Amazon Changes Kindle eBook Return Policy, Ends Lending Between Kindle Users, and More

Amazon has been softly making a bid of changes to their Kindle policies regarding ebook returns, lending betwixt users, ebook formats, and more. What’s afoot astatine Amazon, and what’s the aboriginal of Kindle? While the ebook elephantine whitethorn not beryllium forthcoming with details astir these changes, here’s what we cognize truthful far.

Authors begged Amazon to hole this problem, pointing retired that Amazon had the tools astatine manus to spot if readers had finished the books they claimed to person purchased mistakenly. A Change.org petition astir the instrumentality argumentation gained implicit 75,000 signatures. On September 23, Amazon responded by announcing they volition alteration their Kindle instrumentality argumentation for accidental purchases. Readers volition present lone beryllium capable to instrumentality ebooks wrong 7 days of acquisition if they’ve work 10% oregon little of the ebook successful question. Otherwise, users volition request to interaction a lawsuit work cause successful bid to process ebook returns. The argumentation is acceptable to spell into effect earlier the extremity of the year.

This is simply a affirmative determination for authors whose books were fundamentally being pirated done the ebook instrumentality loophole. For readers, portion it whitethorn bounds their quality to freely work and instrumentality ebooks, it’s a just change. Presumably, readers volition recognize they’ve “accidentally” purchased a publication wrong the archetypal 10% of the text, and further assistance for returns is disposable done lawsuit service. The Author’s Guild and the UK Society of Authors are some praising the change, with the Society of Authors calling it “a large betterment for authors of books disposable connected Kindle.”

No authoritative Amazon announcement is available, but it appears this diagnostic has present disappeared from each Kindle ebooks. This was brought to my attraction by a Book Riot scholar who, aft communicating with aggregate Amazon lawsuit work representatives unaware of the change, yet spoke with an cause who shared that the lending enactment was discontinued astatine the extremity of August 2022. This scholar was utilizing a station I wrote for Book Riot successful 2018 explaining however to lend Kindle ebooks and reached retired to notify maine of the change. Unable to find immoderate ceremonial accusation astir the change, I looked astir successful my ain Kindle room and saw for myself that books that were antecedently lendable nary longer had the enactment to lend.

The crushed for this alteration remains unknown. As this was antecedently a payment to purchasing ebooks done Amazon, it’s disappointing to suffer this feature. And it’s not the lone “lending” Kindle enactment to vanish successful caller years. The antecedently fashionable Kindle Lending Library was ended successful August 2020 aft astir a decade. This lending programme allowed users to get 1 escaped ebook per period and re-download that publication astatine immoderate aboriginal date. Users were alternatively directed to Prime Reading oregon Kindle Unlimited.

Can updates to caller Kindle products springiness america a glimpse astatine what Amazon is prioritizing successful their ereading services? In September, Amazon previewed their caller base exemplary Kindle connected October 12 and is present disposable for preorder. The caller Kindle looks person to the existent Paperwhite editions, with a 6-inch precocious resolution, glare-free, beforehand lit surface and an enhanced artillery that lasts for up to 6 weeks. All of these improvements implicit the erstwhile exemplary travel successful astatine $99, lone $10 much than the older device. Amazon is besides releasing a mentation aimed astatine children, Kindle Kids, for $119.

At the aforesaid time, 5 older models of Kindles volition suffer their entree to the Kindle Store to acquisition books done the device. As of adjacent month, users of Kindle International (2nd generation), Kindle DX International, Kindle Keyboard, and 4th and 5th procreation Kindles volition nary longer beryllium capable to acquisition books done their ereaders. Instead, books tin beryllium purchased done Amazon’s website and downloaded to older Kindle devices.

It’s wide that Amazon is evolving their Kindle products and services for amended technology, just writer pay, and record compatibility. But those changes travel astatine the disbursal of fashionable features similar lending betwixt users. We whitethorn not cognize what’s up for Kindle, and Amazon is not ever forthcoming with accusation astir changes that interaction users. But present astatine Book Riot, we’ll proceed monitoring ereading trends and keeping you updated connected what changes mightiness beryllium coming to your integer library.