10 tips and resources for Kindle users living outside US

Photo: UnitedIllustrators

Updated on April 5, 2012

Kindle devices might be the cheapest electronic ink ereaders available in your country (even when you add shipping costs and import taxes), but make sure you know as much as possible about how you’ll use them – especially when it comes to availability and prices of books in your mother tongue.

Generally, non-English users won’t enjoy buying and reading ebooks to the same extent as US residents.

Below you’ll find links to most popular articles about this topic we published so far at Ebook Friendly.

Users from Outside US Don’t Pay International Fee for Kindle Singles

Usually if you buy the Kindle ebook from abroad, you’ll have to pay international fee. It’s an extra expenditure of $2 to $4. Luckily, certain books can be bought without that extra charge. Kindle Singles, Amazon’s quality short form reads, are among them.

Kindle Daily Deal Now with Price Geo-Restrictions

Foreign users don’t pay international fee for books featured as Kindle Daily Deal. There are two restrictions, though. First one is that not every book is available internationally. Second one is that the book may be available, but with a regular price. Make sure to double-check the price before clicking on the Buy button!

Kindle Devices: Availability and Prices for International Users [Chart]

If you’re confused which models are available internationally and whether you can buy them in US Kindle Store or in any of the localized ones – this chart includes every single model. What’s more, we update it every time the new model becomes available. Do not hesitate to check it frequently!

Easy Short Links to Access Kindle Stores in UK, Germany, France, Italy and Spain

If you are a regular visitor of one of the localized Kindle Stores, you may find those short links useful, especially if you want to access your store from a mobile phone.

Buying Kindle From Abroad [Checklist]

First thing to learn: don’t start with choosing an ereader. It’s good to decide which Kindle Store you want to shop, in you live in one of the countries, which have their own stores. It’s also good to check if there are enough books you’d like to read, and books in your mother tongue in particular.

How-to: Find Non-English Books at Kindle Store

Option to search books by language is not available at Kindle Store, but you can use a search phrase “Language Edition” – for instance “German Edition” or “Portuguese Edition”. It’s generally the best way to select the most accurate results. You can also search Amazon using Google web search – it will give you a much larger number of results.

6 Sources of Non-English Books for Your Kindle

When searching Kindle Store for books in your language, you may realize there are not that many books you would want to buy. Except sources in your country (look for unprotected prc/mobi files), you can visit one of those international ebook sites, which offer titles in languages other than English. The post includes tips on how to search for the books.

Missed Opportunity: Non-English Content for Kindle

An insight into what international Kindle users are pushed to do to get book in their mother tongue and why it would be much better if Amazon created a possibility to publish books in more languages than six currently supported.

How-to: Check How Much You Overpay for the Kindle Book If You Buy It From Your Country

If you live outside US, you’ll most probably pay more for the Kindle book. The additional cost is not related to Whispersync charges, but is an international fee you can’t avoid. The only question is how much more you’ll have to pay. Sometimes it’s a couple of cents, sometimes a couple of dollars. Read this post for a quick tip on how to check the difference in price.

Kindle Bestsellers – Comparison of Worldwide Prices and Availability

There are almost 1 million titles in Kindle Store. Not all of them are available outside US. To give you a more detailed picture of what you may expect, we prepared a list of top Kindle bestsellers where prices and availability are compared between US, Europe, Asia and Latin America.

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Stay tuned. We will post more articles about Kindle devices and ebooks for non-English users.

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