The other day I got a call from someone who wanted advice on how he could buy an Amazon Kindle for their office in India.

The question was a bit surprising considering how easy the process of ordering a Kindle from India is (see video). You visit the Kindle page on Amazon.com, change the country to India, enter your credit card details and the device should reach your doorstep in 2-3 days. In fact, Kindle is the only gadget on the Amazon.com website that you can get directly shipped to any postal address in India.

Well the problem was something else. That person worked for a Government office, they wanted to buy a Kindle for ‘official’ use but at the same time, they weren’t authorized to make purchases through credit cards. Thus it was impossible for him to buy the Kindle from Amazon.com as the site only accepts international credit cards.

Websites that ship Amazon Kindle to India

If you are in a similar situation as him or if you would like to learn about the other non-Amazon websites that also sell the Kindle, here’s a comparison chart for you (prices are in Indian Rupees and they include shipping, import duty and all other taxes):

Vendor

Kindle **Wi-Fi 6”**

Kindle Wi-Fi + 3G

Payment Options

Status

India Plaza

8950

11850

Credit and Debit Cards, Net Banking, Cheque, DD, Money Order

Available

Indiatimes

9614

12595

Credit and Debit Cards, Net Banking, Cheque, DD, Money Order

Out of stock

Shop Your World

9367

12232

Credit and Debit Cards

Available

Amazon.com

9234

12120

Credit and Debit Cards

Available

20 North

9508

12807

Credit Cards and PayPal

Out of stock

eBay India

9099

12121

Credit cards, Debit cards, Online Bank Transfer

Available

Indian shopping sites like India Plaza and Indiatimes offer you an option to buy the Kindle in India using debit cards, through online banking or you can use the good old money order, cheque or demand-draft – payment modes that are still popular in areas when Internet banking has not picked up yet.

At the time of writing this, the Indiatimes store had run out of their Kindle stock while India Plaza offered the best deal though the shipping cycle was a bit longer at 10 days. 20 North is another option as it accepts payment through PayPal (will that work?) but they too are out of stock at the moment.

Finally you have the global eBay website where you may again find some good deals on the various Kindle 3 models and payment can be made via credit cards or through online bank transfer. The Kindles listed on eBay are often sold by sellers who are based in the U.S. and shipping they say usually happens 10 business days of receiving cleared payment. The wait could therefore be much longer.

If you compare the price of Kindle across the various online stores, India Plaza might look a bit cheaper than Amazon.com but please note that Amazon charges a certain deposit against possible import duties and they often refund a portion of it after the item has been shipped and delivered.

Also, Amazon.com takes only 2-3 days to deliver so it is still the best bet provided you have an Amazon.com gift voucher or an international credit card to make the payment.

How to Buy a Kindle for India from Amazon.com

Also see: Download Free Books for Kindle