Help! "I'm an Amazon Addict"!

THANK YOU! 

Being the Amazon Addict in question, I do appreciate your response and your redirection to this thread. 

Yes, I do have a Kindle, although it is an older 3G model w keypad (one of the originals, still working fine).  I have had it for years, yet still prefer reading and handling actual books, especially different sized books, colorfully designed illustrated books, large art books, photography, etc.  I collect illustrated books, mainly from the "Golden Age of Illustration" (Pyle, Rackham, Dulac, Wyeth, Nielsen, Crane, Smith, Parrish, Robinson, et al, as well as Dore and other older examples).  Kindle just can't do that.  I could probably use a new Kindle, but still, having some books on the shelf provides a warmth and comfort to me that no Kindle could.  I'm just old-fashioned that way.

Of course actual books are heavy.  I don't have a huge library, but last time I had to pack and move them, it took over a hundred file-size boxes.  I could not begin to estimate the weight, but a strong man might be able to carry two at a time, rather than just one.  We were able to get 3 - 5 boxes at a time on a dolly.

For general reading, the Kindle subscription you suggest may well be the ideal solution and in the course of affairs I shall have to weigh that against trying to retain my books.  At least I'd like to be able to keep some of them for my fireside hours.  I hesitate to ask about English-language bookstores in Cuenca...  and even if there, about their prices.

But books are not the only thing.  Many sundry items would fall into the 4x4 rule if indeed allowed.  Items perhaps difficult or impossible to find in Cuenca.  Certainly I am capable of absorbing a good deal of culture shock, but having to order a $5 or $10 item otherwise unavailable in Ecuador, from Amazon or other online vendor, pay the extra shipping, AND a $42 surcharge makes the proposition untenable.  What's a poor addict to do? 

BTW, ARE there any English language bookstores in Cuenca???

Suggestions for workarounds heartily solicited and welcomed,

BC, Potential Expat.

I suggest you leave behind in Florida as many as possible of your books that can be accessed online.

The Correos division that handled Amazon shipments crashed and burned earlier this year, and it appears that most Expat residents have simply cut out or cut way back on shipping stuff into the country.  That $42 surcharge was the death knell for Club Correos.

For an assessment of the Cuenca English-language-books scene, consult the cognoscenti who hang out at Expat.com Ecuador's Unofficial web site of the greater Cuenca expat community.  Type Cuenca forum into the searchbox atop this page, then click on the search icon to the right of the box.  From the ensuing forum-page, you can navigate over to unofficial alcalde Nards Barley and the Cuenca zone.

cccmedia in Quito

Really? I just assumed that because Amazon didn't operate in Ecuador that you wouldn't be able to download books to a Kindle in Ecuador. I figured they's block it somehow. This is great news. Does anyone know exactly what other Amazon services work in Ecuador?

jessekimmerling wrote:

Really? I just assumed that because Amazon didn't operate in Ecuador that you wouldn't be able to download books to a Kindle in Ecuador. I figured they'd block it somehow. This is great news. Does anyone know exactly what other Amazon services work in Ecuador?

1.  In the Club Correos era, I received two shipments of Amazon-ordered non-book products, including Flents Ear Stopples, boxes of pasta, and Elvis background-music CDs.  The "Club" was a nightmare to deal with.  However, Amazon was extremely supportive and had excellent customer service.

2.  I was a member of Amazon's low-price/thousand-of-books-available at no extra charge program for a few months.  These were all online books I read on the free Kindle Cloud reader that Amazon supplies.   When that membership ended, the books I had ordered disappeared from my account under the rules.

3.  I have ordered many books online from Amazon at the low Kindle prices.  These books stay in my account and I can read them any time, also online at www.amazon.com

I don't know of any Amazon services you can't get in Ecuador.  You just need to get hardcover books and other stuff shipped to a U.S. address that can onward-send the books or products to your Ecuador address.  U.S. Global mail is one well-recommended service that can do such forwarding.

cccmedia in Quito

cccmedia wrote:

jessekimmerling wrote:

Really? I just assumed that because Amazon didn't operate in Ecuador that you wouldn't be able to download books to a Kindle in Ecuador. I figured they'd block it somehow. This is great news. Does anyone know exactly what other Amazon services work in Ecuador?

1.  In the Club Correos era, I received two shipments of Amazon-ordered non-book products, including Flents Ear Stopples, boxes of pasta, and Elvis background-music CDs.  The "Club" was a nightmare to deal with.  However, Amazon was extremely supportive and had excellent customer service.

2.  I was a member of Amazon's low-price/thousand-of-books-available at no extra charge program for a few months.  These were all online books I read on the free Kindle Cloud reader that Amazon supplies.   When that membership ended, the books I had ordered disappeared from my account under the rules.

3.  I have ordered many books online from Amazon at the low Kindle prices.  These books stay in my account and I can read them any time, also online at www.amazon.com

I don't know of any Amazon services you can't get in Ecuador.  You just need to get hardcover books and other stuff shipped to a U.S. address that can onward-send the books or products to your Ecuador address.  U.S. Global mail is one well-recommended service that can do such forwarding.

cccmedia in Quito

The devil is in the details. Have you ordered any books from Amazon while you were located in Ecuador? I don't ship to Ecuador anymore. The cost of lost shipments is just too high and I fly back and forth often enough to cary much of what I need.

jessekimmerling wrote:

The devil is in the details. Have you ordered any books from Amazon while you were located in Ecuador? I don't ship to Ecuador anymore. The cost of lost shipments is just too high and I fly back and forth often enough to carry much of what I need.

All the Amazon products I have had shipped to Ecuador were non-book products, Jesse.

The fabulous Flents-brand Ear Stopples I mentioned -- a tremendous product in myriad situations in Ecuador, sleeping included -- I order these about 200 at a time so I can avoid the tribulations of overseas deliveries for (possibly) a couple of years at a time.

So at least for the foreseeable future, I don't ship to Ecuador myself.

cccmedia in Quito

I strongly suspect that ordering books on a kindle will only work if you preload the kindle while you are in the US, or one of the other countries Amazon operates in, unless you jump through the hoops of masking your IP with a US address.

Hi Jesse,

I'm in the same boat, so cannot offer solutions at this time, however, I did see on an English translation of the govt website that clearly stated that only certified Ecuadorian citizens living in other countries can use the so-called "4x4" rule to ship stuff to Ecuador. Which effectively rules out expats living in Ecuador ordering and getting shipments from Amazon or other out-of-country online vendors.  Unless, of course, one is willing to pay the $42 per package minimum and up to 300% import fees!  Ordering a few books from Amazon under such conditions is grossly impractical, to say the least. 

Seems we must develop the attitude that if they don't have it locally, we don't need it. 

Not sure if CCCMedia meant that one can download directly to Kindle in Ecuador, or that one must download to computer and move to Kindle.  They do have an app that integrates across devices now.  I'm not a great Kindle fan, but I might like a new one better.  One major problem for me is they do not do color.  And illustrations on my old low-rez unit do not come across well at all.  Perhaps the newer 300 ppi models (twice the rez of my old thing) would help, but still there's the color deficiency.  For me, a tablet PC might be the answer, but they don't have the staying power battery-wise, don't have the smooth Kindle e-ink presentation, and are susceptible to glare.  I definitely cannot sit and read a book at my desk on my computer screen.  That gets old in a hurry when reading for pleasure.  Study/research is another matter.  In that case, one must take what one can get however it can be got.

Buena suerte to us both.  There seem to be compromises lurking in our future. 

cheers, BC

My brother managed to pirate thousands of books to his mac when we were living in Korea. Not my first choice of solutions... but if reasonable legal option do not exist...

The Amazon Kindle actually is a breeze to start using.  Once a Kindle book is purchased, you click on a selection saying "Read Now in my Kindle Cloud Reader" or similar language.

There is a free sample available for most books, so it's easy to try out the system before buying any book(s).

cccmedia in Quito

I buy books and apps from Amazon without any problem. They download fine to my PC, Samsung phone and two Kindle Fires we bought for the kids last time we were in the States. My credit card is Ecuadorian and so is my billing address and it has never been an issue.

Note that the books can be shared over multiple deveices within one family. i.e I buy a book for the kids and they can both install it.

I did look at the Amazon Prime service a while back to get access to the movie / TV streaming etc but it seemed that would not have worked in Ecuador unless I had a VPN and a US billing address.

Another potential expat talking about moving to Ecuador seemingly without having been here??? First learn a bit about the country and get some Spanish. Then spend at least six months here to see if it really is a good fit for you so you won't have to post questions like, "Are there any English language bookstores in Cuenca?"

I would rather hold real books and magazines and do bring some down when I make trips back, but Kindle is a good alternative and the delivery is much faster than Eccudor's P.O! Additionally, I appreciate having my Kindle read aloud to me sometimes, which also makes long flights so much faster and more pleasant!

Netflix works fine here and can be cheaper.

smitty88 wrote:

Another potential expat talking about moving to Ecuador seemingly without having been here??? First learn a bit about the country and get some Spanish. Then spend at least six months here to see if it really is a good fit for you so you won't have to post questions like, "Are there any English language bookstores in Cuenca?"

Smitty's had a tough year, especially with the bike accident and the hospital-bills scare.

But there's no need to take it out on someone who'd like to know about English-language bookstores before taking on the tasks of learning Spanish and living in Ecuador for six months.

This forum welcomes questions from prospective Expats interested in Ecuador.

Nobody has to learn Spanish and spend six months in Ecuador before asking a few questions relevant to their possible move here.

cccmedia in Quito

I stand by what I said and think it is good, or even essential, advice, but suppose the bookstore bit was a bit of an unnecessary cheap shot. Of course! Ask all kinds of questions. As Albert Schweitzer said, when asked if he didn't get tired of being asked all those dumb questions, "There is no such thing as a dumb question - only a dumb answer."

More than a few expats resettle here without reasonable advance prep, maybe buy a condo, make fewer and fewer trips here, then bail out after a year or two.
One long time expat says that when he encounters older expats considering moving here, he asks them, "Where do you want to be when you die?"

Anyone who believes there is no such thing as a stupid question has never leaned over their wife's plate and asked "Are you going to eat all that?"

smitty88 wrote:

More than a few expats resettle here without reasonable advance prep, maybe buy a condo, make fewer and fewer trips here, then bail out....

1.  Smitty's right about this -- an Expat needs to visit Ecuador first before moving here.  Many of us love it here, but it's not for everybody.  Adjustments to altitude, culture, language and distance from 'home' are all in play.

2. Smitty's also right about this -- don't buy that condo right away.  Rent somewhere at least for a year before buying in that area.

cccmedia in Quito

daxcostello wrote:

I did look at the Amazon Prime service a while back to get access to the movie / TV streaming etc but it seemed that would not have worked in Ecuador unless I had a VPN and a US billing address.

I believe anyone in Ecuador with a credit or debit card can access Amazon services including Amazon Prime's streaming service.

Get started at amazon.com by clicking on Prime and then clicking on Start My Free 30-Day Trial.  You can cancel during the trial period if you wish, and pay nothing.

cccmedia in Quito

daxcostello wrote:

I buy books and apps from Amazon without any problem. They download fine to my PC, Samsung phone and two Kindle Fires we bought for the kids last time we were in the States.  Note that the books can be shared over multiple devices within one family. i.e I buy a book for the kids and they can both install it.

If buying or reading an Amazon book, what are the advantages of buying a Kindle Fire rather than simply using the free Kindle reader that Amazon provides?

cccmedia in Quito

I am having the same type of problem finding English books. They are only available in Guayaquil and Quito [I don't know about Cuenca]. I live in Ambato. So, I travel to Quito every 3 mos. or so and go to Mr. Books at the Mall in the North end. Cost of taxi $10,  Cost of 3 novels in English $28 [paperbacks]. I am also "old-fashioned", when it comes to reading. Love holding a novel, turning pages, in the evening, all warm and cozy under a few blankets. LOL  As a Canadian, it would cost me perhaps just as much to order books, since the CDN dollar is soo way down right now, compared to the US dollar. If the Ecuadorian snail-mail charges even more, I'd rather spend a day in Quito and pick out  my paperback novels at the Mall.  Just thought, I'd let you know, how to make it a fun day after all.