Anyone know why Amazon doesn't allow Canadians to participate in Kindle ebook deals?
When tracking sales of my novel, I was surprised at how low the ebook sales were. I was under the impression that this was a rapidly growing market segment, but ebook sales only accounted for about 6% of my sales.
The main advantage of ebooks is the price. The paperback version of my novel "Goliath" lists for $9.50 USD on Amazon with the Kindle version listing for $3.50 USD. In addition, purchasers don't have to pay for shipping for the ebook version as it is simply downloaded to your Kindle device or your PC (Amazon also has Kindle apps for several other devices as well). To have my book shipped to Canada (which is where most of my readers are), the shipping costs as much or more than the cost of the book.
Amazon/Kindle offers an attractive promotion called "Kindle Countdown Deals". I signed up for this promotion and had the Kindle price of the book on sale for the weekend for 99 cents, then go to $1.99 for a few days, then to $2.99 before finally returning to its regular price. I was sure this would stimulate ebook sales as Amazon helps advertise these promotions.
However, when I tested this feature, the discounted price didn't appear. I was told that the discount would not appear on Amazon.ca, only on the main Amazon.com website. No problem. I would simply direct potential purchasers of my book to the Amazon.com website. However, the discounted price didn't appear there either.
I figured I must have done something wrong so I contacted Kindle support. I was told the discount would not appear for those of us in Canada. Even though I went to the main Amazon.com website, it detected from my IP address that I was from Canada and hid the discounted price. The support person realized this defeated the whole purpose of the promotion and said he would submit it as an enhancement request to their business team.
Does anyone know why Amazon doesn't allow Canadians to participate in these types of deals?
The main advantage of ebooks is the price. The paperback version of my novel "Goliath" lists for $9.50 USD on Amazon with the Kindle version listing for $3.50 USD. In addition, purchasers don't have to pay for shipping for the ebook version as it is simply downloaded to your Kindle device or your PC (Amazon also has Kindle apps for several other devices as well). To have my book shipped to Canada (which is where most of my readers are), the shipping costs as much or more than the cost of the book.
Amazon/Kindle offers an attractive promotion called "Kindle Countdown Deals". I signed up for this promotion and had the Kindle price of the book on sale for the weekend for 99 cents, then go to $1.99 for a few days, then to $2.99 before finally returning to its regular price. I was sure this would stimulate ebook sales as Amazon helps advertise these promotions.
However, when I tested this feature, the discounted price didn't appear. I was told that the discount would not appear on Amazon.ca, only on the main Amazon.com website. No problem. I would simply direct potential purchasers of my book to the Amazon.com website. However, the discounted price didn't appear there either.
I figured I must have done something wrong so I contacted Kindle support. I was told the discount would not appear for those of us in Canada. Even though I went to the main Amazon.com website, it detected from my IP address that I was from Canada and hid the discounted price. The support person realized this defeated the whole purpose of the promotion and said he would submit it as an enhancement request to their business team.
Does anyone know why Amazon doesn't allow Canadians to participate in these types of deals?
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