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Curious: The Kindle Has a New Price in Germany (69 Euros) But Not in the Rest of Europe

kindle europe 69 euros Here’s something strange.

A number of German gadget blogs are reporting today that Amazon has dropped the price of the Kindle. This minimalist ereader had been selling at 79 euros from Amazon.de, Amazon.fr, and other Amazon websites, but was now available for only 69 euros – but only at Amazon.de.

For some reason known only to Amazon, the basic Kindle got a price cut on Amazon’s German website – but is still selling for the regular price on all of Amazon’s other European websites. I double checked Amazon.fr, Amazon.es, and Anazon, it, and they all show the higher price.

I don’t understand it either, but so far as I can tell Amazon appears to have adopted a preferential price for the German market. Perhaps Amazon is facing greater pressure in that market than in the rest of Europe?

If anyone in or out of Germany would care to weigh in, I’m all ears.

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Comments


getchaos June 4, 2013 um 11:43 am

Does it seem to you that this price change will be permanent?

Recently there’s been a new review on E-Readers by "Stiftung Warentest" a famous german foundation dedicated to review all kinds of products and services…. and until the internet one of the most highly regarded testing facilities for the casual german shopper… even grandmother trust in it.

Those reviews usually get a lot of attentions in the german media.

The Kindle Paperwhite managed to get the first place just, after that the Tolino Shine, Kobo Glo, Bookeen HD Frontlight.

I don’t know about the old Kindle because you kind of have to pay for the magazine to get ALL the results (the media usually only covers the winners).

Could be, Amazon wants to react to the attention the review will get and get in front of other cheap readers… but that’s all just wild guessing by me.


getchaos June 4, 2013 um 11:45 am

Sorry for my bad spelling… forgot to double check on my writing, but you’ll get the essence 😉


Amazon Kindle: cala il prezzo in Germania | eBookReader Italia June 4, 2013 um 5:57 pm

[…] Amazon.de ha abbassato il prezzo della “versione base” di Kindle da 79 euro a 69 euro. La notizia è stata data dal blog tedesco Lesen.net e prontamente ripresa dai blogger americani. […]


Bob June 4, 2013 um 7:33 pm

could it be so easy that there is more competition in the .de market,

wasn’t there a low-cost e-reader launched there not too long ago?


Amazon sconta il Kindle base, ma solo in GermaniaKindle Italia June 5, 2013 um 6:10 am

[…] riportato da molti blog gadget tedeschi, e ripreso da The Digital Reader , Amazon ha abbassato il prezzo del Kindle base, ma solo in Germania. Il lettore […]


Victor Redman June 5, 2013 um 12:49 pm

Hey Nate,

I think the drop in price may well be due to the comparitevly stiff competition in the German market.

Germany still retains at least 3 major bookstore chains (Hugendubel, Thalia and Weltbild). That translates into a lot of stores, all of which are also aggressively pushing one eReader or another. The Tolino Shine, especially, is getting a major marketing boost. Finally, there’s the annoyance that is Buchpreisbindung — in Germany, you cannot legally discount books. So the e-versions of traditionally published books carry the same price tag as the cheapest print edition. As you can imagine, folks balk at the notion of paying hardback money for a download.

Nate Hoffelder June 6, 2013 um 8:44 am

Indeed. That is probably the same reason that Amazon dropped the price of the Kindle in Canada:
https://the-digital-reader.com/2013/04/25/amazon-strikes-at-kobo-drops-kindle-prices-in-canada/

Ana June 6, 2013 um 6:09 pm

But you have the same reasons in France and Spain, and Amazon is not discounting here.

Markus Stolpmann June 6, 2013 um 7:23 pm

It is true that Geramany has a "Buchpreisbindung", but it is not true that this rule forces a specific price relation between different editions: ebooks don’t need to be priced the same as the (cheapest) print edition. Publishers can price different editions (hardcover, paperback, ebooks) independent from each other, but all retailers have to sell the same edition for the same price.

The Tolino Shine is priced at 100 Euros and competing with the KPW. But Amazon is actively trying to gain market share not only with the reduced Kindle pricing, but with a lot of ebook promotions too – mostly titles published by Amazon. In addition, summer holidays are approaching in Germany and the entry level Kindle may be attractive for some readers as a travel accessory.

Matteo September 8, 2013 um 3:36 pm

well, today I can read that Amazon.de dropped down the price of the Kindle to 49 Euros, whereas Amazon.it is only going down to 69 Euros.
VAT taxes do not differ that much, oder? so why do Germans get access to such better prices? thanks Amazon, it is nice to know that the European market allows treating countries differently. What are we doing in the European Union if this unbalanced benefits are allowed?

fjtorres September 8, 2013 um 4:26 pm

Aside from any possible differences in the cost of doing business in different countries, the volume of sales has a strong impact on pricing.
It is well-known that in mature ebook markets like NorthAm and the UK Amazon prices the hardware at near cost because they can make a profit selling ebooks, while in less-developed markets they priced them competitively with other hardwrd vendors. .
There have been recent signs that the German ebook market is maturing while the italian one is apparently not. So if the german market is ready to take ebook buying mainstream then Amazon can afford to price the reader lower to foster faster adoption. Whereas dropping prices in countries that aren’t ready to buy more ebooks is just leaving money on the table.

Bear in mind that equality is a political concept, not an economic or biological one. And economies of scale can’t be legislated.

As Orwell said; "Some animals are more equal."


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