Monday, September 16, 2013

Amazon Kindle Paperwhite in Singapore (Late 2013)

If you want to read more last year's Kindle Paperwhite (with 300 comments!), click here
1) Updates:
  • 5 August 2013: I just opened a new online shop Singapore Kindle Shop. Get the Kindle Paperwhite (no ads version) at S$250 with free 2-day delivery
  • 7 October: I've received my new Paperwhite. Highly recommended with a fantastic screen!
  • 26 Oct 2014: This blog entry will no longer be updated. Click here for the new Kindle Voyage entry!
  • 1 July 2015: The new Paperwhite has been upgraded to 300PPI! 
2) New 2013 features
3) How to buy a Kindle in Singapore
4) How to buy Kindle ebooks in Singapore
5) Some Kindle ebooks I've bought



_________________ 
As I said in last year's entry, I always worry when this time of the year arrives. Would Amazon discontinue the Kindle? Would they be lured by the Dark Side and embrace tablets at the cost of E Ink devices? Would Amazon continue to take reading (and not reading+music+internet+Angry Birds!) seriously? Fortunately, the answer is yes, and in late October 2013 they announced the 2nd version of the Kindle Paperwhite. Here's what's new.


Click=big
As we can see from the table, last year's Pearl and this year's Carta E Ink screens are mostly similar. The big difference is the 3rd and 4th lines of the table. Contrast ratio, the thing that makes print pages look really good, has been improved yet again!  

New 2013 features Apart from the hardware, the software has been evolving continuously. The first two features below are VERY exciting! (For owners of Paperwhite version 1, these features will most definitely be available in a future software update.)  

New Kindle FreeTime—Built-in parental controls have been extended to give parents a simple, engaging way to encourage kids to spend more time reading. Hand-select books for your kids to read, and hand out achievement badges when they hit reading milestones. A progress report keeps parents updated on total time spent reading, number of words looked up, badges earned and books finished. 
New Vocabulary Builder—Compiles words you look up in the dictionary into an easy-to-access list. Use these lists to quiz yourself with flashcards and instantly see words in context. See screenshots:
New Smart Lookup—Integrates a full dictionary definition with other reference information about a word, character, topic or book via X-Ray and Wikipedia. For example, using an ordinary dictionary to look up “credit default swaps” in Michael Lewis’ The Big Short would give the individual definitions of “credit,” “default” and “swaps.” Smart Lookup recognizes this is an important topic and phrase in the book, and gives you the correct definition of “credit default swaps” via X-Ray. See a screenshot: www.amazon.com/kindle-lookup.
 New In-line Footnotes—With a single tap, read the complete text of each footnote in-line without changing the page or losing your place in the book. See a screenshot: www.amazon.com/kindle-footnotes.

----------------------------

How to buy a Kindle in Singapore
  • Summary: Buy from Amazon, who will ship to your forwarder, who will ship to you. Turnaround: around 14 days.
  • Go to the Kindle page buy yourself a Kindle. (You can use your local credit card with correct local billing address to do this. You don't need a VPN and don't need to use gift cards.) 
  • The new Kindle will be automatically linked to your Amazon account.
  • Ship it to a third party mail forwarder. Borderlinx (Citibank credit card required, go to 'get a virtual address') and Comgateway (go to 'get my US address') are both excellent. They both use DHL to ship packages to Singapore. DHL is extremely reliable and fast; they even deliver on Sundays!
  • When you get your Kindle, you need to register it if it hasn't already been registered. After connecting to wifi at "home>settings", register it by filling in your Amazon username and password at "home>settings>register".
Some preparatory steps to take before buying eBooks from the Amazon US store
  • Summary: Use a VPN and prepare your Amazon account. Buy gift card and send to yourself.
  • Because Amazon doesn't officially support Kindles in Singapore, there were instances where buyers were found to be not from 'authorised countries' and were asked to provide proof of US residency before they could buy books again. The probability of this happening is very low. To be totally safe, use a vpn described below.
  • Firstly, do not buy Amazon ebooks directly from your Kindle device or Kindle apps, not even free books.
  • Buy a gift card with your local credit card, say USD50. Use the correct, local billing address for this purchase. Email the gift card to your email address. When you receive it in the mail, apply the gift amount to your Amazon account.
  • Go to your account, 'manage payment options', and erase your credit card info if you have any credit cards associated with Amazon.com . (Do this also whenever you buy something at Amazon using your local credit card.)
  • You need to buy books using your Internet browser on your computer with a VPN installed. Functionally, using a VPN is the equivalent of me giving you an airplane ticket to travel with your Kindle to the US. Use a VPN such as Private Tunnel to make yourself situated in the US, in spirit. You may turn it off later when you're done purchasing. Click here to download some instructions. The cheapest VPN package can last you for years. Do not use Hotspot Shield; it's known not to work sometimes.
  • Exit your Internet browser.
  • Switch on your VPN. Open your browser.
  • Go to Manage your Kindle at the Kindle product page.
  • Go to 'settings>country settings'. Change your country to US if it's showing another country. Use any US address. Take a screenshot of it in case Amazon asks in future.
  • Switch off the VPN.
How to buy eBooks from the Amazon US store
  • Summary: Don't buy books from Kindle itself, buy gift cards, send to yourself, use a VPN on your computer to buy books
  • Do not buy eBooks (even if the books are free) with the Kindle device.
  • Ensure that you have sufficient funds in your account. If not, buy more gift cards and apply them to your account.
  • Exit your Internet browser.
  • Switch on your VPN, and check that it's working by going to http://www.whatismyipaddress.com . It needs to show a US IP address.
  • Go to Amazon. Find your book and click 'buy now with 1-click', 'deliver to your Kindle'. If you choose to wirelessly send it to your Kindle, you should receive the book in a few seconds. You can also choose to download the file and transfer it to your Kindle using USB. If asked for the billing address, use any US address. Note that this address will not be used because funds will originate from your gift card balance. New: Copy or do a screenshot of this information (the US billing address and telephone number that you used.) You may be asked for it in the future.
  • Switch off the VPN.
Some Kindle books I've bought to be read on the E Ink Kindle and Kindle for iPad.


105 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hey Jeff, I'm thinking or ordering the new Paperwhite. I read your post about magazines. So just to clarify that the process for subscribing to a magazine on amazon is the same as buying an ebook?

jeffyen said...

Anon, the situation for magazines is quite different. The payment system doesn't allow gift cards and it needs an actual US credit card. I use usunlocked.com for this purpose but there's a 5% fee or thereabouts fee for its use.

Anonymous said...

Is it ok to buy the kindle and ebooks from my regular amazon account? I've had my account for a long time and don't want to risk getting my account shut down. I may be interested in the new Matchbook and need my book buying history with amazon for that. Will they get suspicious if my history shows I have been shipping orders to Singapore, or if, after I get the kindle, I use the same account to both order ebooks with a VPN, and to ship other orders to Singapore?

jeffyen said...

Anon, it's fine to have just one account for everything. To be safe, use a vpn as described in my instructions...

Anonymous said...

Good to know that! Yes I will use a vpn. Thank you so much for your detailed instructions, and for taking the time to help us all with our questions, I really appreciate it!

Alicia

nicepal said...

I love your SG Kindle Shop. Look so refreshing and neat. Great work out there.

Anonymous said...

Hi Jeff,
Can I use the same Amazon account when I buy the kindle and when I buy e-book ?

jeffyen said...

nicepal: thanks, it's just off the shelf shopping cart lol

Anon: You can use the same Amazon account, yes. When you buy ebooks though, the best practice is that the billing address should be a US one though.

Anonymous said...

If I change my amazon account on my kindle, will everything be erased? Or will i still be able to access the books that i have already downloaded?

jeffyen said...

Anon, you can switch from one amazon account to another and back again, no worries. The books that are already in your Kindle won't be gone when you switch accounts; I tried it myself.

jeffyen said...

Polly says:

---------------
Hi Jeff,

I recently got a Kindle and received a message from Amazon:

Hello from Amazon.

We are writing because the home country registered to your Kindle account may not match your country of residence. Due to publishing rights, the home country registered to your account must match your country of residence.

To continue purchasing titles available for the United States, please send a copy of your valid government-issued identity card, passport, or a utility bill received within the previous 90 days to our secure fax line:

Within the US: 206-266-1838
Outside the US: (00)1-206-266-1838

For your security, you may obscure the passport, ID, or account number. However, we ask that you do not obscure any portion of your name, your address, or any expiration or statement dates.

Your fax will be converted to a secure electronic image that will never be printed. Once we have completed the verification process, we will delete the image.

If you have moved to a different country, you can update your home country in the Manage Your Kindle section of your Amazon account (www.amazon.com/manageyourkindle):

1. Login to amazon.com/manageyourkindle.
2. Click "Country Settings."
3. Click "Change."
4. Choose an existing home address from your account or enter a new one.
5. Click “Update.”

We may restrict your home country setting if you continue to purchase from the catalog of titles for the United States without completing the verification process.

We appreciate your cooperation.

Regards,

Account Specialist

Any idea if i can ignore it and continue purchasing using VPN etc. Not sure how to get around this and appreciate ur help!

Thank you so much!

--------------------

Polly, what you need to do is to ignore this email, and start buying books again using a vpn as described on this blog entry; the 'how to buy ebooks' section.

Anonymous said...

Hi Jeff
Is it possible to get the Kindle app for my iPhone? I used to have it but because I can't authorise it from the UK account I used to have it's now been cancelled.
Thank you
Wendy

jeffyen said...

Wendy, I logged into my US iTunes account and could find the Kindle app. I'm not familiar with the UK situation though.

Anonymous said...

Thanks Jeff, the UK account doesn't exist anymore. How do I get the app from Singapore?

jeffyen said...

The Kindle app is not available in the Singapore iTunes store. It's available however in the US iTunes store. So you need to sign up for a US iTunes account. I don't remember whether you need a US credit card for this purpose; maybe not. If you do, you can sign up for one at www.usunlocked.com .

Anonymous said...

Hi Jeff
Stumbled onto your blog- very useful. Thanks !
Bought paperweight for daughter. She was happily downloading the e books then the home wireless ip (Singapore ) got discovered. Now cannot purchase anymore.
"items could not be purchased.
You have attempted to purchase an item while in a different country than listed on your amazon account"
Is there a way of resetting? What should I do? Any advise?
Thanks
Sam




jeffyen said...

Hi Sam, please email me at info@sgkindleshop.com and I'll advise you further.

For those who want to DIY in case you see a similar issue, please follow my instructions starting from 'some preparatory steps to take before buying eBooks from the Amazon US store'.

Anonymous said...

Hi Jeff,
Great and useful post, thanks!
Just wondering, are you familiar with the Japanese version of kindle paperwhite? Is seems much cheaper. Any idea what's the difference between the US and the Jap version?

Thanks a lot!

jeffyen said...

Anon, the Japanese has double the space for books (probably for comics as it's a big market there.) This is perhaps irrelevant as most of us I reckon don't even use a tiny fraction of space for our books on the US sets.

The other issue is more 'serious' in that the Japanese version's serial number is tagged to the Japanese store. So if you have an issue and want to repair it etc., you probably can't talk to US support; you need to speak Japanese with the Japanese support staff instead.

Other than that, the 2 are similar.

Anonymous said...

Hey Jeff,

I'm thinking of ordering a paperwhite from Amazon. I set up an account with Comgateway and got my local address in the US. My question is, once they receive my paperwhite, I have to choose the size of the box to ship it to Singapore right? If so, what size is a good size? I'm only planning to order the paperwhite itself and nothing else like the cover or spare adapters.

Thanks.

Anonymous said...

One more question, when you choose to ship from Comgateway to yourself in Singapore, you pay for the shipping charge, but it also mentions fuel surcharge and insurance. Are fuel surcharge and insurance included in the shipping cost?

jeffyen said...

Anon, you don't have to choose any box. The box from Amazon will be used. It's a very small box so there's nothing to worry about.

Don't order anything else except the Kindle and the cover; there's just no need to.

Yes, everything is included; fuel surcharge etc.

Anonymous said...

^Thanks for the reply again. Got one more question, what about customs duty when it arrives in Singapore? Do I have to take care of that? Just ordered my paperwhite, thanks.

jeffyen said...

Customs duty will be collected by CGW together with their shipping cost.

As long as your total purchases don't exceed around USD300, you don't need to pay customs duty (7% Singapore GST)

Anonymous said...

So I ordered my Kindle last Tuesday and chose free shipping. The approximate delivery date is given as yesterday to next week Tuesday, and it still hasn't been shipped. Should I be worried? CGW's warehouse is in Portland, which I guess isn't far away from Seattle but don't know why it's taking them so long to ship it?

jeffyen said...

Anon, Amazon will assign a lower priority to packages that ship for free. This has nothing to do with cgw or where cgw is located.

You can check amazon to see if the package is shipped. Once it ships, you can also follow its progress to cgw.

Anonymous said...

Hi Jeff,

If I'd like to purchase just the cover from your Kindle shop, does the listed price include shipping costs as well? Thanks.

jeffyen said...

Anon, yes, the price includes local shipping costs too. Do look also at the 'discounts page' link. :)

Unknown said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Unknown said...

Hi Jeffyen, what if I'm using a DNS service like UNOTELLY? Will it be ok to buy directly from the kindle? Anyway to set the DNS manually in a KINDLE PAPERWHITE?

Liz said...

Hi Jeff

Is it possible to purchase from both amazon uk and Amazon us? I am thinking of purchasing a paper white for my kid. I realized that amazon us does not sell her her favorite author's (Enid Blyton) books but the uk one does.

Do I have to register and de- register my kindle and change my country settings each time I want to buy from either stores?

Thank you

Anonymous said...

Just received my Kindle Paperwhite and it's amazing! I chose free shipping to CGW, which took about 10 7 days for them to ship it, and then it took about 1-2 days to get to the CGW warehouse. From the CGW warehouse I chose express shipping and it took exactly 4 days to get here, amazingly fast and I am totally satisfied. Now it's time I order that cover from your website, thanks a lot for this website, it really helped me a lot.

jeffyen said...

Noel, I've no idea about DNS services that's related to the wifi. From the Kindle' point of view, the only thing that you can specify is your wifi router's password. Look here: http://www.amazon.com/gp/help/customer/display.html?nodeId=201301570

I don't really recommend buying direct from the Kindle as doing it on a computer is so much more comfortable (from a screen size point of view.)

Liz, technically it's possible but you need to deregister out of the US store, log into the UK store and vice versa. (Once a book is in your Kindle there's no need to do anything further.) And you may also need a UK VPN.

Anon, thanks for the info, good to see the numbers you provide are still very good...

Anonymous said...

Hi Jeff,

So I signed up with AlwaysVPN, whenever it connects it shows that I'm not connected to the AlwaysVPN network. But, when I go to showip.net, it shows a different IP address and shows that I'm in the US. What should I do? I have tried compatible connect and faster connect and I get the same results.

jeffyen said...

Anon, if you're seeing a US IP address, that means the vpn is working. Refresh often, sometimes the connection drops so you need to know if it drops...

Unknown said...

Hi jeff,
Jus wondering, won't switching on wirelessly cause you to be detected by amazon your actual location? Cause u did mention that in your topic "How to buy eBooks from the Amazon US store" about downloading wirelessly to your kindle. I am too scared to switch on my kindle wirelessly, fear that they'll detect me. But I have a habit of buying a few books at a time and downloading them wirelessly would be a huge plus point.

jeffyen said...

Rini, it's not a problem switching on the wifi; there's nothing wrong with using the Kindle at all places. They only check the ip address when you click 'buy now'.

Anonymous said...

Any idea what the shipping costs are these days in US$ with borderline/comgateway--assuming I only order the kindle paperwhite? Thanks

jeffyen said...

Anon, the cost is around S$25 or less nowadays...

Anonymous said...

Hi Jeff,

I have heed your advise to have registered with Borderlinx and AlwaysVPN, and purchased gift card which has been sent to my Amazon.com account.

Under your last section of "How to buy eBooks from the Amazon US store", at your last second point where you said to include any US address as "Billing Address" for buying books with gift cards.

Question: Can I use the same US forwarding address provided to me by Borderlinx?
If I do, then both my shipping and billing address will be identical.
Will that be a problem? Will it create any suspicion on Amazon side? Otherwise can please advise me?

Thank you.

Nick

jeffyen said...

Nick, yes you can, just remember to take a picture of the screen so that you have all the details next time.

It's reasonable that a person's billing and shipping address is similar (i.e. the address that the credit card bill arrives at should be the same as the place the purchases will go to!)

I can't think of a reason why this would present a problem...

Anonymous said...

Hi Jeff,

Many thanks for your prompt reply.
Cheers.

Nick

Anonymous said...

Hi Jeff, I have both the english and chinese dictionary in my PW Gen1. It was working for awhile. But after one kindle update somehow the device was corrupted/confsed. My english dictionary definition no longer works. Only the chinese-english dictionary does. Have you encountered this problem?

jeffyen said...

Anon, this looks strange so you may want to reset everything and start again.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/help/customer/display.html?ie=UTF8&nodeId=201176250

Anonymous said...

Thanks Jeff... I was hoping otherwise... but looks like it the only way... I was trying to avoid having to go thro the trouble of categorizing the books...thanks anyway...

Unknown said...

Jeff,

Thank you for the write up, you are a god sent. Bought my wife Kindle as a surprise now she can enjoy reading again.

Anonymous said...

Hi can you help me check how much it costs to get a kindle paperwhite second gen with ads if I want to ship to sg?

jeffyen said...

Anon, you can take a look at this:

http://www.sgkindleshop.com/blogs/news/10562957-the-diy-way-to-buy-kindles-yourself

Anonymous said...

Hi Jeff,

Does the method you describe work for Mac users as well?

jeffyen said...

Anon, yes, everything works on a Mac. My primary computer is a Macbook.

Anonymous said...

Hi Jeff,
I have bought a book from Amazon forgetting to turn on my VPN. What's gonna happen???

Thanks.

Anonymous said...

I'm interested to get the latest kindle paper white but don't know what to do with my older kindle. Any advice ?

jeffyen said...

Anon 1: Nothing's going to happen, unless they email you.

Anon 2: Just let someone else use the older Kndle. :)

Anonymous said...

I tried asking around, non of my family members are interested to have it. They either don't read that much or they rather I give them an iPad or something ! *sigh*

Anonymous said...

Hi Jeff, I have been purchasing from Amazon US and now want to buy from amazon UK. if I change my kindle registration to UK and then set up a new amazon account for amazon UK, will this work? thanks.

jeffyen said...

Anon, theoretically it can work and others have tried this before. Whether you need a UK vpn is another question. There's no need to do that unless you really can't find the book you want in the US store.

Tony said...

Hi Jeff, I would like to buy a kindle Paperwhite. Difficulty deciding which version. Is the Ads very irritating for the version that comes with Ads?

jeffyen said...

Tony, the ads are not irritating at all (and are really quite nice) and never appear in the books.

Anonymous said...

hi jeff,
I'm learning japanese and wish to read more japanese novel/book and kindle got the dictionary feature that really useful. If i got a kindle, how should i go about buying from amazon japan? do i need a jap set or any version will do? Regards, SAM

jeffyen said...

Anon, I have not tried it yet, but I suspect you need a vpn that gives you a Japanese IP address. From what I remember you don't need the Japanese set to read Japanese.

http://www.perapera.org/kindle-paperwhite-godsend-japanese-learners/

If you want to get the Japanese set from local importers, do note that tech support/exchanges are not practical as the US store won't honour tech support claims for a Japanese set. If you are fine with that, you're good to go. But you *may* need a vpn.

alytevasin said...

Thank you for such an amazing and detailed post.

Been reading through and reading up and contemplating on choosing between get Kindle PW (US) and Japan. One has more space than the other, but I also read somewhere that the Japanese model's warranty wouldn't offer hardware assistance should any cropped up.

Also, read somewhere that there is a rumour that PW3 might just be coming up.

Wondering what your take would be - get a PW2 now, or hold up?

jeffyen said...

Alyssa

The space is irrelevant as you will never even get close to the limit. The real difference is the support (or lack of it) if you actually have access to the Japanese set. If you can live with the risk, sure, get the Japanese set.

Amazon routinely announces a new model around September. There's really no reason to wait as the current model is quite flawless.

WC said...

Hi Jeff / anyone,

Have you tried buying Preorder ebooks? When purchasing Preorder books, after clicking the Preorder button, they are asking you to key in the Credit Card (CC) number. Seeing this, I aborted the purchase.

Do you or anyone else has experience on this?

I am assuming that you can key in the CC (perhaps also the Billing Address which they normally ask for whenever they require the CC in a normal purchase), but eventually they will deduct from the giftcard.

Therefore, they are no issues with the purchase if we proceed to provide the CC information?

WC said...

Just to clarify the above, the Preorder books are the Kindle First books.

jeffyen said...

WC, my instructions are in favour of not using credit cards to buy books directly. Therefore, as you have found out, I do not pre-order books.

Just buy them when they are released.

Unknown said...

Hi Jefffrey

Great Post! A few points I would like to clarify:

1)After purchasing the gift card, can i send it to the email account I registered at Amazon(the one I paid the gift card for)? Since it seems that it ll be a deadgiveaway when I apply the giftcard to my Amazon account


2)Go to your account, 'manage payment options', and erase your credit card info if you have any credit cards associated with Amazon.com . (Do this also whenever you buy something at Amazon using your local credit card.) --> Does this means I have to erase my credit card info from the account(from which I bought Kindle) whenever I pay for my ebooks even if I am using VPN?

Also, Can i buy ebooks with the same Amazon account that I bought my Kindle, as long as the credit card info is erased?

Thanks!

jeffyen said...

Ashley, 1) Yes you can. The reason is that the more important factors are the use of the vpn at the point of buying books, and also the billing address (which should be a US billing address.)

2) Well, I actually do that because I don't often buy gift cards. (I just buy a lot of money at one go.) This step may not be so critical compared to point 1 above.

Yes you can buy ebooks with the same account, provided (1) is fulfilled.

Anonymous said...

What happens if I buy a gift card without using a vpn? Can I still buy kindle e books?
-CQ

jeffyen said...

CQ, you don't need to use a vpn to buy gift cards.

Anonymous said...

Hi Jeffrey

I am living in Taiwan now and thinking of ordering the Kindle. It can be delivered to Taiwan and I assume no problem with the download/ buying of ebooks etc.

What I concern, and I am not sure if you can assist, is when I move back to Singapore. Will I be able to continue to purchase/ download the ebooks or would I be declined, and have to start the VPN/ gift voucher method? I am also wondering if all my previous purchases will be wipe out.

Any insight you can provide would be much appreciated.

Thanks and Regards
Johanna

jeffyen said...

Johanna, when you are back in SG, it's advisable to use my instructions to purchase books. Your previous purchases will NOT be wiped out.

Unknown said...

Jeff

I cannot connect to the private tunnel vpn. It kept trying to reconnect after a failure.

Any idea why? I am using a surface pro 3. Could it be due to that?

Thanks!

Hazel

Anonymous said...

Until now I had been using my Amazon US account while being resident in another country and using that country's credit card. To be honest, as it worked I didnt think anything about it. Recently, though, I received an email from Amazon asking me to verify my US residency with id, which of course I cannot do. They stated that if I continued to purchase through the Amazon US account without verifying my US residency they would restrict my Amazon US account. Whatever that means.

What should I do? How does Amazon know where you're ordering from? Do they just check against your credit card, or do they check IP address too (hence need for VPN)? If I was to use your method here, wouldnt they restrict my account even if I used gift cards because they've already caught me and asked for residency check before the account is useable again?

jeffyen said...

Hazel, I think you can try again. Sometimes the connection drops off but on the whole it does work most of the time.

Anon, what you need to do now is to ignore the email, and follow the instructions on the blog. They look at the IP address. I don't think there's an issue with the gift card method going forward.

Unknown said...

Still cannot connect... it is because i am running windows 8?

jeffyen said...

Hazel, it could be, but I don't see a reason why Win8 won't work. Maybe you can go their website and go to the support section/email their support?

Anonymous said...

My kindle is connected wireless, so could this mean that amazon knows that your browser is US based and your kindle isn't? leading to asking you to confirm your residency in the US.

Also could I gift back the kindle book from the US account to the non-based US account as a gift book?

jeffyen said...

1) Anon, don't worry about that. The check only happens when you buy books.

2) I don't think gifting works like that. Anyway, there's no such thing as a non-US account. If the account is from amazon.com, they are treated similarly.

Jimmy said...

Any reason why need to use a 3rd party courier (eg.Comgateway), instead of shipping it straight to SG.. since only at point of book purchase is our IP being tracked..

jeffyen said...

Jimmy, the simple answer is that Amazon doesn't ship Kindles direct to Singapore. You can try this by adding a Kindle to your shopping cart and shipping it to a local address. The order will not go through.

Anonymous said...

How could I get a US address?

Anonymous said...

Hi Jeff,

Good evening.

Need help here.If I buy a kindle paperwhite in Singapore would I be able to use it whenever I travel to Hongkong or Malaysia.Which setting should I go to.

Your reply would be very helpful.
Thank you

jeffyen said...

Anon 1, you can just make up one or use any US as a reference and amend it. Be sure to take a photo of the screen as Amazon may ask for it later.

Anon 2, you can use it anywhere. The bigger issue is how to buy books? For me I just use my own method and stick to the US store using a vpn.

Rachel said...

Hi Jeff,

Am thinking of purchasing a Kindle Ppaerwhite 2013, and would like to check if I could use the methods as you described to subscribe to Kindle Unlimited, i.e. US$9.99 per month? Will the procedures be any different from purchasing ebooks ad hoc?

Thank you.

jeffyen said...

Rachel, you can try Unlimited if you've a US credit card. I use neteller.com

The purchasing of books of the 'free' books remain the same.

Anonymous said...

Hi Jeff, I followed your instruction as stated and bought a giftcard for myself. The first works but the second time and third time I didnt received please kindly advice... thanks

jeffyen said...

Anon, check your spam folder after 15 mins. Sometimes it goes there. No reason why a giftcard can't be delivered. It's a general amazon product.javascript:void(0)

Anonymous said...

Hi I just received an email stating they need address verfication. For my amazon account, do i use my own address or make up usa address? Im confused pls help. thanks

Anonymous said...

The amazon have put my account on hold due to my address. Any advice? As i need to access to my books asap for a report.

jeffyen said...

Anon1, you can just reference any address in the US. Do not reply to their email; just continue buying books using a vpn.

Anon2, your books should be able to be accessed through the cloud. Email me at jeffreyyen@gmail.com

Anonymous said...

Hi Jeffrey, I am receiving the same email from Amazon like the others on the home country registered to my kindle account does not match country of residence. As you suggested, we should buy ebooks using gift card thru Vpn. If I do that, Will the book I buy link to my kindle and download it automatically? Currently, I am buying books in Amazon using my iPad safari app and after one clicked buy, it automatically linked and download the books in my kindle. Is there any wa I can still do the same approach?
Thanks

jeffyen said...

Anon, yes, the book will appear in your kindle if your kindle's wifi is switched on. (You can switch it off once you're done.)

Unless you can get a vpn working on your iPad working, you should use your computer+vpn instead as described in my workflow. Once you are able to buy a book, reading it on your iPad kindle app is trivial.

Anonymous said...

Hi Jeff, what is the difference of a wifi only version and wifi + 3G version? Is there any limitations?

jeffyen said...

Anon, the 3G version allows you to have wireless access anywhere to download your books. In the Singapore context, it's just not necessary. Wifi is enough.

Tracey said...

Hi Jeff
Need your advise. I'm thinking of getting a HD fire Kids for my children from Amazon and they have unlimited free time download
Do you know if I would still be able to download from Singapore? Many thanks!

jeffyen said...

Tracey, I don't know whether it'll work well. The books need to be 'bought' on the device and so a vpn should be installed on it. I'm not sure if this is possible on the HD Fire.

Anonymous said...

Hi Jeff.
I have been buying kindle ebooks from Amazon for over a year now, using a local debit card but by having my mail forwarder's US address in my account. No prob so far. And I have been reading those books on my desktop via the Kindle Cloud Reader. I recently got a Kindle Paperwhite. Would like to ask you:
1. Is it safe for me to deliver/download those books that I already purchased from 'CLoud' to 'Device' within my Kindle itself (wifi connected)?
2. Is it ok to deliver/download and then USB transfer them from desktop to my kindle without connecting to VPN? Or still need to use VPN?

Thanks in advance!

Anonymous said...

Hi Jeff,

I find that your blog is very insightful and certainly it benefit me a lot. thank you for sharing.
However, i curious whether the VPN and gift card method work for freetime unlimited subscription?

thank you and have a great day ahead.

best regards
yk

jeffyen said...

Anon from 2 January,

1) Yes it's safe.
2) You don't need to use the USB. The issue is not with downloading books you've already bought. It's buying new books that may have issues.

yk, for freetime, you need a US credit card and vpn. I use neteller.com

CLK said...

Hi Jeff,

For Kinlde Unlimited user, can user download/buy free and paid ebooks directly on the Kindle?

Or should the user download/buy the ebooks on VPN-enabled computer as you suggested?

Regards,
LK

jeffyen said...

CLK,

I don't know, but I would advise against it. It's easy to buy the free books using your computer with a vpn.

Prem said...

Hi Jeff, I have a question about the kindle book prices.

When I look at the kindle book through my Singapore account (through which I purchased the paperwhite), I see the listed price as $6.

However when I look at it through my US VPN account (solely for buying books), the price is listed as $9.99.

Why is there a differnce? Thank you in advance.

jeffyen said...

That's quite interesting Prem; I've never seen that before. What is the name of the book?

Prem said...

Its the gunslinger by Stephen King

jeffyen said...

Yes I see the same thing too. Quite strange though, probably an anomaly in pricing!