Kindle: how do I buy a Kindle book and send it to someone else?

[Blu]

Can I add someone else's Kindle e mail address to my account, buy them a book and have it sent straight to them?

It seems such an obvious things to want to do, but I can't see how to do it?

Bump, pathetic, needy bump....

My friend tried to do this a while ago for another friend. As far as I remember, she eventually established that you can't do it. Sorry! It may have changed by now, of course. Can you send a gift voucher for the amount instead?

This is from the US Kindle site, I'll now start following the instructions to see if you can say it's a gift, I don't remember ever seeing that option.

i don't think you can - I ended up buying an amazon voucher and telling my friend which book I had intended to buy her

Ah .. the same page in the UK help is missing the all-important 'and Kindle content'.

I would get in contact with Amazon, they are very responsive over the online chat facility - even if the answer is no it'll give you a chance to request it. It does seem very odd that you can't send content - you can with iTunes and the Google Play Store, for example.

I asked Amazon this last year and was told it's only available in the U.S. at present.

I will have to send a gift voucher, I suppose, but it does seem very odd that they haven't built this in. They are missing a trick!

For my current purposes I can probably send a voucher. But my Mum uses a kindle but not a computer or Internet, and there are loads of times I would / could ping her a book to her Kindle, but find the whole order-a-book and pay postage because it is just one too expensive as a spur of the moment thing. So I don't. I wait til I go up and lend her paperbacks. So last century.

P.S thanks all.

How does she get the books on to her Kindle without a computer or the internet

An eminent IP lawyer explained to me that when you buy something for a kindle, or iTunes, only the buyer has rights to read (or listen) to the item. It can't be swapped or bought for anyone else. When you die, that agreement terminates. You are unable to pass any of that onto anyone. He said it's like a licence - there is only one owner and you can't include anyone else. Therefore you can't gift iTunes or kindle books. I asked him about the U2 album that appeared in my library and he said that there was no contract it was given away. However, the universal, free distribution might have contravened privacy laws.

(If I've got that wrong it will be because I've picked it up wrong, not because he is!)

Could you set up an amazon account in your mum's name, linking her kindle to it but register your card to it? You could buy her books whenever you like.

But you can gift on iTunes, Olly - when you're buying the app or the book or the film or whatever, you can say if it's for you or someone else.

You're right in that it's then licensed to whoever you bought it for, you can't buy it, think 'so-and-so will like this' and pass it on, like you could with a physical book.

I asked Amazon this a couple of years ago and was thanked for my feedback! Sounds like it hasn't improved...
Would love to be able to do it, sending a gift voucher isn't the same at all and sometimes I don't want to send the paperback to take up shelf space (especially for student siblings with little space)

Am not sure if I am remembering this correctly but isn't there some way to connect other people's kindle to yours in a family account and share books that way?

Try reading through this and see if you can buy the book then share it with your mum

www.amazon.co.uk/gp/help/customer/display.html?nodeId=201620400

Tribpot and Olly, my brother takes her Kindle to his house and uploads stuff for her: he seems to have her account. But setting up a separate Amazin account from my card and using her kindle address should work . Unless I can't because my brother already has.

Also, she now had wi fi in the house for when we are all staying there , so now I could just send her stuff.