This is going to be a question that you’d wished you’d never asked! Let’s talk Kindle first! As 1991-C4 suggested, you download the iPad Kindle app from the Apple App Store - and it’s free. Once you open up the app you’ll see a couple of complimentary books but, at the top right hand corner of the screen there’s an invitation to visit the Kindle Store, from where you can purchase books that are then directly and ‘automatically’ downloaded to your iPad. Indeed, if you have an account with Amazon, you’ll be logged straight into your account after your initial visit (it remembers your account name and password). Plus - if you have your Amazon account set up with ‘One-Click’ enabled (Amazon’s scheme whereby you give them permission to (securely) store all your credit card details) - then the purchase process is incredibly simple. But, as you’re probably aware Apple make a percentage from each app sold in the App Store and they don’t like this scheme whereby retailers’ apps direct purchasers to a non-Apple website, because they’re losing a big revenue stream. So they've recently announced their intention to force all apps to make subscription-renewals and other in-app purchases available through the App Store where they will take a 30% commission. As you can imagine,there were howls of protest from publishers - including Amazon/Kindle. These publishers have referred Apple’s decision to the US FTC (Fair Trade Commision) for a ruling. To complicate the picture still further, Google have recently announced their intention to undercut Apple by only charging 10%! But even that is considered too much by most publishers.
I mention all this because this is the complicating backdrop to your question. In other words, the whole eBooks publishing scene is approaching a period of potential ‘flux’! What might be true today, might well not be true in a few weeks time!
OK - as you suggested - it can be difficult to purchase US books because most of the US publishers require a US credit card and US address. There are a couple of ways that you can ‘get around’ this problem - and, to some extent it depends on the eBook publisher.
It’s more-or-less a case-by-case basis. So let’s tackle iTunes first.....
Well, I take the simple approach - I have a large number of kids (embarrassed to tell you how many - but it’s an exact power of two that can be represented by 3 bits in binary.....) and I have them living all over the world - with one full-time in the US. So I simply use his credit card and address....
But there’s a serious point here; you may have a friend/colleague/relative who lives in the US and who trusts you enough.....
Alternatively, there are several companies offering a virtual credit card facility. You pay money (using a UK credit card) into their account (you do this on-line) and they provide you with a valid US credit card ID and US address. You can also use this facility to purchase items from the US from companies whose websites only accept a US credit card and US delivery address. You give the address that you’ve been provided with and the item is shipped to the UK when it arrives at the company who provided the credit card details. Of course, they charge a mark up and shipping. For iTunes, though, there’s a simpler approach because there are companies in the US that specialise in providing US Apple Gift Cards. You purchase one on-line and they email you a scan of the back of the card, which contains the only ID you need to set up a US iTunes account and make purchases. When you try to set up a US iTunes account it asks for a US credit card number but, if you leave that field blank and move down to the ‘Enter Gift Card Details’ and enter the details you’ve been emailed from the back of the gift card it will set up the account and credit you with the value of the gift card - no US postal address required!
There have been good comments from Forum members who have used this service
Buy US iTunes Gift Card Instant Online - Jerry Cards
Wow - and we haven’t dealt with Kindle, Audible yet......
Setting up a US Amazon account only required a valid credit card when I did it - admittedly several years ago, so maybe they’ve changed their registration procedure now - perhaps other UK Forum members would like to comment.
Audible is a problem that’s similar to iTunes. I have an audible.com account as well as an audible.co.uk one too. For the US one I needed a US credit card and US address, so you’d need to use one of the methods I referred to before.
OK - I’ve gone on long enough for now....probably wandered completely off-topic - so please forgive me....don’t hesitate to contact and post again.....
Tim
Scotland
