Kindle in India

Please note: Amazon has released new versions of the Kindle. For prices and features, please go to Prices in India of New Kindles 3G+WiFi and WiFi editions

Original Post: My wife decided that she needed to gift me a Kindle for our anniversary. I asked a colleague, if her husband (who was traveling to the US) could carry back one. He couldn't, because of an erratic travel schedule. So we decided to order one right here directly since Amazon was kind enough to open up direct shipping to India.

So we ordered on a Tuesday evening (India Time) and Amazon being Amazon shipped the device straight away on the same day itself. I very eagerly tracked the package using the DHL sites (yes, I used three different DHL sites, US, UK and India. They give different info when the package is in that respective country) and in three days flat it was here across the seven seas at Delhi airport.

Only I was in Noida which is an interstate delivery for DHL. Which meant that I had to fill out an archaic Form 39 to comply with UP state Sales Tax rules. Form 39 is required for all imports made for personal use purchased from an unregistered dealer. (see Update 2 Below)

I never understood the need for GST and this was quick lesson in indirect taxes and sure enough I am a supporter. Go GST.

Anyway, I had neither a clue to what form 39 was or where to get it. The DHL guys were quite unhelpful beyond saying you need it before we the deliver the packet to you. So we called up the local DHL office, who said the office is next door. All you need to do is slip them 200-300 bucks and they will fill it out for you and you are done. Since I wasn't quite in the mood to slip any money (considering what we had already paid), so I started making calls. Lots and lots of calls. To DHL, Customs and so on.

Finally I convinced enough people who mattered to re-designate my shipment to Delhi to my wife. (There is a hole in the DHL delivery scheme. If you know enough details of the shipment, you can potentially redirect a shipment to an address of your choosing.). This was apt, since she was gifting it to me.

So finally the shipment was delivered to her on the Monday next and the anticipation was killing me. The box was easy to open. Amazon really walks the talk. the device shipped in Amazon's Frustration Free Packaging (Amazon has been running a campaign called Frustration Free packaging to free people from the woes of clam-shell packaging). (See pic)

The other side of the package had the words "Once upon a time..." The phrase used since the late 14th century have been the opening words of dozens of fairy tales and is quite apt.
Anyway, the packaging (which was eco-friendly, no polystyrene packing, just clever use of cardboard) was promptly dispatched. And I booted up my Kindle.

I had bought a free Kindle book on Amazon anticipating the arrival of the Kindle and lo and behold the book landed on the Kindle, without so much as a by-your-leave. AND I was billed $1.99 as delivery charges, since I was outside the US when the book was delivered. After a quick exchange with Customer Care (which is the best in world), the charge was reversed, with the warning that this was a one time affair and the exception will never be made in the future. You need to be careful about this. (see Update 1 below)

So, the Kindle was here, Whispernet was working and so was WhisperSync (I tried it between the Kindle and the Kindle for PC). I was all set.

Before I got reading. I tried out all the features and I became an idea-a-minute submitter of ideas and improvements and suggestions to the Kindle team.

It has a built-in MP3 player. So I uploaded some music into the device. The process is a bit clunky and not quite idiot-proof. You have to upload music into a music folder once you attach the device to a computer. Hello! Hasn't anyone in the Kindle team seen the iPod and iTunes integration? Anyway, the player is nothing fancy and does the job. Plays, skips and backs up songs. There are physical buttons for volume control on the side.

The Kindle has a decent text to speech feature. I say decent not fantastic, because the mechanical sounding aspect of text to speech has not yet been figured out yet. Make no mistake the accent is foreign (to us in India), but it is neutral, very few cultural inflections to sully the experience.

It also supports audio books and it plays them. No rocket science here, since it is already equipped with a MP3 player.

The Kindle has a browser, so I tried to use it. All my research told me that only Wikipedia would work in India and nothing else would. So on a lark I opened the mobile website of India Today (http://m.indiatoday.in/) and it opened! Very impressive. Suddenly, the utility of the device has increased manifold. It has a keyboard, a screen and a wireless connection which works without any setup or work-around.

Hello email! and freedom. Bye bye tiny mobile screen. Sure the screen is black and white and the refresh rate sucks. It is ultra-portable (fits in my jacket pocket) and very useful.
All this came at a price. the device itself is $259, there is priority shipping worth $21 and there is the customs duty worth about $95. (On the customs duty bit. I spoke to the customs officer and he said a duty was charged for ~Rs. 3500. I wonder what happened to the remaining 1000 bucks? DHL chewed it up?)

So this is a total of ~$380 approx Rs. 18,200. Worth it! Completely. (The effective price is now $341 or around Rs. 16000. See Update 4 below and this post )

There are no other fees apart from what you pay Amazon. No matter what the delivery man tells you. (See Update 3 below and comment by reader RollerCoaster)
This is about the money you will spend on a high-end phone. The Kindle (I feel) is as useful.

What are you waiting for? You could have one of your own in as little as three days. Buy it here

There are other sellers on the internet who are selling you the Kindle. It is not recommended that you use such services. The best source for the Kindle is Amazon itself. For a step by step guide to buy the Kindle. See this post

Update 1: An update on prices of books. I wrote in to Amazon querying about download fees. Apparently if you have an Indian Credit card and an Indian address. All prices are jacked up by $2 and there are no additional download fees. See more in this post.

Update 2: Reader RollerCoaster ran into the same trouble as me regarding Form 39 / VAT clearance. The solution he was provided is simpler.

You need to write a declaration letter stating the following
1) The item(s) inside the shipment are for personal use (don't purchase in the name of a company)
2) The item(s) are not for resale and do not hold a commercial value
3) A sentence like 'I declare the above to be true to the best of my knowledge'
4) Add date, name, father's name and address and signature
5) Attach photocopy of Photo ID like pan card, Passport, driver's license etc
6) Scan & email/hand this over to the local office of your courier.

Update 3: Reader RollerCoaster adds below: The deliveryman for Blue-Dart asked for more money (apart from what RollerCoaster had already paid to Amazon). This is illegal. Ask for a receipt and complain to Blue-Dart / DHL. Read his comment below.

Update 4: Amazon refunded $37 or so from import fees. This brings the price down to around Rs. 16,000. read more here.

Update 5: Kindle price has dropped to $189. To see how much it costs in India (incl. customs and shipping) see Kindle Price drop - prices in India also fall

PS: If you have any queries. Post it in comments. I will answer it as best as I can.

PPS: I started a Kindle page on Facebook. Join up.