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Amazon has hit our shores with Amazon.com.au up and running, but it's currently just based around the Kindle and It's E-books, but this is one step closer to a fully featured market for better bargains.
Amazon Australia
ModaMagic on 13/11/2013 - 10:47
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In the absence of data I would say do not transfer your account. Australian digital media has always been overpriced. Australian digital download is cheaper…. said no one ever.
Precisely. I'm fairly certain that this will be subject to the same price-gouging tactics that is prevalent throughout Aussie retail. They will still spew the same bullshit about dollar conversion making things more expensive (lolwut?)and the cost of doing business in Australia (even though they are an online retailer).
EDIT:
I stand corrected:
http://www.lifehacker.com.au/2013/11/how-do-amazons-australi…Why do you stand corrected? I think you were absolutely right to be suspicious.
I got misled by LH mate. When I read the article (where they did a comparative analysis of the prices) I didnt realise that the author unwittingly used an AU account with the US store rather than a US one. :)
That sucks. I think Lifehacker's going to have some pissed off commenters in a few months or so when they realise LH's information was off the mark and they can't change back.
Amazon is likely at the mercy of parrallel importing laws for Ebooks.
So as usually they'll be at the mercy of publishers who seem insistent on driving every book retailer in Australia bankrupt.
I posted this in another thread but I did a quick comparison with the US store and Australian store prices.
Picked a popular series as an example.US STORE
A Game of Thrones: A Song of Ice and Fire: Book One $2.90
A Clash of Kings: A Song of Ice and Fire: Book Two $5.99
A Storm of Swords: A Song of Ice and Fire: Book Three $4.81
A Feast for Crows: A Song of Ice and Fire: Book Four $4.81
A Dance with Dragons: A Song of Ice and Fire: Book Five $2.90AUSTRALIAN STORE
A Game of Thrones (A Song of Ice and Fire, Book 1) $4.99
A Clash of Kings (A Song of Ice and Fire, Book 2) $12.99
A Storm of Swords Complete Edition (A Song of Ice and Fire, Book 3) $19.99
A Feast for Crows (A Song of Ice and Fire, Book 4) $12.99
A Dance With Dragons: Part 2 After The Feast (A Song of Ice and Fire, Book 5) $12.99WTF, I think I will stay with the US store, thank you very much. :D
Oh wow! Well fk the Australian store… same bullshit. Some of the titles have a markup of 400%! :O
Hang on, where are you getting those low US kindle prices? I'm not seeing anything like that.
You need to be logged in with your US account I imagine…
A Storm of Swords: A Song of Ice and Fire: Book Three
US $4.81, AU $19.99EXPLLLAAAAAAINNNN!
I'm pretty sure the paperback book would be more cheaper than the ebook price.
As per usual, an 'Everything You Need To Know' that contains nothing I needed to know.
But the comments are very handy:
Rod November 13, 2013 10:46 am
"Just checked out the new Aussie Amazon site. Disappointed. Says if I transfer my account to the Aussie store my credit balance will NOT be available here. That is retarded. So I won't change until my balance is zero - which probably means I will never change."From another OzBargain comment:
http://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/122687#comment-1685611
OZB Al 13 min ago
"After reading all the comments I decided to "revert the change anytime through Country Settings under Manage Your Kindle page", but it wouldn't let me without a US address.
Finally my Borderlinx US address comes in useful for something!"So you lose your credit balance, and can't revert back to the US store if you don't have a US address - already two things to be wary of!
There's an option to transfer account from amazon.com to amazon.com.au for buying digital content in Aus dollars.
Anyone knows whether this should be done?