linking kindles in diff countries

[anaana]

Hi all - I have a kindle here in Australia and recently had a family get-together and everyone else decided they needed kindles too. ONly prob is one family member is in NZ (where they don't ship kindles to yet) and others are in Timor leste where there is no wireless (but family does visit bali often where there is wireless coverage). If they go ahead and buy kindles we want to link them all to one account - but will this work if we are all in diff countries? And cos they don't ship to NZ and there's no postal service in Timor, woudl it be easier to have them sent to Australia, set them up here, then 'distribute' them to family as they visit? Will they be able to purchase books form NZ and Bali?
TA

[marianneg]

You should be able to register your family's Kindles to your account no matter where they are physically located.  You will have to give them your account credentials for them to be able to buy and download books from their home.

[arshield]

I gave kindles to friends in France and Chile.  They can't use the wireless without incurring charges for "roaming" but they are on my US account.  I bought the kindles in the US and gave them to them while they were visiting here.  Works fine.  But they hook the kindles up to their computers when outside of US.

[krystalspin]

No more charges for US-account-Kindles for downloading BOOKS from the Whispernet while out of the country. My husband got a message saying so *on* his K2i sometime around 3/28/10... I don't know why everybody else didn't get the message, but it has been confirmed by other people through CS.

It's where the Credit Card is billed to that matters -- I'm pretty sure the $2 is to cover the finance/bank currency-conversion charges (like we are charged when we use ATMs in other countries) and maybe some taxes averaged in.
-- ks

[Ann in Arlington]

No more charges for US-account-Kindles for downloading BOOKS from the Whispernet while out of the country. My husband got a message saying so *on* his K2i sometime around 3/28/10... I don't know why everybody else didn't get the message, but it has been confirmed by other people through CS.

Sounds like he gets Amazon's "Daily Post". . . . .not everyone does. . . .but, yes:  Amazon have said that  you'll no longer be billed the extra download fee when using your US 'registered' Kindle wireless outside the US.  Dona?  Have you tried it?

[arshield]

Thanks!  That is great to know.  Both my friends are in the US for the next two months, but the French ones will try it when they go back.  Last I looked Kindle didn't have a deal in Chile.

[Anju No. 469]

When I demo my kindle and turn on whispernet, and inadvertently download a book, I do get a charge.  Saying that I have a list of charges that have not been "paid" for.  I generally download to the computer and move them over, I like having a copy of my books on the computer anyway because sometimes I forget where I buy them.

Dona

[Bunknee]

No more charges for US-account-Kindles for downloading BOOKS from the Whispernet while out of the country. My husband got a message saying so *on* his K2i sometime around 3/28/10... I don't know why everybody else didn't get the message, but it has been confirmed by other people through CS.

It's where the Credit Card is billed to that matters -- I'm pretty sure the $2 is to cover the finance/bank currency-conversion charges (like we are charged when we use ATMs in other countries) and maybe some taxes averaged in.
-- ks

That's good to know! I won't be as stingy about using whispernet now.
I agree about the credit card location being what they are paying attention to. I had my Norwegian CC tied to 1click for a few days and got an email about being international and Amazon wanting proof of my US residence. I switched it over to my US based card and I haven't seen any more complaints.

[Anju No. 469]

Another thing to think about, some of you may have e-mails with extensions such as .au, which would be a dead giveaway.  I have one with .mx but never ever use it, only my yahoo or gmail accounts.

[Numinous]

It's where the Credit Card is billed to that matters -- I'm pretty sure the $2 is to cover the finance/bank currency-conversion charges (like we are charged when we use ATMs in other countries) and maybe some taxes averaged in.
-- ks

The $2 is to pay for Whispernet, even if you don't use it.
Amazon are paying global roaming charges for Whispernet internationally, which is why they charge $1/Mb for some things outside the US. Since they don't charge for some Whispernet usage, they need to recoup the money by charging extra for books.

If it was for currency conversion and/or taxes, then there'd be no charge for free books.

Of course, that doesn't explain why US customers don't pay extra for buying books outside the US but us foreigners do.

Chris

[loca]

The $2 is to pay for Whispernet, even if you don't use it.
Amazon are paying global roaming charges for Whispernet internationally, which is why they charge $1/Mb for some things outside the US. Since they don't charge for some Whispernet usage, they need to recoup the money by charging extra for books.

If it was for currency conversion and/or taxes, then there'd be no charge for free books.

Of course, that doesn't explain why US customers don't pay extra for buying books outside the US but us foreigners do.

Chris

this system will eventually have to be balanced.