BREAKING (2009-10-07) : The Kindle 2 is now available for overseas market as well. So please read the following blog post if your country is not covered by the latest scheme, or you want to know more about other Kindle information.
Kindle 3 is also now available, go get it !!
So, you want the Kindle 2 but you are not living in US, what can you do ? (Since Amazon.com does not ship the Kindle outside the United States.) You basically have two options, one is ask a friend in the US to buy one and load it up with a lot of books and post it over. The other option is like what I did just 10 days ago (and now I have a Kindle 2 with me already).
- Basically, all you need is a Visa credit card and a mobile phone – if you’re staying in Hong Kong, Singapore, Mainland China and Taiwan.
- First, go to Onenow.com, get registered … turn on your mobile phone, as they will send your an SMS with the registration verification code. You will then get an USA address. Yes, it’s that simple.
- Go ahead to Amazon.com do shopping, the Onenow.com will resize the windows such that you will see the Onenow.com window (with your US address) and the main shopping window (i.e. Amazon.com).
- Buy the Kindle 2, and enter the Onenow.com US address as your delivery address. I also picked the standard delivery mode – i.e. 4 to 5 days to any US address and it costed me US$ 8.
- Upon finished the purchase, enter the purchase details to Onenow.com to indicate to them there is one shipment going to deliver to the address. They will have a Purchase verification code as an SMS as well.
- Later Amazon.com will probably send you information that the products has been shipped. And also Onenow.com will send you an email once they have received a package.
- By then you have a choice, indicate Onenow.com that the transaction has been completed or you can wait for other shipments (as many times eShop will split an order to several shipments). If you decided that the transaction has been completed you can click the “complete” button. And then click the “Ship” button to kick start the delivery process – you will need to enter your local delivery address and select delivery mode. I picked the speedier one as it cost only US$ 7 more (US$37).
- DHL is the delivery services provider of Onenow.com. Once the package Airway Bill prepared, they will send you the an electronic Proof of Delivery (ePOD) code via SMS and email – i.e. you need to confirm this code when the product arrives your door.
Update 1 : How do you buy Kindle as a gift without it attaches to your Amazon account? If you choose the gift option available in Amazon’s checkout process, the Kindle will not be attached to your Amazon account. The recipient will be able to register the Kindle to his/her Amazon account directly from the device or from the Manage Your Kindle page. If you forgot to choose the gift option, you need to “deregister” your Kindle 2 such that your friend can register it.
Update 2 : If you’re staying in Singapore, Australia, Malaysia or other Asian countries, you can also try VPost instead of Onenow.com. Hope it helps.
Update 3 : Amazon introduced some checks on the IP address to prevent people buying books from outside US from end September 2009. Please check this blog post on how to buy books and bypass the IP address check issue.
Update 4 : The Kindle 2 is now available for overseas market as well. So please read this blog post if your country is not covered by the latest scheme only
Some pictures of my Kindle 2:
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I bought mine today. Can’t wait.
Hi, Michael. It is great to come across your blog by chance as I have been thinking how to get a Kindle and buy books without any hassle in Hong Kong.
My situation is this: my son lives in LA and of course has a US address. He uses a subsidiary credit card (Visa) issued in HK. However I also have an AE card, issued in HK. ( But it seems that, from reading your blog, Amazon regards it as issued in US and therefore allows its account holder to buy both the devise and books. Am I correct?)
What do you suggest as the most convenient and foolproof way for me to buy the device and books? Does it work for both Kindle 2 and DX? I shall visit my son in the US in early September and I do not mind waiting for a couple more months for it.
Thanking you in advance!
Hi Gabriel,
Glad that you found the information useful.
Yes, from my experience, Amazon did not check the US address of my HK AE card and therefore I could buy books and the device without any problem. In your case, I suggest you to create an Amazon account with your AE card, and your son’s US address and see whether you can buy the device first. If OK, then buy some eBooks to try with the AE card.
If you failed to buy the device, then use the other method I used – i.e. the onenow.com; or get your son a US credit card.
If you failed to buy any ebooks, then try using Amazon gift coupon approach. You can find the information in my other blog post.
This approach works for both Kindle 2 and DX. If you can wait for a few more months however, then definitely you can get a better deal – as I believe the price will drop around Thanksgiving Day …
Hope this helps.
hi!
can i ask what was the breakdown in cost using the onenow.com method to get the kindle2? i have been doing alot of research, seems like the most popular way to get it into Singapore is using vPost. thanks!
Hi Hanyi,
Sorry I forgot the cost I paid to onenow.com to ship the Kindle and the cover to me, but obviously it was cheaper than thru Amazon.com. I think if you want to get the Kindle to Singapore, then vPost it shall be a better choice. vPost is part of Singapore Post right ? And I think vPost support countries other than US as well.
Hope it helps.
thanks. yeah looks like vpost is my best choice.
Thank you very much Michael! Got my Kindle2 (through OneNow) and bought books (with gift cards). Everything is working! Without your sharing I would have waited, and waited, and waited for Kindle to come to HK…
Hi Bryan,
Glad that you have everything working. Enjoy Kindle 2 and the world of eBook !!
Hey Michael,
Thanks for the above information..though i dont live in HK…i just wanted to confirm whether i can buy kindle using American Express/visa issued in India? nd get it delivered to a US address…
possible?
thnks
Hi Aditi,
Glad that you found the information useful. From my experience and others, it seems that as long as you have an US billing / shipping address, you can buy the Kindle 2 with any countries’ credit cards. However, to buy the eBooks, you need one credit card issued in US (but in my case, I had no problem using HK AMEX). As mentioned though, you can always use your credit card to buy gift certificate and then in turn use it to buy eBooks.
Hope it helps.
Very interesting this post. I´m writing from Brazil and I would like to know if somebody has hear about buying a Kindke and shiping it to Brazil. Does it work?
Thanks,
Roberto
Hi Roberto,
Yes, as long as you can get an US address, I think it can be done …
Cheers.
Hi, Michael.
I tried to register in the Onenow.com today, after I typed in all the information and continued, it said “the page you’re looking for doesn’t exist”, do you know why this happened?
Thanks.
Hi,
Sorry to hear that, looks like you need to contact onenow.com for that. May be you can try login again to see whether your registration worked or not ?
Hope it helps.
Hi all, great info… I’m from Singapore and will probably buy a DX thru Vpost using VISA… I know I’ve to put in the US shipping address given by Vpost but do I also use this US address as my credit card billing address or should I use the actual SG credit card billing address? Thanks!
Hi Riona,
Glad that you find the information useful. Yes, you shall use your US address as your credit card billing address as well. (It works for AMEX card as I think they don’t have rigorous card number / address cross check). You may also consider gift coupon option if you cannot use your credit card to buy eBooks.
Hope it helps.
Hi, indeed now the Kindle 2 is made available internationally, however, it is still not in Singapore. Assuming if I use vPost to purchase the international version of the Kindle and ship to Singapore and when I travel to places like Hong Kong, Taiwan & Vietnam (places that Amazon is able to sell the eBooks), will the Kindle be able to access the Amazon store and purchase the eBooks? Possibly the purchase method may have to use the gift coupon as you suggested. Am I right?
Hi Jason,
I checked and yes, really surprised that the Kindle is still not shipping to Singapore. Anyway, in that case, I think you still can purchase the International version via vPost (I just bought the International version thru Onenow, please check my blog post). And then you can go to other places to buy eBooks, however you can now use proper method to purchase books (as your Amazon account shall now recognize that you have International version Kindle and able to sell book to it) – i.e. gift coupon method is not needed, even though you still can do that.
However, there are some limitations of buying books for Kindle international version, I will blog about it and please wait a day or two
Hi Michael,
I just bought US version of Kindle DX yesterday. I had bought a gift card using my Chinese VISA credit card and redeem it to a new amazon account. I enabled 1-click payment by entering my Chinese VISA credit card info with a US shipping address. I can send sample chapters to my kindle dx via whispernet but can’t buy any kindle books.
The error message is:
“We’re sorry! An error occurred when we tried to process your request. Rest assured, we’re working to resolve the problem as soon as possible. If you were trying to make a purchase, please check Your Account to confirm that the order was placed. We apologize for the inconvenience.”
I read your update about the ip address checking applied by amazon.com recently, but I am traveling in the States right now.
Can you confirm if the gift coupon option is still works? Thanks!
Hi Jerry,
Where did you place the order and see that message ? Was it in US or elsewhere ? As far as I know, the gift coupon option still works, especially if you now traveling in US, you can in fact try to buy books directly from your Kindle. May be you can try it and share with us here. Thanks !!
Hi Michael
Getting a DX no problem overseas but how does one register it with Amazon when overseas.
John
Hi John,
You can always link your Kindle with your Amazon account in the “Manage your Kindle” section. However there is no way to register the device with Amazon unless you traveled to US. More information here: http://www.michaelyung.com/blog/services-and-products/2009/04/18/registering-kindle-2-from-outside-us/. However, the Kindle DX International version will be made available early next year. So, you may want to wait for that.
Hope it helps.
Hi Michael
In your related comments you state:
“But still, without registering your Kindle 2, you still can buy eBooks and read those without any problems.”
Please explain how.
John
Hi John,
Indeed, you can buy books without registering your “Kindle device / hardware”, but you still need to add your Kindle serial number in your Amazon account (such that Amazon knows where the books shall send / save to). For details, please check the following blog post:
http://www.michaelyung.com/blog/book/2009/03/21/buy-kindle-books-from-outside-us/
Hope it helps.
Hi Michael,
I just read through your blog for past few months. I am located in HK. If I would like to buy a Kindle 2, do I still need to go to onenew.com as a delivery router?
Thanks,
Otto
Hi Otto,
If all you need is to buy the International version, then no, you don’t need onenow.com services anymore. However, if you want to have an US address for your Amazon account (e.g. for consolidating shipments to save shipping cost; or to buy US books for your Kindle), then you still can use their services.
Hope it helps.
Hi Michael,
I don’t have a US issued credit card and want to buy US books. Do I need to use onenow.com?
Thanks,
Otto
No Otto, you can use gift coupon option to buy US books as well. Please check my other blog posts. However, if you need an US address for other shipments, then you can use onenow.com or similar services. Hope it helps.
Hi Michael,
Just to clarify – by other shipments do you mean accessories like light or leather bag etc ?
Thanks
Hi Otto,
The US address can be used in other accessories, and other Amazon goods, and even your purchases from other websites. Onenow provide the US address, and you can consolidate all your US purchases in that address and then send it back (to save overall shipment charges).
Hope it helps.
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