Adventures of a tourist

Quantum · 11-06-2006, 04:58 AM

Hi, just wanted to share my recent PRS story, and hopefully it will help answer some questions anyone from outside the U.S might have regarding it.

I live in Israel, and I was in the U.S in October for my honeymoon. Also celebrating my 30th birthday, my wife bought me the PRS (at the Caesar's Palace SonyStyle in Vegas - 2 SonyStyles[N.Y and S.F] were out of stock, and even in this one we were lucky to come in 5 minutes after a fresh shipment had arrived).

The big question on my mind was "will I be able to purchase e-books using the Connect store, being a non-U.S resident without a local billing address?"

Well, I'll make a very long story short by saying: Yes!

All you need to do is purchase the Sony Connect gift cards, and redeem them into your Connect account. I went through 7 Borders stores in 3 states before finally finding someone who knew what I was talking about (and I was the first one to ask for them, so they didn't even know how to use them in the cash register for activation). There is currently only a $25 value card, so I stock up on 12 cards for future purchases.

Still in the U.S, I entered all the serial numbers of these cards to my Connect account, and got the credit. I made one purchase, and it worked.

I have left the states last week, and yesterday I ran the Connect software again, from 2 different computers, and it still allows me access to the store, and keeps my credit. However, I didn't purchase anything yet, but I'm pretty sure it works OK.

So, visitors to the U.S can stock up with gift cards, and if you can't do that, find someone you know who lives there, get him to buy the cards, and all you need are 2 numbers (serial number and PIN number, which the person needs to scratch off to reveal) to use them remotely.

Hope this helps.

P.S - did the same thing with iTunes, but with iTunes I needed to give them also a local U.S address (I entered my hotel address) before redeeming the gift cards.

Laurens · 11-06-2006, 05:12 AM

An easier way would be to have someone in the US buy electronic (rather than physical) gift cards for you. You'll be e-mailed the code and can redeem it right away. There are several members here willing to do that for you, as long as you cover the Paypal fee.

Quantum · 11-06-2006, 06:22 AM

Thanks, I'll keep that in mind. I've spent hours browsing the Sony website and found nothing about electronic gift cards. Like many people wrote here, it seems Sony goes out of its way to make life hard on people buying its stuff - no download of the Connect software direct from the site, no information on e-cards, and did I mention the 6 Borders store which had no idea what I was talking about?

igorsk · 11-06-2006, 07:47 AM

The electronic gift certificates can only be bought from inside Connect software, not through the site.

Quantum · 11-06-2006, 07:56 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by igorsk

The electronic gift certificates can only be bought from inside Connect software, not through the site.

Which requires a U.S billing address, and we are back to square 1 (Although now, with my new friends and the glorious PayPal, I can use). It seems pretty dumb to me that the only way to get information on gift/e-cards is using the Connect software, rather than posting it on a much more accessible platform, say a Sony website....

Cthulhu · 11-06-2006, 10:47 AM

Quatum:

It seems that SONY is not yet ready to sell to customers outside the U.S., though there are obviously many people eager enough and resourceful enough to get around it. ;-

I imagine that SONY only posts the e-card info in their software because right now the Reader is for people in the U.S. If they posted it on a freely viewable website, rather than where only people who can buy the Reader can see it, well...

It all comes down to SONY not moving into the European/Non-U.S. market at this time.

Congratulations on being crafty enough to subvert their business model to get what you want.

NatCh · 11-06-2006, 02:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cthulhu

It seems that SONY is not yet ready to sell to customers outside the U.S.

<snip>

It all comes down to SONY not moving into the European/Non-U.S. market at this time.

I think it has something to do with book distribution rights, and not having them in europe -- I think those things are usually negotiated separately. No way to know, of course ....

Solan0 · 11-06-2006, 05:08 PM

It coulb be about the distributions rights (dont know how that works...) but what about here in Canada ?. Before everything was released in "North America" (remember when they released the PSP). Things have change.........political reasons i suppose....

BuddyBoy · 11-06-2006, 05:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Solan0

It coulb be about the distributions rights (dont know how that works...) but what about here in Canada ?. Before everything was released in "North America" (remember when they released the PSP). Things have change.........political reasons i suppose....

Books, music and the like are usually negotiated on a country by country basis - which is why US iTunes has a larger selection than the Canadian iTunes, and why Canadians aren't allowed to shop the US store and vice versa.

My solution has always been to have a US address in addition to my Canadian home address. Best of both worlds!

11-06-2006, 04:58 AM	#1
Quantum Junior Member Posts: 4 Karma: 10 Join Date: Nov 2006 Device: Sony E-reader	Adventures of a tourist Hi, just wanted to share my recent PRS story, and hopefully it will help answer some questions anyone from outside the U.S might have regarding it. I live in Israel, and I was in the U.S in October for my honeymoon. Also celebrating my 30th birthday, my wife bought me the PRS (at the Caesar's Palace SonyStyle in Vegas - 2 SonyStyles[N.Y and S.F] were out of stock, and even in this one we were lucky to come in 5 minutes after a fresh shipment had arrived). The big question on my mind was "will I be able to purchase e-books using the Connect store, being a non-U.S resident without a local billing address?" Well, I'll make a very long story short by saying: Yes! All you need to do is purchase the Sony Connect gift cards, and redeem them into your Connect account. I went through 7 Borders stores in 3 states before finally finding someone who knew what I was talking about (and I was the first one to ask for them, so they didn't even know how to use them in the cash register for activation). There is currently only a $25 value card, so I stock up on 12 cards for future purchases. Still in the U.S, I entered all the serial numbers of these cards to my Connect account, and got the credit. I made one purchase, and it worked. I have left the states last week, and yesterday I ran the Connect software again, from 2 different computers, and it still allows me access to the store, and keeps my credit. However, I didn't purchase anything yet, but I'm pretty sure it works OK. So, visitors to the U.S can stock up with gift cards, and if you can't do that, find someone you know who lives there, get him to buy the cards, and all you need are 2 numbers (serial number and PIN number, which the person needs to scratch off to reveal) to use them remotely. Hope this helps. P.S - did the same thing with iTunes, but with iTunes I needed to give them also a local U.S address (I entered my hotel address) before redeeming the gift cards.

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11-06-2006, 05:12 AM	#2
Laurens Jah Blessed Posts: 1,295 Karma: 1373 Join Date: Apr 2003 Location: The Netherlands Device: iPod Touch	An easier way would be to have someone in the US buy electronic (rather than physical) gift cards for you. You'll be e-mailed the code and can redeem it right away. There are several members here willing to do that for you, as long as you cover the Paypal fee.

11-06-2006, 06:22 AM	#3
Quantum Junior Member Posts: 4 Karma: 10 Join Date: Nov 2006 Device: Sony E-reader	Thanks, I'll keep that in mind. I've spent hours browsing the Sony website and found nothing about electronic gift cards. Like many people wrote here, it seems Sony goes out of its way to make life hard on people buying its stuff - no download of the Connect software direct from the site, no information on e-cards, and did I mention the 6 Borders store which had no idea what I was talking about?

11-06-2006, 07:47 AM	#4
igorsk Wizard Posts: 3,442 Karma: 300001 Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: Belgium Device: PRS-500/505/700, Kindle, Cybook Gen3, Words Gear	The electronic gift certificates can only be bought from inside Connect software, not through the site.

11-06-2006, 10:47 AM	#6
Cthulhu Technologist Posts: 488 Karma: 585237 Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: I'm between Cities Device: SONY Reader PRS-500	Quatum: It seems that SONY is not yet ready to sell to customers outside the U.S., though there are obviously many people eager enough and resourceful enough to get around it. ;- I imagine that SONY only posts the e-card info in their software because right now the Reader is for people in the U.S. If they posted it on a freely viewable website, rather than where only people who can buy the Reader can see it, well... It all comes down to SONY not moving into the European/Non-U.S. market at this time. Congratulations on being crafty enough to subvert their business model to get what you want.

11-06-2006, 05:08 PM	#8
Solan0 Member Posts: 18 Karma: 10 Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: Montreal Device: Sony Reader	It coulb be about the distributions rights (dont know how that works...) but what about here in Canada ?. Before everything was released in "North America" (remember when they released the PSP). Things have change.........political reasons i suppose....

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