Kindle International: 5 Things to Know Before Buying

Now that the Amazon Kindle International is officially available for purchase in over 170 countries, there are 5 things you should know before you decide to buy a Kindle International. There's a lot of misinformation floating around on the internet about Amazon's popular book reading device, and this article is designed to give a clear few of the truth behind the rumors, with links so that can see the proof for yourself.

The quickest way to do this is to open the Kindle International product page in a new window and read along as you follow these steps.

1. Availability. Make sure that Amazon ships the Kindle International to your country, or if you live in the US you can make sure if it will get wireless coverage in the countries that you plan to visit. With the product page open, click on the link in the lower-center of the page that's inside the blue "Live Outside The US?" box. Choose your country from the drop-down list and read what it says.

2. eBook Selection. With the description box for your country open, make sure to read the details about ebook selection and pricing for your region. As a general rule, most new releases and bestsellers cost $11.99 outside the US. The one exception is the European Union, which charges up to an additional $2 for VAT.

Regardless of where you live, Amazon has one of the largest libraries of ebooks available with very competitive prices, especially compared to ebook stores that sell ePub format. A lot of people prefer ePub to Amazon's proprietary format, but the current selection and prices for ePub doesn't come close to what Amazon offers. Also, some ebook retailers have regional restrictions and aren't allowed to sell ebooks to customers outside the US.

Here are two of the most popular ePub retailers so that you can compare prices of your favorite types of books with Amazon: BooksOnBoard has about 280,000 ebooks and eBooks.com has around 200,000 titles.

3. Wireless Coverage. Next, in your country's description box, if it says "books in under 60 seconds" at the very top, you can download ebooks directly to the Kindle. If not, you will have to download your ebooks to a computer and then transfer them to the device via USB cable. You can view a wireless coverage map by clicking on the link partway down the page.

It's important to note that there are no wireless contracts, roaming charges, or any kind of additional cellular fees associated with using the Kindle International's wireless service.

4. Price Verification. The Kindle International costs $259 USD, and shipping typically costs around $20. Depending on your specific country, there may be additional duty and import fees. The only way to check the exact cost is to add the Kindle International to your cart, enter your information, and then let Amazon show you the total cost before checkout.

Amazon will show you the price in US dollars, so if you want to get a better idea of what that converts to, you can use this helpful currency calculator.

5. Review Product Details. If you still have some questions and want to learn more about the Kindle, you can read a detailed written review, view photos, and watch a video demo of how it works on this Kindle International Review page.

I hope this article has helped answer the questions you had about the Kindle International. But if you have any questions, feel free to email me on my contact page.