u.s kindle store for international user

[Dih]

Hi, I have ordered a kindle paperwhite(Wi-Fi model) to my relative's house in the U.S(while I live in israel), and in my amazon account, my country is U.S. I have paid for my kindle with an international credit card. I'm not really sure what billing address is, but it's listed as my relative's address(which is not true if I get this right).
I want to keep using the U.S kindle store for obvious reasons- price and avilabillity.
I understand that there are certain ways to bypass amazon's policy, but I don't want to mess with the proxy thing, which I was told was illegal. I thought, maybe I will keep using my account in Israel as usual, with my credit card and israeli IP, and if amazon asked me any questions, I would just send them my relative's ID, and pretend it's his kindle and he is just traveling for a long time outside the U.S. What do you guys thing? Would it work?

[SteveEisenberg]

Is the policy you are referring to that described in this 2010 link:

http://downloadsquad.switched.com/20...-screwing-you/

[Dih]

Yes. And i've also read it earlier... so do you think it's a good way to continue using the u.s store or my account would be blocked(a thing i would really like to avoid...)

[SteveEisenberg]

I've deleted my post here, as originally written, because it quoted since-edited text.

Welcome to the board.

I know that you just want practical advice on how to not be a sucker when faced with a company that treats people with one nationality better than another. I have no problem with that, but couldn't advise you out-and-out lie to Amazon customer service.

So -- and anyone who knows can answer this -- is it really is the case that Amazon tells people, who live in countries without an Amazon web site, that there is a US$2 fee for "Whispernet" or "roaming" or "international shipping" when the book gets to the customer by WiFi? If really true, that's discriminatory to foreigners, and I am against it.

I know that is not want you want to see here, Dih. But this just isn't the kind of web site where people trade ways to get something for nothing. So first I would have to be sure that you have a legitimate gripe.

[Sirtel]

I can confirm that $2 is added to almost all e-books available to me in Amazon store (not the free ones, fortunately), and VAT is added on top of that. I have never asked Amazon if it's the roaming fee, though, because from what I've read on the net there is no point in asking. I have a WiFi only Kindle. And yes, I think it's discrimination. No other store adds any kind of fee to the books it sells me, Kobo adds VAT only.
Sometimes the price in Amazon is still cheaper even with the $2 and VAT added, but often it's not, and in that case I purchase the book I want elsewhere, if possible.

[shemsha]

My account is registered in Israel, and indeed I pay $2 more on almost on all kindle books (delivered by WiFi). The same with some free ones.
This is really annoying but I just treat it as their policy and there is not much I can do.

I can say that I do not pay any tax on top of that.

[jscarbo]

I'm not sure how relevant my experience is to your situation but I've lived almost full time in Costa Rica for the past 15 years. I still have a home and a bank account in the US and maintain legal dual residency in both countries. My Kindles are all registered to my US address and bank card. I've never been questioned by Amazon about my location and have never had problems buying from the US Kindle store.

[SteveEisenberg]

Originally Posted by Dih

Yes. And i've also read it earlier... so do you think it's a good way to continue using the u.s store or my account would be blocked(a thing i would really like to avoid...)

This is just an opinion based on being on this board for a while.

I don't think they would block you from accessing books already purchased. But if your credit card billing address is outside the US, I think they will eventually catch on, and there is a reasonable chance of their blocking you from making new purchases. There are stories of that happening to customers.

If your US relatives gifted you the eBooks and you paid them back, that would mostly work, although there could be some books that Amazon won't (or can't) allow to be gifted to Israel.

For paper books, we occasionally use Amazon's www.bookdepository.com subsidiary to send books to our son in Taiwan. There's free delivery worldwide, and no anti-foreigner discrimination, for prices only slightly higher than at www.amazon.com.