With yesterday’s announcement that Amazon.com will be selling the entire family of Kindle eReaders in retail stores throughout the country, you might be tempted to buy your Kindle at Walmart, Target, or Best Buy instead of direct from Amazon.com. Is that necessarily the best choice?
[easyazon-image-link asin="B0051QVESA" alt="Kindle, Wi-Fi, 6" E Ink Display - includes Special Offers & Sponsored Screensavers" src="http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/411H%2B731ZzL.jpg" align="left" width="300" height="300"]Although it may surprize you, Kindle has been available at Target stores for some time, however, there are real reasons why you may want to consider ordering your Kindle or Kindle Fire direct from Amazon.com, instead of just running to your local big box retailer to pick one up.
First and foremost, when you order your Kindle direct from Amazon, you’re cutting out the middle man. Although the pricing is the same, having your Kindle shipped direct from Amazon ensures that you are getting the most recent version of the software. Models sold in stores may have been on the shelf for a few weeks or even months, and may not have the most current release preloaded. While it’s no problem to update the software once you get it out of the box, and in fact, Kindle does it automatically, I would just prefer to have the lastest version when I open the box.
Secondly, if you order your Kindle online, depending on where you live, you may not have to pay a state or local sales tax on your Kindle. Some states charge nearly 10% sales tax, which can add as much as 19.90 to the purchase of a Kindle Fire. Ordering it online may actually save you money.
And finally, perhaps the biggest reason to order directly from Amazon is that, should you ever have a problem with your Kindle, Amazon will have a record of your order, date purchased, etc., and it will be far easier to get the support that you need to resolve a problem.
Yes, you may have to wait a couple of days to get your Kindle when you order direct from Amazon, but in the long run, it may be well worth the wait. Instant gratification is not always the best way to go, especially when shopping for eReaders.


