Kindle, Kindle Touch & Kindle Touch 3G Real Prices – How Much Does One Cost? [Amazon Talks Low Prices for U.S. New Kindle Readers with “Special Offers” Ads; What About International Ones?]

Posted on TFTS by Chris Smith on Wednesday, 28. September 2011 under: Computers & Computing, Devices, General Postings, PCs, Notebooks, Netbooks & Tablets

Earlier today Amazon launched not one new product, the highly anticipated Kindle Fire, but four, the tablet and three new Kindle readers, the new Kindle, the Kindle Touch and the Kindle Touch 3G.

One of the selling points for all these devices, as we have already shown you, is their starting price. From $79 to $199, you have four devices, all ready to offer you at least a nice eBook reading experience, if not a lot more, in case of the tablet.

But Amazon’s Jeff Bezos forgot to add that these new devices, except for the Kindle Fire, are more expensive if one opts out of the “Special Offers” deal. What are those special offers? They’re ads, displayed on your device when you’re not reading, not that this is a feature you really need on a device that’s meant to provide fast access to your favorite books.

Here’s how the “Special Offers” are explained on Amazon’s site:

Special Offers & Sponsored Screensavers
You’ll receive special offers and sponsored screensavers directly on your Kindle. Examples of past special offers include:
$10 for $20 Amazon.com Gift Card
Save up to $500 off Amazon’s already low prices on select HDTVs
$1 for a Kindle book, choose from thousands of books
Your offers display on your Kindle’s screensaver and on the bottom of the home screen—they don’t interrupt reading. You have control over your offers experience: you can set your personal Kindle Screensaver Preferences to give us hints on the style and types of sponsored screensavers you’d like to see.
Kindle e-reader: example sponsored screensavers
Kindle with Special Offers & Sponsored Screensavers is only available in the U.S.

Notice that last line? It basically says that nowhere else in the world will customers be able to buy as cheap a Kindle as U.S.-based customers. Even so, opting out of the advertisements package means that you’ll have to pay an extra $30 or $40 for the device of your choosing as follows:

Kindle – $79 with Special Offers – $109 without
Kindle Touch – $99 with Special Offers – $139 without
Kindle Touch 3G – $149 with Special Offers – $189 without

How much will international customers have to pay for the devices? So far only the new Kindle is available for pre-order and it’s being featured only on the front-page of the UK and Germany stores while other Amazon local retailers, in Canada, Japan or France, do not list the new devices yet on the front page of the websites. Here are the prices available so far:

UK: Kindle – £89 or $139
Germany: Kindle – EUR99 or $135

So, as you can see, a $79 Kindle sounds too good to be true because, at the end of the day, such discounts aren’t really free. Will the Special Offers bother you in any way?