An interesting question came to mind today; Can I buy a Kindle book now and gift it later? Let me explain. I’m currently reading a book I requested from NetGalley. So obviously the book was free to me. But the authors of this book (it’s an anthology) are so awesome that they are donating ALL OF THE PROCEEDS to a worthy cause. So I want to do my part by purchasing the book and give it away. You know, spread the cheer and all that.
I first asked about this on Twitter because let’s face it, Twitter is the go-to place for questions. Someone is bound to know the answer. Except the answer I kept getting was ‘no’ and I didn’t like that answer. I wanted that answer to be a ‘yes’! (I’m a perseverant vixen like that.) So I did the not-so-fun thing to do – I contacted Amazon. At least I would get the ‘official’ answer, whether is be a no or a yes. But this time, instead of contacting Amazon via email, I did the Chat thing. I totally recommend the Chat way of contacting Amazon! It was easy, painless, and I got my answer pretty fast. And I got the answer I wanted. So bonus brownie points to Matt (the Amazon Customer Service representative who assisted me).
Here’s part of the Chat convo between me and Matt, in case you’re interested:
Me: 'Gifting' a Kindle Book - I have a book blog and I would like to give away a Kindle book. However, I would like to buy the Kindle book today to lock in the price but I won't announce the giveaway for probably a few more weeks. Is there a way I can do this? Can I 'gift' the Kindle book to myself and forward the email I get from Amazon to the winner to redeem the 'gifted' Kindle book?
Matt: The timeframe is not a problem. You can order a book as a gift and send it to your email, and then forward the email to the winner as long as it hasn't been redeemed, it can be opened on another accountI believe you can even re-send the email from your "digital orders" under Your Account settings
customer service can re-send it for sure
and you should be able to simply forward the email
So the moral of this story post is this: You can buy a Kindle book now to lock in on the price and giveaway the book at a later date. So next time you see a great deal on Kindle (you know those 99¢ – $2.99 deals I’m also tweeting about) and you think gee, that would be a great book to give away on my blog! – know that you can buy the Kindle book now to lock-in on that great deal and gift the book later.
Oooh, thanks for sharing. I had no idea this was possible. :)
ReplyDeleteThanks for getting this info--I had never even considered it possible!
ReplyDeleteAnd I have also used that chat option on Amazon and it has been very very helpful. I totally second your recommendation!
Shanan
http://thebookaddictnet.blogspot.com
I would definitely do the Amazon chat thing again :)
DeleteWhoa that's awesome! Thanks for sharing :). That opens up a lot of possibility for International giveaways!
ReplyDeleteAbout 6 months ago found this out by accident when I bought a gift ebook and had it sent to my email instead of the person I purchased it for, just forwarded it without opening and they were able to get it with no problem.
ReplyDeleteSometimes mistakes serve a purpose on the learning curve of the mysteries of Amazon Kindle gifting, among other things. LOL
I love learning by mistakes :)
DeleteGreat to know!! Thanks for an awesome post!
ReplyDeleteYou know, I never thought about that - what a great idea! Thanks! I know about the resending the email option b/c that happened to me once. I received a gifted kindle book, but before I claimed it, I lost the email. My friend went onto her account and resent the email to me.
ReplyDeletePlease report to us how this works for you!
I HAD thought about this, but couldn't figure out how to do it, and lol, didn't want to go through the hassle of contacting Amazon ~~ thank you!! And glad it was painless! Like you, alot of times I'll still want to buy a book even thought I might have gotten ARC, for various reasons ~ and love that lower price when they are first released! Thanks for sharing!!
ReplyDeleteThis is awesome news! I've always wondered! Because sometimes I find great dollar books but I'm always worried that by the time I throw a week long giveaway the price will jump back up to 10 dollars! Then I'd be stuck paying it. Also I've been gifted books I already own so it's nice to know that I can pass them on to someone that doesn't own it.
ReplyDeleteBrianna,
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing!!! - Now I have more excuses to give stuff away!!!