Kindle Question

[mulderxcoltrane]

Hi everyone,

I'm looking at a Kindle for my wife I might get one as well. I know I've read that a Kindle book purchased can be shared by up to 5 units.

To do this (so we can share books) do we have to purchase them using the same Amazon account? Or can we purchase them from anywhere (Target) and then simply register them on the same Amazon account?

 

[DVCLiz]

Hi everyone,

I'm looking at a Kindle for my wife I might get one as well. I know I've read that a Kindle book purchased can be shared by up to 5 units.

To do this (so we can share books) do we have to purchase them using the same Amazon account? Or can we purchase them from anywhere (Target) and then simply register them on the same Amazon account?

You can purchase them from anywhere and register them to the same Amazon account.

 

[mulderxcoltrane]

You can purchase them from anywhere and register them to the same Amazon account.

Ok - so the ability to link them has nothing to do with where it's purchased, but more where it's registered?

 

[DVCLiz]

Ok - so the ability to link them has nothing to do with where it's purchased, but more where it's registered?

Yes, exactly. I have heard that some people who purchased Kindles at retail outlets had trouble returning them if defective, and that would be reason enough for me to order through Amazon. However, I don't know if that is still an issue.

And it has nothing to do with the account. Once you buy the Kindle from a store, your first step will be to register it to your Amazon account. The device is linked to a specific account and you can register many Kindles to the same account. I currently have 5 Kindles and 2 Apple devices registered.

Some books do have a limit as to how many devices they can be on at the same time, though. That is set by the publisher and most often it is either
unlimited or has a limit of 6.

 

[bicker]

And don't be concerned that Kindles you buy from Amazon are automatically linked to the account that bought them. If given as gifts, all the gift-giver needs to do is deregister the gifted Kindle and then the gift receiver can register it to their account.

 

[mulderxcoltrane]

And don't be concerned that Kindles you buy from Amazon are automatically linked to the account that bought them. If given as gifts, all the gift-giver needs to do is deregister the gifted Kindle and then the gift receiver can register it to their account.

So - If someone orders one of us a Kindle from Amazon...it will initially be linked to their Amazon account?

 

[bicker]

My birthday gift was.

 

[DVCLiz]

So - If someone orders one of us a Kindle from Amazon...it will initially be linked to their Amazon account?

My birthday gift was.

Actually, I think it depends on what the buyer did at the time of purchase. If it was ordered and not specified as a gift, it should come pre-registered to the buyer. But I think there is an option to mark it as a gift, and in that case it comes un-registered.

Regardless, OP, it's not a big deal if it is registered to someone else's account at first - you just select a menu option, de-register it from one account and re-register it to yours. The books that were listed in the Archives won't transfer unless they have been moved to your Home screen.

Now, if you deregister your Kindle and then reregister it to someone elese's account, you can move all of their books to your Kindle and read them as well. But that's grad school stuff - let's get you the Kindles and get them properly registered first before we tell you all the tricks of the trade!!

 

[daisax]

I just bought my mom a kindle for her birthday next month -- once it appeared on my account I was able to transfer multiple books from my kindle to hers, so when she opens it she'll already have 6-7 things to read that I know she'll enjoy, at no additional expense to me.

Not quite sure how it will work if we register it in her own name, but there's probably no need to since she doesn't go on amazon.com anyway and will probably just ask me to get whatever she wants.

 

[DVCLiz]

I just bought my mom a kindle for her birthday next month -- once it appeared on my account I was able to transfer multiple books from my kindle to hers, so when she opens it she'll already have 6-7 things to read that I know she'll enjoy, at no additional expense to me.

Not quite sure how it will work if we register it in her own name, but there's probably no need to since she doesn't go on amazon.com anyway and will probably just ask me to get whatever she wants.

If you deregister it from your account and reregister it to hers, the books will still be there, but she won't be able to store them in her Archives. In other words, she can still read them as usual, but if she wants to remove them from her device she can't send them to her Archives - they will delete from the device permanently.

It's better to keep her on your account so you can share anything you buy with her without having to complicate matters by changing the registration, etc.