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You're right and it's still confusing me. I regularly enter "amazon.be" only to realize my "thinko" and then I head "amazon.fr". It's mindboggling that they d

You're right and it's still confusing me. I regularly enter "amazon.be" only to realize my "thinko" and then I head "amazon.fr". It's mindboggling that they didn't at least register and/or redirect the domains. Sure Belgium is a small market, but their european strategy seems totally lame. There's a need in Europe. I don't get why they don't fill it better. They're great in the U.S. and amazing too in Japan. These are two gigantic markets of course. What I don't get is why they don't see Europe --or at least the eurozone-- as one single big market.

xxpor 14y ago
Disclosure: I have worked in Kindle, so I have insight into what's happening. Think about Amazon's original market: books. In this case, it makes almost no sense to have a eurozone market. 1. Most countries speak different languages 2. The laws around selling books are CRAZY in Europe. Each country has different laws about how books are priced. FR and DE are fixed price (everyone sells the book for the same price), IT I think is Reseller (normal model, publishers sell to Amazon, Amazon sells to consumer), and UK is Commissionaire (Tax included Agent model, Amazon gets commission for selling books to consumers, but publisher sets price) and Reseller. 3. Each country has different publishers for the marketplace, with different requirements in terms of metadata etc.
- DigitalTurk 14y ago
  > 1. Most countries speak different languages Yes, and in some countries people speak more than one language. It's worrisome that Amazon is having such difficulties dealing with such a simple matter. Additionally, there are a ton of English speakers in the eurozone and Amazon is doing a bad job in serving them. Here's one more example: Amazon.co.uk actually has a feature where you can pay in euros. However, it only works on check-out. When browsing the website you cannot have it show prices in euros. I'd shop a lot more often at Amazon.co.uk if they showed prices in euros! > 2. The laws around selling books are CRAZY in Europe. Each country has different laws about how books are priced. FR and DE are fixed price (everyone sells the book for the same price), IT I think is Reseller (normal model, publishers sell to Amazon, Amazon sells to consumer), and UK is Commissionaire (Tax included Agent model, Amazon gets commission for selling books to consumers, but publisher sets price) and Reseller. But you only have to abide by the system in the country you're shipping from, right? So what's the problem again? > 3. Each country has different publishers for the marketplace, with different requirements in terms of metadata etc. I don't understand what you mean. Are you talking about translations of books? Those, of course, are different products from the original. Also, some electric appliances are often sold under different brand names, but, again, in such a case we're talking about different products. Or were you referring to something else entirely?
Evbn 14y ago
Approximately 1 percent of the Belgium market would think about putting in a ccTLD instead of using browser default search box.

xxpor 14y ago

Disclosure: I have worked in Kindle, so I have insight into what's happening. Think about Amazon's original market: books. In this case, it makes almost no sense to have a eurozone market. 1. Most countries speak different languages 2. The laws around selling books are CRAZY in Europe. Each country has different laws about how books are priced. FR and DE are fixed price (everyone sells the book for the same price), IT I think is Reseller (normal model, publishers sell to Amazon, Amazon sells to consumer), and UK is Commissionaire (Tax included Agent model, Amazon gets commission for selling books to consumers, but publisher sets price) and Reseller. 3. Each country has different publishers for the marketplace, with different requirements in terms of metadata etc.

DigitalTurk 14y ago
> 1. Most countries speak different languages Yes, and in some countries people speak more than one language. It's worrisome that Amazon is having such difficulties dealing with such a simple matter. Additionally, there are a ton of English speakers in the eurozone and Amazon is doing a bad job in serving them. Here's one more example: Amazon.co.uk actually has a feature where you can pay in euros. However, it only works on check-out. When browsing the website you cannot have it show prices in euros. I'd shop a lot more often at Amazon.co.uk if they showed prices in euros! > 2. The laws around selling books are CRAZY in Europe. Each country has different laws about how books are priced. FR and DE are fixed price (everyone sells the book for the same price), IT I think is Reseller (normal model, publishers sell to Amazon, Amazon sells to consumer), and UK is Commissionaire (Tax included Agent model, Amazon gets commission for selling books to consumers, but publisher sets price) and Reseller. But you only have to abide by the system in the country you're shipping from, right? So what's the problem again? > 3. Each country has different publishers for the marketplace, with different requirements in terms of metadata etc. I don't understand what you mean. Are you talking about translations of books? Those, of course, are different products from the original. Also, some electric appliances are often sold under different brand names, but, again, in such a case we're talking about different products. Or were you referring to something else entirely?

Evbn 14y ago

Approximately 1 percent of the Belgium market would think about putting in a ccTLD instead of using browser default search box.