Gifts for another Kindle user
When I first got my Kindle, I expected that any of my friends or family would be able to buy me a book on Amazon – and it would magically show up on my Kindle, just like the books I buy or the manuscripts I email. I was more concerned about whether I’d be able to set up a wish list of books — so my family could get me the books I really wanted.
I wrote Amazon to ask why I couldn’t seem to add Kindle books to a wish list. They responded with the following:
The purchase and download of digital content from Amazon.com, including content from the Kindle Store, is associated with the Amazon.com account used to make the original purchase. Because digital content cannot be transferred to a different Amazon.com account after purchase, digital products cannot be given as gifts or added to a Wish List.
I was quite disappointed — it seems a logical extension of an electronic reader, to send a gift to a friend. I believe it was extremely successful for iTunes – but it seems even more a natural extension for the Kindle.
Today, we received an email asking about the same thing (our first question from a reader – thanks!) — which included a fascinating tidbit: it USED to be possible to buy gifts for other Kindle users, before Amazon upgraded the interface!
I cannot find a way to buy for you! Maddening! They changed the interface – for the worse. One thing that’s always impressed me about Amazon is how easy they make it to buy.
Particularly ridiculous in that I was able to send a gift this way 5 mos. ago, before the “upgraded” interface.
We can all hope that Amazon will come to its senses and make it as smooth and easy to buy Kindle books as gifts as it is to buy almost everything else on the site.
Meanwhile, I’ll encourage anyone who’s interested to email Amazon’s Kindle Team – kindle-feedback (at) amazon.com (replace “at” with the @ symbol) — and encourage them to bring this ability into the next version of software!
