Help, Kindle found out I'm in Malaysia!!!

A Kindle that has this issue quickly becomes a lemon. It's just alarming to be 'detected out of country' by Amazon and blocked from purchasing books on your new Kindle. There were laments from a couple of highly distressed Kindle users confronted with  this particular issue.

Well that, coupled with the sneak-factor of the entire operation, I didn't know what to do. AND it was confusing as I never had  that problem. Ah...there in lies the solution.

Apparently Amazon has has a way to detect that you do not have a US credit card linked to the account. Sometimes it's detected right away and other times it takes a few months.


All you gotta do is link the US Kindle account to a USD credit card. I'm  not sure if this problem is universal but it has happened to 2 Kindle Users. I managed to resolve the problem for both of them,  but this  does not bode well for those who do not have willing relatives in  the USA.

Buying & Getting a Kindle 3 into Malaysia 2011

Yes I'm  in Malaysia, the land of fiery red ants, I thought it was so cool to find these ants trying to make a nest from a fern in the tree in  our garden.
They worked together, and I decided that pulling together book-lovers and kindle fanatics is something I'm passionate about right now...It's made the transition from US back to Malaysia much smoother...

You get a little pampered as a book lover after living in the USA for 5 years ;)

Books are available cheap and shipped to ur doorstep in a matter of days...reliably...

I've had my Kindle for 5 months now and brought in a few more for friends in Kuala Lumpur. It's really been an amazing investment. It's really not funny how much we pay for hardcopy books here in Malaysia. The Kindle cuts that cost and gave me access to books that I would otherwise not be able to read here.

So my marriage with my Kindle when it arrived in August has been an ever deepening love affair.

Also there's been children...friends that wanted kindles here.

Turmoil, as I finally sorted out a troublesome Kindle account.

That finally gave me the confidence to go full swing back to blogging about it.

And anticipation...I'm waiting for Jung's autobiography on Kindle...I already have it on pre-order...

So first things first,  how would you get the Kindle into Malaysia?

Option #1: Buying a Kindle 3 online and have it shipped to Malaysia - unfortunately no can do - Kindle still doesn't ship to Malaysia as far as I know at this point. So you cannot buy

Option#2 Buying a Kindle online and having a relative, friend or acquaintance bring it to Malaysia - YES that is possible - but wait, how would you buy a kindle with a Malaysian credit card when they would KNOW ur from Malaysia...

Technical tip #1 - Register an US Amazon.com account with an email account not linked to a particular country, have a friend with gmail invite you  to join gmail or yahoo (without the .uk etc)
(There's a reason I like gmail...since I've used that I've never lost an email I accidentally closed the browser on, or couldn't find in my mailbox)

You will be able to buy  the Kindle online - but wait how do I do that? 

You will need a valid US address - any address will do...pick a point on the google map...

Technical tip #2 - Register a separate MYS Amazon.com account with ur regular email and buy a gift card with a Malaysian credit card and send it to the gmail email (or any email account for that matter)

Note try  NOT to send it to facebook, as it will link amazon.com to it and detect ur in Malaysia.

Remember to redeem the gift card on the US gmail Amazon.com account...then just purchase the Kindle, Amazon  will always use ur giftcard before looking for credit card...

Option#3 Buying a Kindle online, have it shipped to a US based shipping warehouse, e.g http://www.myus.com/cgi-bin/aff/new_landing.cgi?id=1000721&gclid=CP3ors3H1qYCFUN66wodYGggIA
Then have as many Kindles as u want shipped to Malaysia...

Option#4 Go to the USA...if you  do, visit Rickett's Glen in PA...it's a beautiful hidden gem of a mountain with many waterfalls...

So this is the rough sketch of the first step, more details and trouble shooting tips as questions roll in.
I really hope they open up to Malaysia, but meanwhile...loopholes have been found...
I've had two friend successfully started their very own Kindle accounts this way...

References: http://forum.lowyat.net/topic/1053076

Please feel free to email julee.kindlefanatic.tay@gmail.com with any questions

Using Kindle in Malaysia

My Kindle in Malaysia

Authors@Google: Josh Waitzkin

Intention

I've been an avid book fan all my life. I remember my mom would be reluctant to buy me a book because of the prices in Malaysia. I feel that this is such a limiting factor to learning for people here especially the children.

My intention is to start a conversation about Kindle in Malaysia. I find it quite disappointing that Kindle device has not made it to Malaysia. I was recently based in the US and have really benefited from this little application on my PC for the past 6 months. 

There's something so amazing about ordering a book and having it pop in your lap within seconds.

I guess that's why they call it a Kindle, sometimes there's a little flame and something someone wrote can be like blowing on the fire.

I'm sure in due time, Kindle device will make it's way here.  But I'm more interested in helping you get to information that's available in the myriad of kindle books.

Write me with your questions at 

julee.kindlefanatic.tay@gmail.com