #4
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Wendywu View Post
Why are Amazon ebooks so much pricier in the UK than the US? It seems to me that books priced $5 in the US are about £5 in the UK. This totally sucks. I have a US account but my Kindle is linked to my UK account and I can't download Amazon US books to it. I get re-directed to the vastly more expensive UK edition.

I think this is more of a rant than a question - there's damn all anyone can do about it.....
Not always, there is a huge debate in the US re Ken Follett's Fall of Giants, $19.99 over there and, currently £9 over here, although it this changes here, it was £7.50 2 days ago. It is all in the hands of the publishers, nothing to do with Amazon...

Also, be aware that, amazon.com knows which country you are viewing from, so the price you see is not ncessarily the US price, again, looking at Ken Follett, the price you see from the UK is $14.28, the price they see in the US is $19.98 so, even if you managed to get an address in the US and fool them into thinking you live there, you would then pay the higher price...

Also, check this letter on the Amazon.co.uk site to all customers re potential price rises

http://www.amazon.co.uk/tag/kindle/f...TxDO7PSRZ3YTZD
Last edited by grizedale; 10-15-2010 at 05:28 AM. Reason: Spelling...
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Old 10-15-2010, 05:00 AM   #5
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It is all in the hands of the publishers, nothing to do with Amazon...
yes I agree, on the whole I think prices are cheaper in the UK. The books I have bought from the US site are ones not in the UK yet.
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Old 10-15-2010, 05:51 AM   #6
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Why are Amazon ebooks so much pricier in the UK than the US?
You are mistaken; most Kindle books are cheaper on Amazon UK than Amazon US.
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Old 10-15-2010, 05:55 AM   #7
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I was looking specifically for one author a few weeks ago. There wasn't much of his stuff on UK but there was on US. That situation seems to be changed - I just did a comparison. I am delighted, and stand corrected!
Last edited by Wendywu; 10-15-2010 at 06:01 AM.
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Old 10-15-2010, 06:22 AM   #8
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What author were you looking at?
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Old 10-15-2010, 08:54 AM   #9
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Thomas Merton. I'm studying comparative theology and his books comprise part of the Christianity section so I do really want to get them. I have most of them as treebooks but it would be so much easier if I could just shove them all on my Kindle.

I'll just have to wait for my loving family to spend hugely on gift vouchers at Christmas . Yeah, right
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Old 10-15-2010, 11:13 AM   #10
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Am I mistaken or can't you just load up amazon gift cards and pay with those? Doesn't that kind of make you not need a credit card and thus bypass location/ID checks all together?

You could just set up a US PO box, or I mean really, since there is no paperwork
Just go to Google maps and like.. dartboard a location in the US and add that.
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Old 10-16-2010, 03:03 AM   #11
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Thank you for that idea. I have friends in the USA and am sure I can use an address - I will ask . I'll will definitely try it out.
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