A big part of the cost of the Kindle was the Import fee deposit $98 or so. This along with shipping costs brings the total landed cost of the Kindle in India to $378. If you have read about my experience ordering the Kindle in India, I mentioned there that the Customs officer said that consignment carried a duty of around Rs. 3000. I wondered then as to what happened to the remaining Rs. 2000 or so.
This morning I was in for a pleasant surprise. Over the weekend I got a mail from Amazon.com telling me that I was entitled a refund of $37.35.
This immediately brings down the cost of the Kindle in India to $341 or so. Which is about Rs. 16,000. My Kindle purchase is looking more and more attractive. :). If there ever was an example of great customer service. This is it.
The only catch is that I got this money back after nearly two months.
What are you waiting for? Get your Kindle from Amazon.
great news. although i didn't get that refund email yet
ReplyDeletehey thanks for the kindle updates esp with reference to India. Extremely tempted to buy one.
ReplyDeleteYou are welcome. Buy one. It is very worth it. :)
ReplyDeleteChirag
Can u pl give some advice on Sony e-Reader? My reasons are :
ReplyDelete1. My falling eyesight makes it difficult to read small fonts of most paper books.
2. I have a huge personal collection of e-Books in *.pdf & *.doc. I really don't need to buy more books for the few more years I shall live. Sending all for conversion to Kindle format will be expensive.
3. I am uncomfortable of remaining permanently bound to a supplier, who is subject to whimsical US Govt policies & bans
4. My target Sony Reader Touch Edition PRS-600, is cheaper.
If u feel this not of common interest, u can email me at lokenrc@gmail.com
Hi,
ReplyDeleteSony is good as well. But if I was asked to make a choice today I would still go for Kindle. For a similar feature set, the Kindle is the same price or cheaper (see new prices) There is nothing stopping you from reading regular books on the Kindle. With software such as Calibre. You can smoothly interconvert between formats. If you are looking to read a lot of PDF's I suggest getting the Kindle DX. It is more expensive but allows reading of A4 size pdf's with relative comfort. reading A4 pdf on a 6" screen is not pretty (I have tried it).
Bottom line, if you like Sony for a reason go for it.
Landed cost of the WiFi Kindle in India after taxes and shipping is about 10K. If you buy it in the US, then it is about 7K. I don't know what the Sony will cost you on like-to-like terms.
Do see newer posts on the topic elsewhere on this blog.