Kindles in Tesco

garion

vibe666 wrote: »

you can buy a lot of things from the US or UK kindle stores, but they will only sell UK kindle books (not sure if it's all of them or just some) to someone with a UK address on their amazon account due to publishing restrictions.

having said that, all they do is check your address registered on the account and if it's UK one they let you buy kindle books, even with an irish credit card, so just change it. although i have heard that they have disabled some accounts due to people continually changing address back and forth just to buy books, so i wouldn't make a habit of it, just in case.

i had no trouble buying a US kindle touch from the amazon.com store with an Irish credit card, although they would only ship to a US address, so i got a forwarding address for free from www.viaddress.com.

I've done this aswell. Hoping all goes to plan with ViaAddress and customs doesnt end up costing too much (if I get caught!).

Thanks for the tip Vibe!

vibe666

garion wrote: »

I've done this aswell. Hoping all goes to plan with ViaAddress and customs doesnt end up costing too much (if I get caught!).

Thanks for the tip Vibe!

they will generally process everything that comes through based on the declared value, occasionally opening stuff up to see that what's inside matches what's been declared if they are in the mood.

a friend sent us some baby presents from Oz a couple of months ago and declared the value as $500AU thinking that if it got lost that we'd get 500 quid for it, not thinking that customs would just charge import duties based on the $500 declaration (shocking for someone with a masters degree, but i digress).

the postman turned up with it and my wife refused to take it. he said that she should appeal it and get them to open it up, which they did and then let us off without any charge as the real value wasn't very much at all and it was genuinely gifts for our new baby.

anyway, i have a trick for greasing the wheels as far as customs goes, so i'll let you know when they are delivered if it worked or not, don't want to jinx it.

glic83

vibe666 wrote: »

you can buy a lot of things from the US or UK kindle stores, but they will only sell UK kindle books (not sure if it's all of them or just some) to someone with a UK address on their amazon account due to publishing restrictions.

having said that, all they do is check your address registered on the account and if it's UK one they let you buy kindle books, even with an irish credit card, so just change it. although i have heard that they have disabled some accounts due to people continually changing address back and forth just to buy books, so i wouldn't make a habit of it, just in case.

i had no trouble buying a US kindle touch from the amazon.com store with an Irish credit card, although they would only ship to a US address, so i got a forwarding address for free from www.viaddress.com.

how much did the shipping work out at then m8?

vibe666

should be about $38 dollars for a kindle on it's own, but mine includes a rather large childens toy and was about $260 dollars, so i'm probably not the best person to ask.

on the bright side, the kindle postage was practically free when added to the toy postage, so it's not all bad.

battser

So can anyone tell me are these worth buying? What are they like for newish releases? I am getting my mate who is in the states to get me one. 75 euro. Won't be bothering with the 3G as Wifi is everywhere now so bit pointless and especially if they are as bad as people say for browsing.

dowtchaboy

battser wrote: »

So can anyone tell me are these worth buying? What are they like for newish releases? I am getting my mate who is in the states to get me one. 75 euro. Won't be bothering with the 3G as Wifi is everywhere now so bit pointless and especially if they are as bad as people say for browsing.

Very good for new releases, especially pure text, fiction... - we downloaded the Booker Prize winner about 5 minutes after it was announced.

Less good for books from 10 - 30 years back - may not be easily obtained in digital form.

Reference books and technical books - it depends. Works well for some with pdfs - others say it's a pain.

Good for very old books or ones that have gone out of copyright - Project Gutenburg etc. are making these available for free or very cheap.

Not great for anything with photographs or where you have to refer to specific page numbers as this changes depending on the font size you select etc.

You can't sell or give away the "book" after you've read it (well - you can to some degree). You can't donate it to the local library or the charity shop.

Better for American titles - UK titles less available (unless "International"), Irish titles.... any???

groom

Bargain Alerts strikes again. I didn't know I wanted one yesterday afternoon but now a $79 one is winging its way to me via Nashville. Yee Haw!

Guill

battser wrote: »

So can anyone tell me are these worth buying? What are they like for newish releases? I am getting my mate who is in the states to get me one. 75 euro. Won't be bothering with the 3G as Wifi is everywhere now so bit pointless and especially if they are as bad as people say for browsing.

I think that they are great.

1. Buy Kindle.
2. Download Calibre software.
3. download/beg/borrow/copy books.
4. Use calibre to load books to kindle.
5. instant portable library.

vibe666

yep, totally.

it's hard to go wrong with them tbh. you've got great battery life, a good clear screen that is close enough to real paper so you're not going to get a headache reading it, even after hours at it and you've got practically unlimited wireless access to almost any book you could wish for.

what's not to like?

glic83

groom wrote: »

Bargain Alerts strikes again. I didn't know I wanted one yesterday afternoon but now a $79 one is winging its way to me via Nashville. Yee Haw!

how much was shipping in the end m8?

paddyp

Can you select which carrier with viaddress because in my experience fedex, ups slap customs on 100% of parcels and dhl most of the time whereas I have only once paid cutoms on a usps packet about 7 years ago

vibe666

there was two options on mine, but i'm pretty sure both were fedex.

although they will repackage your item(s) free of charge and then declare whatever value and description you tell them to on the outer packaging.

in related news, my Viaddress package arrived in Stansted from Indianapolis at around 5:30pm today.

battser

Guill wrote: »

I think that they are great.

1. Buy Kindle.
2. Download Calibre software.
3. download/beg/borrow/copy books.
4. Use calibre to load books to kindle.
5. instant portable library.

What's calibre? The utorrent for ebooks? Sounds good guys.

Mr E

battser wrote: »

What's calibre? The utorrent for ebooks? Sounds good guys.

Nope, its more like the iTunes for ebooks. Allows you to manage your collection, convert books between the various formats, preview the books, etc.

doxy

groom wrote: »

Bargain Alerts strikes again. I didn't know I wanted one yesterday afternoon but now a $79 one is winging its way to me via Nashville. Yee Haw!

How did you manage to order one from ths US kindle site?

vibe666

doxy wrote: »

How did you manage to order one from ths US kindle site?

same way as i did, using amazon.com and a US based mail forwarding address from www.viaddress.com.

Mr E

Make sure you post an update here tomorrow when you have a final total ($79 + shipping + duty (?))

I'm getting a kindle for Dad for Christmas and may go the same route if it works out cheaper than €109.

Rooy

groom wrote: »

Bargain Alerts strikes again. I didn't know I wanted one yesterday afternoon but now a $79 one is winging its way to me via Nashville. Yee Haw!

same here ! , had been reading this thread ,then a colleague asked me if i wanted anthing brought back from States in mid December ,bang! , going to see if he can get me a Kindle Touch "with special offers" for $99. At least thats what I see on the amazon site , anyone know if all types of kindles are available in regular stores in US ?

Guill

Rooy wrote: »

same here ! , had been reading this thread ,then a colleague asked me if i wanted anthing brought back from States in mid December ,bang! , going to see if he can get me a Kindle Touch "with special offers" for $99. At least thats what I see on the amazon site , anyone know if all types of kindles are available in regular stores in US ?

I was in Vegas last month, couldn't find it anywhere, even in the 4 US Airports i was in over there, The Irish and Uk Airports had them.

Then again, i dont think many people go to Vegas to read..

dub50

best store in terms of accessibility, in that there are plenty of them in all major cities in the US for buying Kindles is Best Buy

groom

.

bennyc

vibe666 wrote: »

same way as i did, using amazon.com and a US based mail forwarding address from www.viaddress.com.

How exactly does this work do you pay duty on it and hwo long did it take to arrive.

Cheers

yabadabado

Rooy wrote: »

same here ! , had been reading this thread ,then a colleague asked me if i wanted anthing brought back from States in mid December ,bang! , going to see if he can get me a Kindle Touch "with special offers" for $99. At least thats what I see on the amazon site , anyone know if all types of kindles are available in regular stores in US ?

Get it delivered from Amazon to the hotel your colleague is staying in.Sign up to a free trial of Amazon Prime and there will be free shipping that takes 2 days,if your stuck for time.I have got amazon to post to hotels before and theres no problem.

Rooy

yabadabado wrote: »

Get it delivered from Amazon to the hotel your colleague is staying in.Sign up to a free trial of Amazon Prime and there will be free shipping that takes 2 days,if your stuck for time.I have got amazon to post to hotels before and theres no problem.

Thanks Y. , it is actually an American collague coming over here for a week which makes it a bit easier , so will look at ordering from amazon myself and get delivered to him ,should have thought of that myself! , save him a try to mall and no worry that he will buy the wrong one!

vibe666

bennyc wrote: »

How exactly does this work do you pay duty on it and hwo long did it take to arrive.

Cheers

i ordered a kindle fire & kindle touch (as xmas pressies) as well as a large children's toy that you can't get outside of the US and had them repackage it all as one box. it was ready for dispatch tuesday night, so i paid the shipping fees and they tried to deliver it this morning, but i'm moving house today and tomorrow and wasn't expecting it to arrive so quickly and put my new address on for delivery and we're not there yet.

the tracking page says they'll attempt delivery 3 days in a row, so i should have it by tomorrow when we're in the new house.

no word on import duties, but i imagine they'll ask for COD for those tomorrow.

vibe666

vibe666 wrote: »

no word on import duties, but i imagine they'll ask for COD for those tomorrow.

Anytime Ive ordered something expensive from US/abroad (something every couple of months) if our lovely govt. is looking for tax/duties on it I have received a letter from them telling me they have a package for me but will not release it until I have the taxes paid. It only happened twice before. Before completing any orders I ask the shop/supplier if they will mark the item as "GIFT" or if possible use EMS courier services. For some reason EMS always breezes through

Id say you are in the clear here

vibe666

if you ask viaddress to "repackage" your item(s) into smaller packaging (which they will do for free), they will do so in plain wrapping and then put on the inventory whatever you tell them to, complete with your own assessment of the contents and value of said item(s), which i'm guessing would be the only way they will have to calculate the import duties unless they open it up for an inspection.

bennyc

As a matter of interest how much would one expect to pay for delivery of a kindle ?

vibe666

sign up for an amazon prime trial and get free delivery to your US forwarding address, then it'll be $38 to get it shipped to Ireland, plus whatever customs charges are, assuming you get caught.

PCDub

I bought my Kindle through the Amazon.com, the only way from ireland. Because if this Amazon add in all duty charges for importing to ireland and show you the total at checkout. Landed on my door in 4 days.