# I confirm permafree from KDP support



## Nathalie Aynie (Nov 24, 2013)

I sent an email to KDP support earlier today (my time) about my book being free on other outlets and asked them to please permafree it on Amazon as well.

Link to the support contact page: https://kdp.amazon.com/contact-us
I chose: What is the problem? / Pricing & Royalties / Other

I provided links as well.

Here is our exchange:



Nathalie said:


> ---- Original message: ----
> 
> Subject: Price change
> 
> ...





KDP said:


> Hello Nathalie,
> 
> Thanks for writing to us and keeping us posted about the price of your title in the other website. We really appreciate your cooperation.
> 
> ...


I just checked my KDP reports, I got 2 free downloads so it works!

This was answered in less than 24 hours, it seems to me it's better than reporting!

Hope this helps.


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## cinisajoy (Mar 10, 2013)

Nathalie Aynié said:


> I sent an email to KDP support earlier today (my time) about my book being free on other outlets and asked them to please permafree it on Amazon as well.
> 
> Link to the support contact page: https://kdp.amazon.com/contact-us
> I chose: What is the problem? / Pricing & Royalties / Other
> ...


You might want to check that report again. I think you just got another download.


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## Nathalie Aynie (Nov 24, 2013)

cinisajoy said:


> You might want to check that report again. I think you just got another download.


Thanks Cin! 
Not appearing yet, but looking forward to it!


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## Kat Lilynette (Oct 12, 2013)

Hmm... guess KDP support doesn't like me. I sent them a similar request and received what sounded like a "no." Waited 24 hours and price never changed.  

Sent them another request today though.


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## Rin (Apr 25, 2011)

It's showing 90c for me. Sorry. >_<


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## Nathalie Aynie (Nov 24, 2013)

Rin said:


> It's showing 90c for me. Sorry. >_<


You're in Australia.


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## Rin (Apr 25, 2011)

Nathalie Aynié said:


> You're in Australia.


Yeah...but I shop on the .com store, not the .com.au store.


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## Nathalie Aynie (Nov 24, 2013)

Rin said:


> Yeah...but I shop on the .com store, not the .com.au store.


I'm pretty sure you have some "you're living outside the US so we'll tax you" tax. 
I see it at $1.21 from France. Yet I just got now the 3rd free download Cinisajoy told me about.


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## Patty Jansen (Apr 5, 2011)

Rin said:


> Yeah...but I shop on the .com store, not the .com.au store.


Yup, if you're in Australia, you get shown "special" prices, not the same as other people see on .com


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## Cherise (May 13, 2012)

0.00 here

(But I bought it a long time ago.)


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## AngelicaBoone (Oct 22, 2013)

Thank you for the information. I'm going to try that route as well.


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## Al Dente (Sep 3, 2012)

Thanks for letting us know. I just sent them an e-mail with similar wording, so we'll see if they bother to fix mine.


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## The 13th Doctor (May 31, 2012)

Ooh, I'm going to try that, Nathalie!


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## Sally C (Mar 31, 2011)

Thanks for telling us, I had just done the same thing, so I'm hopeful!


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## Kristine McKinley (Aug 26, 2012)

Thank you! I've been trying so long to get my first episode free. I'll update with their response, hopefully it's a positive one.


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## Logan R. (May 13, 2011)

Really?! That's VERY frustrating because I sent an email to them yesterday saying basically what you said, and they told me "Yeah, sometimes we price match, and sometimes we don't. Good luck." That's not exactly what they said, obviously, but I'm away from my computer so I can't get an exact quote. I'll get it when I get home though.


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## Christine Kersey (Feb 13, 2011)

In my experience, when you have it free on Apple, they price-match it within days, with no clicking on the "the price is lower somewhere else" thing. This was the case for two of my perma-free books (_Gone_ and _Over You_). The other one, _He Loves Me Not_, was perma-free before I began distributing to Apple, so that didn't come into play.


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## Logan R. (May 13, 2011)

Here's the email I got from Amazon:



> Hi Logan,
> 
> I'm glad to hear that you are a happy publisher throughout all the time you have been with us, thank you for your continued interest on our services!!
> 
> ...


Maybe I just got somebody in the middle of a bad day. At least they passed the info on though.


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## Carol (was Dara) (Feb 19, 2011)

Good heavens! Surely they aren't going to get into the habit of doing these things, you know, the _sensible _ way. What kind of precedent would that set?


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## Adam Poe (Apr 2, 2012)

KDP support is weird like that. It definitely seems like many of them are either not on the same page, or do not have the same powers. Sometimes you get someone that can fix the problem immediately and easily, then the next time, with the same problem, a rep tells you it is impossible.


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## Carol (was Dara) (Feb 19, 2011)

Adam Poe said:


> KDP support is weird like that. It definitely seems like many of them are either not on the same page, or do not have the same powers. Sometimes you get someone that can fix the problem immediately and easily, then the next time, with the same problem, a rep tells you it is impossible.


I know! I wish KDP had a big thick manual for their employees, describing every possible weird scenario they might encounter from authors. Then I wish they instructed them to avoid using their own judgments ever, except in the most crazy and extreme situations, instead following the guidebook to the letter every time. It'd do a lot to stop all these mixed signals they send out. Then again, I'm a lover of rules in general. I'd make a scary dictator.


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## Adam Poe (Apr 2, 2012)

Dara England said:


> I know! I wish KDP had a big thick manual for their employees, describing every possible weird scenario they might encounter from authors. Then I wish they instructed them to avoid using their own judgments ever, except in the most crazy and extreme situations, instead following the guidebook to the letter every time. It'd do a lot to stop all these mixed signals they send out. Then again, I'm a lover of rules in general. I'd make a scary dictator.


I am a customer support manager in my 'day job', and know exactly what you mean. KDP support makes me facepalm all the time. They need something like my company has--an all-encompassing line-of-question program to determine what to do for every possible issue.

It'd probably make their replies go faster too ... well, actually probably not sense it seems 90% of their responses are canned 'no's that they copy and paste


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## Nathalie Aynie (Nov 24, 2013)

Maybe it's the wording PLUS the right "What's the problem?" answer.
I'm betting it doesn't go to the same support department if you select something other than what I specified in the OP.

Good luck y'all!


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## David Adams (Jan 2, 2012)

Been desperately trying to get one of my erotica shorts free, if this works expect eyeball lickings!¡ 

I copy~pasted your email with my own links and name. Hope it works!


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## Nathalie Aynie (Nov 24, 2013)

David Adams said:


> Been desperately trying to get one of my erotica shorts free, if this works expect eyeball lickings!¡
> 
> I copy~pasted your email with my own links and name. Hope it works!


I deserve daily eyeball lickings anyway!!


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## David Adams (Jan 2, 2012)

Nathalie Aynié said:


> I deserve daily eyeball lickings anyway!!


This is so true!


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## phil1861 (Dec 22, 2011)

Christine Kersey said:


> In my experience, when you have it free on Apple, they price-match it within days, with no clicking on the "the price is lower somewhere else" thing. This was the case for two of my perma-free books (_Gone_ and _Over You_). The other one, _He Loves Me Not_, was perma-free before I began distributing to Apple, so that didn't come into play.


I've two different experiences with this so far. Two Struck Images, a short story has been free for months on iBooks and I've sent the notices for a while almost weekly of a better price. No change at all. It sells on Amazon perhaps once or twice a month. I had it at .99 then raised the price to 1.99 thinking perhaps the difference in price might juice the better deal from iBooks and coax Amazon to price match. No change.

They Met at Shiloh, also available on iBooks was .99 for the Christmas time frame and first week of Jan I raised the Amazon price but forgot to raise the iBooks price. I wasn't paying attention to the product page and wondered the next week why I had so many buys at the %35 royalty when the average list price on my report said 2.99. They price matched in less than a day. As another test I changed my KDP price to 4.99 but left the iBooks at 2.99. In less than a day the price was matched to 2.99.

This lead me to wonder about the history of each work and when Amazon decides to price match. TMAS has a long history of sales. 2SI does not. Could also be that one is a short story and the other a full length, but I think it more likely that since TMAS does sell when it is visible and has a long history Amazon has a greater interest in price matching it than my hardly selliing short.


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## Al Dente (Sep 3, 2012)

It worked! I just got this from KDP:

Our price for your title, The Arrival (The Good Man: Book One) is now $0.00. You can confirm the price here:

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00D5LOWDM


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## Nathalie Aynie (Nov 24, 2013)

David Scroggins said:


> It worked! I just got this from KDP:
> 
> Our price for your title, The Arrival (The Good Man: Book One) is now $0.00. You can confirm the price here:
> 
> http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00D5LOWDM


Yay! 
If it doesn't work, keep trying!

I have an evil trick with Smashwords' support as well if someone is desperate to have something fixed there...


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## Sally C (Mar 31, 2011)

Yay! It worked for me too! I didn't get a notification yet, but it has gone free! Happy dancing here!


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## Logan R. (May 13, 2011)

I'm going to try it again. Maybe I'll get a different person this time.


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## Nathalie Aynie (Nov 24, 2013)

Logan Rutherford said:


> I'm going to try it again. Maybe I'll get a different person this time.


Make sure you check the right option. I'm betting it helps. (see the OP)
Good luck!


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## Logan R. (May 13, 2011)

Nathalie Aynié said:


> Make sure you check the right option. I'm betting it helps. (see the OP)
> Good luck!


Last time I clicked Pricing & Royalties>Price Matching. Maybe the people who get those emails are instructed not to change the price, but the people who get it if you click "Other" didn't get the memo. Hopefully so!


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## Nathalie Aynie (Nov 24, 2013)

Logan Rutherford said:


> Last time I clicked Pricing & Royalties>Price Matching. Maybe the people who get those emails are instructed not to change the price, but the people who get it if you click "Other" didn't get the memo. Hopefully so!


Let us know! We need data! FOR SCIENCE! BECAUSE OF REASONS! THINK OF THE CHILDREN!


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## Kristine McKinley (Aug 26, 2012)

It worked! I followed the instructions you gave and selected Other and my email back basically told me next time report the price, like I've been doing the last three months, but they went ahead and fixed the price. Happy dance


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## The 13th Doctor (May 31, 2012)

I went via Pricing & Royalties > Other, and this is the email I received...

"Hello Gayle,

Thank you for your information on pricing. Although, we may match free promotions on other sales channels, we still retain discretion over our retail prices and we don't guarantee that we match the price with our competitor.

Please read our Terms and Conditions here (under 5.2.1):

http://kdp.amazon.com/self-publishing/help?topicId=200627430

In the future, you can let us know about lower prices through our website by clicking the link to "Tell us about a lower price" under the "Product Details" section for your title. Please be sure to specify all of the websites which are selling the book at a lower price.

Thanks for using Amazon KDP."



Oh well, at least I got three downloads as soon as one of the books went free on Apple.


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## Incognita (Apr 3, 2011)

I'm trying this method, too. I've been trying to get a novella to go free for almost two months now, and all the reporting from the helpful people in the "Make It Free" thread hasn't done _bupkis_. I'll report back one way or another.


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## Nathalie Aynie (Nov 24, 2013)

garam81 said:


> I went via Pricing & Royalties > Other, and this is the email I received...
> 
> "Hello Gayle,
> 
> ...


Have your books been free for a while or did you put them free right now? Mine had been free for a few weeks.
Also, how many channels and which ones? I had a big list of links. That might help.

*hugsgsgs*


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## Quiss (Aug 21, 2012)

And then they take it all away.
My perma free is back to full price at .UK  No idea why.
It went free by itself after .com went free.  

This sort of back-and-forth makes it kinda stressful to plan promotions


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## The 13th Doctor (May 31, 2012)

Nathalie Aynié said:


> Have your books been free for a while or did you put them free right now? Mine had been free for a few weeks.
> Also, how many channels and which ones? I had a big list of links. That might help.
> 
> *hugsgsgs*


Hi Nathalie,

One has been free a matter of days. The other a matter of weeks. They're free on iTunes, Kobo and Smashwords. I normally use D2D to publish on B&N but since D2D aren't allowed to post free books there, the prices are 99c. I did post the links in my initial message to Amazon Support.



Quiss said:


> And then they take it all away.
> My perma free is back to full price at .UK No idea why.
> It went free by itself after .com went free.
> 
> This sort of back-and-forth makes it kinda stressful to plan promotions


Quiss, I had the same trouble with The Whispering Tombs. Went free on .com and .uk for a while then went back to 99p on the uk site. After a few weeks it returned to free on the uk...... only to go full price again a month or two later. It is kind of infuriating.


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## GearPress Steve (Feb 4, 2012)

Logan Rutherford said:


> At least they passed the info on though.


_SURE_ they did. Heh.


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## Kat Lilynette (Oct 12, 2013)

I'll add my results:

I have my book free on smashwords and have sent two requests via Pricing & Royalties > Price Matching.

Both times, I received the exact same response from two different people (followed by no price matching):



> Hello,
> 
> Thank you for your information on pricing. From time to time, we may match free promotions on other sales channels, but we retain discretion over our retail prices.
> 
> ...


So, if anything, I think this confirms that having your book free on smashwords and going through the channel I did will lead to no permafree.

Now I'm stuck on what to do next, since I've basically been told "no" by Amazon twice.


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## GearPress Steve (Feb 4, 2012)

Nathalie Aynié said:


> I sent an email to KDP support earlier today (my time) about my book being free on other outlets and asked them to please permafree it on Amazon as well.


Love the nom de plume, BTW. I'll grab a copy of the book and check it out.


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## Incognita (Apr 3, 2011)

Kat Lilynette said:


> I'll add my results:
> 
> I have my book free on smashwords and have sent two requests via Pricing & Royalties > Price Matching.
> 
> ...


I don't think I've ever heard of them price-matching something on Smashwords alone. It needs to be free on at least iTunes or Kobo (preferably both).


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## Nathalie Aynie (Nov 24, 2013)

Kat Lilynette said:


> I'll add my results:
> 
> I have my book free on smashwords and have sent two requests via Pricing & Royalties > Price Matching.
> 
> ...


Is it free on another distributor than Smashwords?
I think they really only pricematch B&N and iTunes...
But if you have other places where it's permafree it can't harm to list them as well.



scslawin said:


> Love the nom de plume, BTW. I'll grab a copy of the book and check it out.


Thanks!


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## Kat Lilynette (Oct 12, 2013)

ChristinePope said:


> I don't think I've ever heard of them price-matching something on Smashwords alone. It needs to be free on at least iTunes or Kobo (preferably both).


Never heard that before, but yeah, it's certainly looking like they really don't care about Smashwords at all. Any idea how long it takes Smashwords to distribute a book to Apple, B&N, Sony, etc?


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## Erica Conroy (Dec 22, 2011)

I have a short and a novella that are currently free in .COM (loss leaders for two series) but not in Australia. The short isn't free in UK either. So I sent two emails, one for each book. I have one reply so far, and it's this lovely form email:



> Hello,
> 
> Thank you for your information on pricing. From time to time, we may match free promotions on other sales channels, but we retain discretion over our retail prices.
> 
> ...


I was bummed, but checked the sites and it's now free in UK!

Also annoyed cause the Australia site doesn't have a "Tell us about a lower price" &@%#


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## heidi_g (Nov 14, 2013)

Nathalie, that's kind of A-mazing! thank you for sharing  I never would have thought of going that route myself!


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## Nathalie Aynie (Nov 24, 2013)

heidi_g said:


> Nathalie, that's kind of A-mazing! thank you for sharing  I never would have thought of going that route myself!


Not my idea, I saw this buried in another thread and, since it worked, I thought it needed to be upfront and center.


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## maxspencer (Nov 18, 2011)

Just adding my data!

I've got the UK problem - I went free about a month ago but recently the UK price reverted back to paid.  I found this thread and contacted KDP as suggested but got the same form email as most others, ie, use 'Tell us about a lower price' and 'we retain discretion' etc etc. 

Like others have said, it doesn't help with planning promotions and makes my tweets/website information about being free look stupid to people in the UK.


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## Erica Conroy (Dec 22, 2011)

maxspencer said:


> I've got the UK problem - I went free about a month ago but recently the UK price reverted back to paid. I found this thread and contacted KDP as suggested but got the same form email as most others, ie, use 'Tell us about a lower price' and 'we retain discretion' etc etc.
> 
> Like others have said, it doesn't help with planning promotions and makes my tweets/website information about being free look stupid to people in the UK.


PM me your the link for the UK book you want free plus all the non Amazon links to show it's free and I'll use my UK account to report it as a lower price


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## maxspencer (Nov 18, 2011)

Erica Conroy said:


> PM me your the link for the UK book you want free plus all the non Amazon links to show it's free and I'll use my UK account to report it as a lower price


Many thanks Erica. I've just sent you a PM!


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## 68564 (Mar 17, 2013)

I suspect the form letter is the correct response based on their rules and a few of you have just gotten lucky to find poorly trained or more generous employees.


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## Logan R. (May 13, 2011)

It worked! Had the following email this morning:



> Hello Logan,
> 
> I'm following up on your recent inquiry about the price of your book "Prison State: Episode 1".
> 
> ...


So it looks like using Pricing & Royalties > Other is the way to go. I'd take advantage of this now while it's still an option! I have a feeling they might start cracking down on this soon.


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## Nathalie Aynie (Nov 24, 2013)

Logan Rutherford said:


> It worked! Had the following email this morning:
> 
> So it looks like using Pricing & Royalties > Other is the way to go. I'd take advantage of this now while it's still an option! I have a feeling they might start cracking down on this soon.


Yay!


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## Incognita (Apr 3, 2011)

It worked for me, too! Finally free after trying for six weeks!


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## Alex Rogers (Jan 7, 2014)

Worked for me as well! Many thanks!


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## rahulbadami (Feb 16, 2013)

I am bummed with KDP's opaque policies... didnt work for me. Here's what they said:


> Thank you for your information on pricing. Please note, although we may match free promotions on other sales channels, we still retain discretion over our retail prices and we don't guarantee that we match the price with our competitor.
> 
> Please read our Terms and Conditions here (under 5.2.1):
> 
> ...


I had used the Price Matching option... Looks like I will have to try Pricing & Royalties > Other. In the meanwhile I have clicked on No to their email and sent another email requesting to have a relook at my request. My book is being reported on 'Make It Free' thread for some time now, so their reply of clicking 'Tell us about a lower price' isn't helpful.


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## Nathalie Aynie (Nov 24, 2013)

rahulbadami said:


> I am bummed with KDP's opaque policies... didnt work for me. Here's what they said:I had used the Price Matching option... Looks like I will have to try Pricing & Royalties > Other. In the meanwhile I have clicked on No to their email and sent another email requesting to have a relook at my request. My book is being reported on 'Make It Free' thread for some time now, so their reply of clicking 'Tell us about a lower price' isn't helpful.


Which other sales channels did you provide links to?


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## Kat Lilynette (Oct 12, 2013)

VydorScope said:


> I suspect the form letter is the correct response based on their rules and a few of you have just gotten lucky to find poorly trained or more generous employees.


I highly suspect this to be the case. After now being listed at Smashwords, Kobo and B&N and sending additional requests for a match, I've received the standard form letter each time, followed by no change in list price. Granted these have all been sent through "Pricing & Royalties > Price Matching," but if sending them requests through incorrect channels is the only way to get results, I'd say it's a pretty safe assumption that this is a leak that they'll be plugging pretty fast.


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## Kat Lilynette (Oct 12, 2013)

Finally received a different response after going through "Pricing & Royalties > Other" - No idea what to make of it, though.



> Hello,
> 
> Thanks for your information on Pricing.
> 
> ...


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## ClaireMarie (Feb 23, 2013)

Thank you a million times, Nathalie! I followed your procedure to the letter. My book, Knowing His Secret went up free on Itunes yesterday, has been free on B&N but I was following the wisdom of others who said Itunes and Kobo made the difference. It took less than eight hours to get the happy news that my book was free! I came to Kboards this morning intending to post in the 'Make it Free' thread and wait and wait. Found your instructions and that's all it took. One happy little smut author.


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## The 13th Doctor (May 31, 2012)

So finally Amazon make a book of mine free, despite them saying otherwise. However, it seems to only be free on .uk. It's usually a case of being free on .com only. I really wish when they make a book free, they make it free on ALL their sites. :/


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## Starstruck (Nov 1, 2013)

I'll try using this channel instead, thanks for the tip. I contacted them earlier this week through Pricing and Royalties > Price Match and I got this response: _From time to time, we may match free promotions on other sales channels, but we retain discretion over our retail prices._

o_0

We'll see if I have better luck through "Other." -fingers crossed-


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## Kat Lilynette (Oct 12, 2013)

kcfalls said:


> Thank you a million times, Nathalie! I followed your procedure to the letter. My book, Knowing His Secret went up free on Itunes yesterday, has been free on B&N but I was following the wisdom of others who said Itunes and Kobo made the difference. It took less than eight hours to get the happy news that my book was free! I came to Kboards this morning intending to post in the 'Make it Free' thread and wait and wait. Found your instructions and that's all it took. One happy little smut author.





Boyd said:


> Same here, Dangerous Research went free after 18 hours... my last perma free took 3 1/2 weeks.


I'm really curious what's making the difference for people who are getting matched almost instantly. I'm at the point where I'm thinking Amazon just doesn't like me and that I need to accept that permafree won't be an option I'll ever be able to use. (Dramatic, I know, but that's how it feels right about now.)


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## Nathalie Aynie (Nov 24, 2013)

I think these steps are important (warning: giving advice out of my flouflou, no real science or proofs there, just opinion):

Making your book free everywhere, to as many distributors possible: B&N, iTunes, Kobo, Smashwords, Sony, Diesel, etc. *and providing all the links*
Going through *Pricing & Royalties > Other* since people are reporting success from that particular path

If it doesn't work, wait one more week and try again.
In the meantime, I'm thinking it can't hurt to report the lower price on the book page via the KBoards make it free thread.

Good luck everyone!


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## ClaireMarie (Feb 23, 2013)

Bummer. I need advice. In a post above, on Weds. I told you that I followed Nathalie's strategy and got Knowing His Secret set to free. All giddiness. I had over 1700 downloads over the two free days and today I see that Amazon had upped the price again to $0.99. Should I go with the free strategy again immediately or wait? I am going to put it up on the Make it Free thread now. But let's just say I am


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## Nathalie Aynie (Nov 24, 2013)

kcfalls said:


> Bummer. I need advice. In a post above, on Weds. I told you that I followed Nathalie's strategy and got Knowing His Secret set to free. All giddiness. I had over 1700 downloads over the two free days and today I see that Amazon had upped the price again to $0.99. Should I go with the free strategy again immediately or wait? I am going to put it up on the Make it Free thread now. But let's just say I am


So sorry for you!
Did you put it back to paid on the other channels?


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## ClaireMarie (Feb 23, 2013)

No, Nathalie. It's still free on B&N, Smashwords and Itunes. It hasn't been published on Kobo yet. (I haven't checked today though). Should I just plow through and resubmit to Pricing/Royalties, other.


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## Nathalie Aynie (Nov 24, 2013)

Can you reply to the email they sent you, telling them that the book is back to paid though it's still free on other channels?
Maybe you can get the same person that will switch it back?


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## ClaireMarie (Feb 23, 2013)

Good advice. I just did that. *crosses fingers*


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## Nathalie Aynie (Nov 24, 2013)

*crosses cheeks*  (_____X_____)


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## daringnovelist (Apr 3, 2010)

Nathalie Aynié said:


> Maybe it's the wording PLUS the right "What's the problem?" answer.
> I'm betting it doesn't go to the same support department if you select something other than what I specified in the OP.
> 
> Good luck y'all!


So far I have not had a problem using Nathalie's exact method. I do believe it is important to specify the "pricing" etc. Also, I usually wait until it is free on all other vendors. (I don't distribute to Sony because they screw up too often.)

I'm also wondering if there might be a shift factor -- weekday vs. weekend, etc. It's always possible that the regular employees have more leeway or are more comfortable with this. The new employees or part time people or whoever works other times are more uptight.

I DON'T find that Amazon watches any particular vendor. Last fall I had three books free on all vendors (including Apple) for over a month before I finally just contacted KDP.

One thing that's possible -- they may have some kind of price matching quota. Of all the free books out there, they'll match only a percentage. As more and more people use permafree, there are fewer slots for new books? This makes sense in terms of Amazon psychology. They like to have numbers to compare and do split testing and all that.

Camille


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## ccasey (Feb 7, 2013)

(haven't checked all the other posts yet but...) I LOVE YOUR PEN NAME!!! Made me smile.


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## Kat Lilynette (Oct 12, 2013)

CherylCCR said:


> (haven't checked all the other posts yet but...) I LOVE YOUR PEN NAME!!! Made me smile.


Love those covers. Nice work.


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## ccasey (Feb 7, 2013)

Kat Lilynette said:


> Love those covers. Nice work.


Thanks Kat


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## Kristie Leigh Maguire (Feb 24, 2010)

I tried this yesterday with my No Lady and Her Tramp (romantic satire). I received an email from KDP today confirming that they made it free.
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B003TU2IMG

Thanks so much for the advice!

Kristie


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## ClaireMarie (Feb 23, 2013)

Update. I followed Nathalie's advice and replied to the guy who originally made my book free. He got it fixed back to free within a few hours. I lost my rank (267 in free) but it is plugging away and now has reached 400 something. Maybe tomorrow I will reach the level I had gotten to before. All good. Mine is a cliffhanger with two following volumes. We will see and I will report back. Thanks again Nathalie!


----------



## CarlSinclair (Apr 7, 2013)

Nathalie Aynié said:


> I sent an email to KDP support earlier today (my time) about my book being free on other outlets and asked them to please permafree it on Amazon as well.
> 
> Link to the support contact page: https://kdp.amazon.com/contact-us
> I chose: What is the problem? / Pricing & Royalties / Other
> ...


Good to know! Thanks for sharing.


----------



## Octavia Wildwood (Jan 10, 2014)

I gave it a try and received this reply:



> Hello,
> 
> Thanks for this pricing information.
> 
> ...


----------



## Octavia Wildwood (Jan 10, 2014)

I just noticed my book Spicy (Palate #1) has been pricematched, wahoo!


----------



## Nathalie Aynie (Nov 24, 2013)

poisonarrowpubs said:


> It worked! Yippee!!
> 
> Saw the 133 downloads before I actually saw the email.


Yay!


----------



## morganblack (Jan 26, 2014)

I just sent off my e-mail. I only have two places it's free though so I don't know if it will work.
Thanks for the advice!


----------



## JETaylor (Jan 25, 2011)

Thank you for the advice - I tried the report a lower price on the product page and had no success, so hopefully this works.


----------



## LG Castillo (Jun 28, 2012)

Nathalie is a genius!

I followed her advice and Lash (Broken Angel #1) was made free within 24 hours.  

Thanks Nathalie!!!


----------



## Nathalie Aynie (Nov 24, 2013)

Linda Castillo said:


> Nathalie is a genius!
> 
> I followed her advice and Lash (Broken Angel #1) was made free within 24 hours.
> 
> Thanks Nathalie!!!


You're welcome! 
I really hope they go on doing it this way, it's so much better and faster (and more reliable) than the reporting.

I think the trick, as I said before, is to use the exact same wording and choice in the support menu.
In any case... can't hurt to try, right?!


----------



## LG Castillo (Jun 28, 2012)

Nathalie Aynié said:


> You're welcome!
> I really hope they go on doing it this way, it's so much better and faster (and more reliable) than the reporting.
> 
> I think the trick, as I said before, is to use the exact same wording and choice in the support menu.
> In any case... can't hurt to try, right?!


How would I go about making it free in the UK?


----------



## Nathalie Aynie (Nov 24, 2013)

Linda Castillo said:


> How would I go about making it free in the UK?


Mine have been randomly getting free on the other Amazons as well. Didn't do anything. I have no idea how to force it, sorry!


----------



## LG Castillo (Jun 28, 2012)

Nathalie Aynié said:


> Mine have been randomly getting free on the other Amazons as well. Didn't do anything. I have no idea how to force it, sorry!


no problem. I'll wait a few days and see if UK Amazon goes free by itself.


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## AssanaBanana (Feb 1, 2014)

I sent KDP support a message yesterday and this was the response I received:


> Hello Jesse,
> 
> Thanks for this pricing information.
> 
> ...


No price change yet.


----------



## Nathalie Aynie (Nov 24, 2013)

JessePearle said:


> I sent KDP support a message yesterday and this was the response I received:No price change yet.


Did you choose "Others" on the support menu?
Which other channels did you report free?


----------



## AssanaBanana (Feb 1, 2014)

I chose the price matching option. Reported iTunes and All Romance eBooks (Smashwords is taking their time shipping to B&N so the book isn't even available there yet).

Sent from my SCH-I535 using Tapatalk


----------



## AssanaBanana (Feb 1, 2014)

Well it looks like it's gone through since I last posted yesterday morning. 48 free downloads so far. Hopefully it'll translate to sales for book 2 soon!


----------



## morganblack (Jan 26, 2014)

Thank you so much for this post! Mine took over two days but it's free and doing great!


----------



## Jacqueline_Sweet (Jan 10, 2014)

I was able to get permafree for the first part of my Succubus serial with just Smashwords and Google Play. I sent the note last night and it was free this morning.

YMMV


----------



## Nathalie Aynie (Nov 24, 2013)

Jacqueline_Sweet said:


> I was able to get permafree for the first part of my Succubus serial with just Smashwords and Google Play. I sent the note last night and it was free this morning.
> 
> YMMV


Good to know, thanks!


----------



## NicWilson (Apr 16, 2011)

This worked for me, too. Thanks!


----------



## 68564 (Mar 17, 2013)

Jacqueline_Sweet said:


> I was able to get permafree for the first part of my Succubus serial with just Smashwords and Google Play. I sent the note last night and it was free this morning.
> 
> YMMV


They seem to be sensitive to GP lately. A lot of people are noting that they get faster results when linking GP then any of the other know triggers (Apple, B&N, Kobo).


----------



## Fast Typist (May 9, 2013)

It worked.  My short story Rainy Day Love is now free on Amazon (Note the cute pre-made cover from James at GoOnWrite.com.  Thank you Nathalie for showing us the way.


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## 68564 (Mar 17, 2013)

I wish they would just give up and let us make things free ourselves already.


----------



## Donovan Scherer (Mar 11, 2014)

Rob May said:


> I emailed support and (after an excrutiating 48 hr wait while they 'looked into it') my book Dragon Killer finally went free ... and jumped a million places in the rankings. I've been trying the reporting method for a few months now, so finding this thread was a lifesaver!
> 
> PS - I'm free in the US store, but not anywhere else. Does anyone know who to pester next? Or should I just wait for the rest of the world to catch up?
> 
> Rob


If you use the contact form on the US site and let them know about the price in other countries, they'll update it. I gave them the link to the book on the US site as a reference. I also provided the UK Kobo link. If you replace "en-us" with "en-uk" as it is here for your book, it should work out - http://store.kobobooks.com/en-uk/ebook/fear-sunshine-prelude

For updating Australia, I just replied to the response I got when I had them change my US listing. They gave me a little bit of a scolding in the email which made me nervous though - "Please note that we retain discretion to determine our retail prices."


----------



## amyates (Feb 17, 2014)

Hi everyone! 

Just wanted to let it be known that this method also worked for me. I had also previously emailed support under the Pricing & Royalities-->Price Matching and had been told to just keep reporting it. But I emailed them under "Other" before I went to bed last night, and when I woke up, free!

Thanks for the help all!


----------



## Fast Typist (May 9, 2013)

FYI.  I sent the request for a novella just as I had for a short story.  Instead of them saying, "Yes, we did it," I got the "we don't always do it" email.  I was discouraged but then a day or two later, the novella was free.  Totally surprised me.  So this has worked twice for me.  Thanks.


----------



## Sydney M. Cooper (Mar 30, 2014)

Adding some data here -

I (foolishly) tried sending an inquiry about making my short-story free before I read the entire thread, and received the "...from time to time, we may match free promotions on other sales channels, but we retain discretion over our retail prices..." response. Unfortunately I just used the "Price Matching" form, rather than "Other" which people seem to be having more success with. My short story has been free for almost 6 months on Smashwords and the various affiliates, all of which I provided links to, and I've had at least 20+ people do the "tell us a lower price" thing, which hasn't been working. Getting impatient! I've wanted this story to be free from the outset.

Now I'm debating how long to wait before giving the "Price Matching --> Other" avenue a try. I don't know if it matters how long I wait between sending the first inquiry and sending the second... I just don't want to be seen as spamming them with requests.


----------



## J.R. Tate (Mar 30, 2014)

When I tried to get a book permafree, it seemed like it took Amazon forever. I had several people report it as free and price matched and nothing ever happened. I even emailed Amazon about it. I guess it depends on who you get working on it. I got the generic "It is Amazon's discretion on price changes" blah blah schpeel. I finally emailed again and stated how they might lose some customers to Barnes and Noble since it is free there and not Amazon. Bam! Permafree!


----------



## Maria Romana (Jun 7, 2010)

VydorScope said:


> I wish they would just give up and let us make things free ourselves already.


Well, I wish they would, too, but I suspect the reason they don't is that they don't want Amazon to be used as a free distribution point for junky marketing materials or other digital products that would never lead to any money-making opportunities for Amazon. I think part of their "discretion" is looking to see that you are legitimately trying to sell other books on Kindle, and not just directing people to your own website or trying to get people to click on affiliate links in your book.

That said, there would be easier/better ways to do this. Although many disagree, I don't see why they don't charge a nominal annual fee for authors/publishers to sell on Kindle, or charge a few pennies for each free download, and then let us make stuff free whenever we want. That would quickly weed out anyone whose freebies were not intended (or were not successful) as a gateway drug to their other titles. To me, the price control would be well worth the expense.


----------



## jvin248 (Jan 31, 2012)

Sydney M. Cooper said:


> Adding some data here -
> ... I've had at least 20+ people do the "tell us a lower price" thing, which hasn't been working. Getting impatient!...


My experience is that it's somewhere over 120-150+ "tattles", and the tattles must be the exact same link. Then Amazon only runs the price-match bot on the first few days of a new month, which confuses authors that might have hit the right tally but just after the bot finishes a run so they must wait for the next month to trigger the book into permafree. I found the "tattles" continue to accumulate over several months until the right mix of totals and the bot-run coincide.


----------



## Sydney M. Cooper (Mar 30, 2014)

Alright, I just want to update for future lurkers: 2 days after the generic email (with no additional actions taken on my part), my short story is finally _free_ on Amazon. I am so happy that this worked.


----------



## NerdyWriter (Nov 23, 2013)

5 of my books across my name and a pen name have gone permafree by doing what the OP says. Send an email with proof of links to KDP support. I provided links from Apple and Google. It took my first 3 books about two days. I had to send another email regarding the last 2 books and that took about 2-3 hours from sending that second email to going permafree. I'm very pleased and I want to say thank you to the OP for giving me the idea and the inspiration to do it directly KDP.


----------



## Nic Saint (Mar 31, 2014)

This worked for me too. I first tried the 'tell us about a lower price' thingy but they ignored that. Sending links to Kobo, Google Play, iBooks and B&N finally did the trick in less than 24 hours!


----------



## anniejocoby (Aug 11, 2013)

Hi! Just wanted to bump this to the top for the newbies who might not know about this. I did this and went permafree within 24 hours of my request.


----------



## Worde Smith (Aug 27, 2013)

I followed the formula (Clicked Other, not Price Matching), but got an initial disclaimer reply:
_
Subject: Price change

I wanted to let you know that my book The Man with the Crooked Eye -- Rafe Velez Mystery 1 (Rafe Velez Mysteries) ASIN: [redacted] is free on other outlets. Would it be possible to switch it to permafree on Amazon as well?

Kobo:[redacted]
Barnes & Noble: [redacted]

Thanks!

REPLY

Thank you for your information on pricing.

While we do retain discretion over our retail prices, I've passed your feedback on for consideration since we may match free promotions on other sales channels from time to time.

Thanks for using Amazon KDP.

Regards,

Karthik V

MY REPLY

*Did I forget to mention it's also free in itunes? [redacted]*

NEW REPLY

Hi,

Thanks for bringing this our attention. I can confirm that your book "The Man with the Crooked Eye" is now free on the Amazon website as well.

I hope this is helpful. Thanks again for using Amazon KDP.

Regards,

Craig V 
Kindle Direct Publishing_

Not sure if it was itunes or a different customer service rep, but I got the result in just hours. It should be noted that customer service is apparently in India, so the time of day you send your email might work better at the beginning of their day shift...


----------



## AnyaWrites (May 16, 2014)

Thanks for the info. I've just sent my e-mail using this as a template. I'll let you know how it goes.


----------



## hardnutt (Nov 19, 2010)

Kat Lilynette said:


> Hmm... guess KDP support doesn't like me. I sent them a similar request and received what sounded like a "no." Waited 24 hours and price never changed.
> 
> Sent them another request today though.


Same thing happened to me. Twice.


----------



## Duane Gundrum (Apr 5, 2011)

Kat Lilynette said:


> Hmm... guess KDP support doesn't like me. I sent them a similar request and received what sounded like a "no." Waited 24 hours and price never changed.
> 
> Sent them another request today though.


I've done it with two titles and received absolutely NO response at all for either one of them.


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## Craig Allen (Apr 2, 2011)

Been trying to get two of my short novels free for a little while now. I sent an email last night explaining my situation and got a response this morning:

_Hello Craig,

Thank you for your information on pricing.

Per your request, I've taken the necessary action and can confirm your Kindle books "Season of Bliss" and "Without You" are now free on our website. Please verify the same by clicking on the link below:

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00BV79IEK
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00DNQ10EI

I hope this helps. Thanks for using Amazon KDP._

Wow. That was quick. I expected someone to look at it Monday. Not complaining, mind you. Apparently, this is the way to do it.


----------



## Duane Gundrum (Apr 5, 2011)

Craig Allen said:


> Been trying to get two of my short novels free for a little while now. I sent an email last night explaining my situation and got a response this morning:
> 
> _Hello Craig,
> 
> ...


Who are you sending the email to? I click the "did you see a different price" or whatever that button is and then it's a process of giving a url and the price, but it's not really an email. So, is there some other address people are writing to get them to actually respond to you?


----------



## Justawriter (Jul 24, 2012)

This works like a charm. I didn't even bother this time with reporting the lower price. Just emailed KDP, clicked pricing, then other and requested the price match and included my links to Kobo and Apple. It was free two hours later.

First time, I got the canned response as I didn't select 'other'. I emailed the next day and requested again, choosing 'other' this time and they said yes.


----------



## Lady Runa (May 27, 2012)

Oh, great idea. I've just received a rejection but admittedly, I clicked on Price Matching. I'll try again now  Congrats!


----------



## AnyaWrites (May 16, 2014)

I just received my response too! I choose the "Other" category as well:
_Hello Anya,
Thanks for reaching out to KDP Support. I'm glad to assist you with your request.
Our price for your title "Red and the Wolf" is now $0. You can confirm the price here:
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00KAN003O
Please note that we retain discretion to determine our retail prices.
Thank you for using Amazon KDP._

Thanks again!


----------



## RM Prioleau (Mar 18, 2011)

I just saw this thread, and I'm going to try it out. I only have it free on Smashwords for now, so we'll see what happens.


----------



## Norman Crane (Sep 25, 2013)

I tried the "Other" method and got a prompt reply, but it was a boiler plate "Nah."

I linked to B&N, Smashwords, Apple, Kobo.


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## Duane Gundrum (Apr 5, 2011)

Norman Crane said:


> I tried the "Other" method and got a prompt reply, but it was a boiler plate "Nah."
> 
> I linked to B&N, Smashwords, Apple, Kobo.


Same here. Got the immediate response of "ain't gonna happen". This is one of the things that continuously pisses me off with Amazon. Some people get great service and others get screwed.


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## Justawriter (Jul 24, 2012)

Norman Crane said:


> I tried the "Other" method and got a prompt reply, but it was a boiler plate "Nah."
> 
> I linked to B&N, Smashwords, Apple, Kobo.


Try again. Send the same email every day, until they say yes. That's what I did. They said no first time I asked. So, I was going to email every day until I got the answer I wanted. I figured there were tons of different reps and sure enough, someone said yes the second time I tried.


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## RockyGrede (Apr 19, 2013)

Maybe this thread should be 'Hidden' so members can only see it.


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## Lady Runa (May 27, 2012)

Didn't work, either. THis time I clicked on "Other" but received an identical negative reply, word for word. Bah


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## Craig Allen (Apr 2, 2011)

Duane Gundrum said:


> Who are you sending the email to? I click the "did you see a different price" or whatever that button is and then it's a process of giving a url and the price, but it's not really an email. So, is there some other address people are writing to get them to actually respond to you?


I sent it to Pricing & Royalties / Other and got a response right away (as it says in the first post). I see some people are getting a negative response, but I got a positive one right away. Not sure if it is the wording of the email or what (I mentioned that I was trying to use my books as a marketing funnel by adding links to all my other books at the end in the hopes readers would buy them).


----------



## Lady Runa (May 27, 2012)

You won't believe what just happened! I wrote twice in the last 72 hours and twice received a negative. A few hours ago I received an email from a friend, "Did you see? Your book's gone free!" I went to Amazon but the book already showed its usual price. My friend swears my book was free  I checked my reports and yes, it shows 7 copies under "Free Units - Price Match", only now it's not free anymore! Does that mean they changed it to free, then reconsidered and changed it back


----------



## Nathalie Aynie (Nov 24, 2013)

Lady Runa said:


> You won't believe what just happened! I wrote twice in the last 72 hours and twice received a negative. A few hours ago I received an email from a friend, "Did you see? Your book's gone free!" I went to Amazon but the book already showed its usual price. My friend swears my book was free  I checked my reports and yes, it shows 7 copies under "Free Units - Price Match", only now it's not free anymore! Does that mean they changed it to free, then reconsidered and changed it back


Are you out of the U.S.?


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## OldGrumpy (Mar 21, 2011)

Rin said:


> It's showing 90c for me. Sorry. >_<


I have 2 adresses setup in Amazon.com. One US and one in scandinavia.

When ever i buy e-books i use the US one and are able to get the free ones (for free  )


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## Lady Runa (May 27, 2012)

Nathalie Aynie said:


> Are you out of the U.S.?


I am! But I don't think it matters in this case because I've just checked the book again and it's free again  So it IS perma free, after all. Not normal, is it?


----------



## Nathalie Aynie (Nov 24, 2013)

Lady Runa said:


> I am! But I don't think it matters in this case because I've just checked the book again and it's free again  So it IS perma free, after all. Not normal, is it?


People outside of the US don't see the real price! 
They show us taxes and stuff.


----------



## Lady Runa (May 27, 2012)

Nathalie Aynié said:


> People outside of the US don't see the real price!
> They show us taxes and stuff.


Thank you! I know, I know. But now the book shows 0,00 so it did work, after all.


----------



## Lady Runa (May 27, 2012)

Brianfre said:


> I have 2 adresses setup in Amazon.com. One US and one in scandinavia.
> 
> When ever i buy e-books i use the US one and are able to get the free ones (for free  )


Admittedly, I do the same.


----------



## RM Prioleau (Mar 18, 2011)

Initially, when my book was free only on Smashwords, they didn't do it. However, once my book went free on Apple and Kobo, they responded. So perhaps if your book is free on at least those two outlets, you have a higher chance of KDP support listening to you. They don't seem to care either way about Smashwords.

My inquiry letter:


> Hello,
> 
> I wanted to let you know that my book Vicarious Fate (ASIN: B00KURS4X is free on other outlets, would it be possible to switch it to $0.00 on Amazon as well?
> 
> ...


Their response: 


> Hello,
> 
> Thank you for your information on pricing.
> 
> ...


----------



## Lady Runa (May 27, 2012)

RM Prioleau said:


> Initially, when my book was free only on Smashwords, they didn't do it. However, once my book went free on Apple and Kobo, they responded. So perhaps if your book is free on at least those two outlets, you have a higher chance of KDP support listening to you. They don't seem to care either way about Smashwords.


Yes, you're right. As somebody else has already mentioned (here?), Amazon takes Apple quite seriously.


----------



## Nikki Vaughn (May 21, 2014)

As a long time lurker (and someone who has been struggling to get the first book in a series free for weeks), I just want to confirm that this worked for me.

So thank you, OP!  You saved me a ton of aggrivation, lol.


----------



## MrBourbons (May 1, 2013)

This seems ridiculous, that Amazon's attitude is either 'yay' or 'nay'. I've given it a go, so I'll report back with my findings!


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## katrina46 (May 23, 2014)

I never understood why Amazon doesn't simply allow at least one permafree per author like ibooks does. It would benefit them as well. Permafree increases the popularity of the author. They sell more books. I also never understood how authors don't get into trouble with them for gaming the system that way. I haven't read their terms and services in ages, but I thought they specifically state the author isn't allowed to price books lower on other sites. Not that I'm judging anyone. I'd love to go permafree.


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## Cherise (May 13, 2012)

katrina46 said:


> I never understood why Amazon doesn't simply allow at least one permafree per author like ibooks does. It would benefit them as well. Permafree increases the popularity of the author. They sell more books. I also never understood how authors don't get into trouble with them for gaming the system that way. I haven't read their terms and services in ages, but I thought they specifically state the author isn't allowed to price books lower on other sites. Not that I'm judging anyone. I'd love to go permafree.


The way it is now allows Amazon to use discretion.


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## MrBourbons (May 1, 2013)

Amazon accepted my request. However, they did make it clear that they can raise the price at any time 'at their discretion'.


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## JumpingShip (Jun 3, 2010)

Nathalie Aynié said:


> I sent an email to KDP support earlier today (my time) about my book being free on other outlets and asked them to please permafree it on Amazon as well.
> 
> Link to the support contact page: https://kdp.amazon.com/contact-us
> I chose: What is the problem? / Pricing & Royalties / Other
> ...


I did the same thing on 6/13, and it was free in an hour, then last night, I changed my book back to paid on Google Play (the only place it was free--I figured I had more control that way). This morning, I sent an email to KDP with the link to it being paid at Google Play and requested that it go back to paid. It was returned to paid in less than an hour.

Now, I don't know if I'd rely on that for something like a Bookbub ad when you are paying and committing to a certain day, but for a general free run, it's a great way to go without being in Select.


----------



## Bob Stewart (Mar 19, 2014)

I'm trying to get my pera-free set to free at Amazon Australia. But I've had a hard time determining which URLs to use for the other retailers.

Is the Google Play link just the same for all countries?

https://play.google.com/store/books/details/Robert_Bruce_Stewart_Kalorama_Shakedown?id=ybONAwAAQBAJ

Kobo I'm conjecturing is just a matter of changing the en-US to en-AU, but I can't verify this.

http://store.kobobooks.com/en-AU/ebook/kalorama-shakedown

I do see the little Australian flag when I go to:

https://itunes.apple.com/au/book/id825136897

...so I assume that's correct for Apple

But does anyone know for sure with the others?

Thanks, 
Bob


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## JumpingShip (Jun 3, 2010)

I don't know about the others, but last week I requested that my book go free in Australia and I sent them the Google Play link. Like you, I wasn't sure if it was different, but if it was, Amazon didn't seem to care because they did price match it to free a few days later.


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## Bob Stewart (Mar 19, 2014)

Thank you, Mary. I sent those links in and got the canned response, but I'll keep at it.


----------



## I&#039;m a Little Teapot (Apr 10, 2014)

Waaaaaah! They gave me the canned "at our discretion" response. 

But when I tried a few hours later it went through. Hooray!

Now to tackle the other regions ...


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## Cege Smith (Dec 11, 2011)

Wow- this is a beautiful thing!

Sent my inquiry in less than two hours ago, and was just notified that my title is free. Hooray!!
Now off to publish the sequel to fully leverage it.


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## Randirogue (Apr 25, 2011)

It worked, it worked, IT WORKED! _All Wallows' Eve_ is PERMA-FREE! Woo-hoo!

I sent a rather detailed request for it too. Stated my situation (stagnant participation since the birth first angel-imp-_ahem, baby_-but have three more books nearing publication), my purposes for wanting perma-free for this particular book (even though it's the same perma-free strategy everyone uses), how my other related book is in KDP Select so being free at other retailers does little good to spurn sales for it, included all the free location links, and acknowledged their plying of discretion towards these types of requests in my thank you for their consideration.

Then, right after I sent it, I realized I had still been logged into my husband's account (where we spend a lot of money via prime, prime pantry, and diaper/etc. subscriptions) rather than in *my* account (where my books are published)... and _re_sent it, now including an introductory explanation/apology for repetition just in case the non-account-symmetry to the books/author caused a hiccup.

Since I got a reply in the affirmative from both requests sent, I kinda-sorta wonder if the *amount* we spend via my husband's (our family) account made any difference to it. lol.

Regardless, I am so very grateful.

It's been less than 24 hours and it's already taking off (without ANY promotion/etc. whatsoever)... well, taking off for me.

*Downloads:* 112
*Amazon Best Sellers Rank:* #1,645 Free in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Free in Kindle Store) _(Was 1 mil.+ Paid in Kindle Store)_

#6 in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Science Fiction & Fantasy > Fantasy > Metaphysical & Visionary
#7 in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Science Fiction & Fantasy > Fantasy > New Adult & College
#7 in Kindle Store > Kindle Short Reads > 90 minutes (44-64 pages) > Science Fiction & Fantasy

*Reviews Gained:* 0 (but it's still early!!!)

Forgive my exuberance, but this is just the propellant that I needed to help me ignore all the little things that steal away my very limited free baby-sleeping/babsitter time, chucking them aside in favor of actually writing/editing/formatting/graphics/promotions-research/etc.

THANK YOU!!!!

(now, after an alarm-limited 10 min of KBoards time, it's off to writing/publishing work! Yay!)


----------



## 68564 (Mar 17, 2013)

Congrats Randi! That is great!


----------



## SB James (May 21, 2014)

I'm in the process of doing this right now myself. If it works, I really appreciate the OP starting this thread.


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## Dean F. Wilson (Aug 15, 2014)

I just contacted Amazon using the aforementioned process for my first novel, The Call of Agon. I used links to iTunes, Kobo and Smashwords. I'm still waiting for Nook to add the book, and I only recently uploaded to Google Play. I did, however, mention that the book would be free there soon.

I'll update here on Amazon's response.


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## Dean F. Wilson (Aug 15, 2014)

Well, I got this canned response:



> Hello Dean,
> 
> Thank you for your information on pricing. From time to time, we may match prices elsewhere online, including free promotions. However, we retain discretion over our retail prices.
> 
> ...


Clearly linking to iTunes isn't the magic ticket. I'll try again once a few other retailers have listed the book as free.


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## MPax (Feb 18, 2014)

This advice was great. My first request was the 'our discretion' form reply. I just immediately sent the same request and this one price-matched my new book to free. I used iTunes, B&N, GooglePlay, Smash, Verant, and inktera as the sites where my book is already free, plus I mentioned I'd be putting up book 2 in the series for preorder next week.

Mary


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## RTEdwins (Jan 16, 2014)

I've had this method work for me two separate times, so it is tried and true, although I think it depends on who gets your ticket. Seems like some of Zon's support staff have a beef with making it perma-free while others don't. if it fails the first time, just wait a day or two and try again. I didn't use a link either time that it worked, I merely told them that it was permanently free on iTunes and Smashwords and that I would like it to be free on amazon as well.

I think it helps your case if you have other books that are not free, although that is just a hunch.


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## SB James (May 21, 2014)

Yes, I can attest that this method worked like a charm. Amazon had it set to free within 6 hours of my request


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## Michael McClung (Feb 12, 2014)

I've just sent off an email as well. I'll update with results.


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## Michael McClung (Feb 12, 2014)

Success!



> Hello Michael,
> 
> I hope you're having a great day! Thanks for reaching out to KDP Support and providing me the opportunity to help you.
> 
> ...


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## Mr. RAD (Jan 4, 2011)

Success here, too! Thanks for the tip.


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## MikeDavidson (Oct 5, 2013)

So let's say you have 100 titles, and you want to make 15 free at once, do you think they would do it? or is that too many at once? Anyone have any thoughts or suggestions?


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## Nathalie Aynie (Nov 24, 2013)

MikeDavidson said:


> So let's say you have 100 titles, and you want to make 15 free at once, do you think they would do it? or is that too many at once? Anyone have any thoughts or suggestions?


I have never attempted anything like that. If you try it, let us know. 
In my opinion, it would be better to try and dilute them over multiple emails and weeks. But it's just a gut feeling.


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## MikeDavidson (Oct 5, 2013)

Nathalie Aynié said:


> I have never attempted anything like that. If you try it, let us know.
> In my opinion, it would be better to try and dilute them over multiple emails and weeks. But it's just a gut feeling.


I think you're right. I'll try it. I just wonder if they'll decide I have too many free titles.

If I can't make my first in series free then I don't know what to do to get above the noise any more...


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## LJ (Feb 14, 2014)

This worked for me, and quickly! Many thanks to the OP, I appreciate it!!!


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## Kathelm (Sep 27, 2010)

Worked for me as well, after over a year of reporting every day.  Thanks!


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## B.A. Spangler (Jan 25, 2012)

Awesome thread - I just sent in my request. Fingers crossed.


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## Selina Fenech (Jul 20, 2011)

I was going to try this method, but my book went free on .com within 24 hours without any notice. But since it wasn't free on other countries I sent KDP this email-



> I just wanted to notify you that my ebook Memory's Wake ASIN:B005502KA8 is currently free at the following stores:
> (Links)
> 
> I can see I am already getting some price matched downloads at Amazon, however for myself and I assume other readers in Australia, Canada, and the UK, the book is not yet free. Is it possible to make it free also at these other Amazon stores? I have readers who are confused and asking.


And this is the response I got, a response I hadn't seen others mention before. Have I just missed this or is it new?



> Please note that price matching for Amazon is marketplace specific, meaning, for example, that for your book to be price matched on Amazon.co.uk, it needs to be offered at a lowered price on a UK competitor website. With this in mind, we'll need you to send us the links for competitor websites for each marketplace (ES, DE, FR, IT etc.) where your book is offered for free.


So what other ebook stores HAVE country specific stores?? How do we show or link that?
It doesn't matter so much to me anyway right now, since I just checked and about 4 days after getting this reply my book is free on .uk, .ca, and .es. Although I would love to get it free on .AU since I am in Aus and have Aussie fans. Has anyone had luck with .au at all?


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## Antara Mann (Nov 24, 2014)

Thanks so much for this information, I am doing the same with my short story.


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## Jason Eric Pryor (Jan 30, 2013)

This is kind of an old thread but I'm bumping it rather than starting a new one. It's been interesting seeing the different ways Amazon has replied to people about price matching. I got an interesting reply from them today.

My book is free on Amazon.com. I have been dealing with them for the past week on getting the page number right on the book. In one email, I just casually mentioned that I was trying to get the book price matched to free as well. The reply was that they would look into it. A few hours later, the book was free. It still took several days before the page count was corrected. I got an email from Amazon saying that my page count was now correct. Then, they thanked me for using their service and asked if there was anything else. So, I commended them for their service and mentioned that I would like to get my book listed as free internationally.

I got a reply a few hours later saying that, while Amazon reserves the right to price the books as they wish, they would look into making the book free on the other sites. They said it might take a few days to investigate, but they would update me on April 11th. I thought it was weird that they gave me an exact day that I can expect to hear from them.

So, I guess I'll update you guys on the 11th.


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## Jason Eric Pryor (Jan 30, 2013)

I just checked and Crash Wagon: Book One is free on Amazon uk, Amazon ca, amazon de, Amazon jp and a few other ones. Not all, but it's free on about half the sites now. We'll see if it's free everywhere by the 11th. That's when Amazon said they would update me.


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## Nathalie Aynie (Nov 24, 2013)

Jason Eric Pryor said:


> I just checked and Crash Wagon: Book One is free on Amazon uk, Amazon ca, amazon de, Amazon jp and a few other ones. Not all, but it's free on about half the sites now. We'll see if it's free everywhere by the 11th. That's when Amazon said they would update me.


Did it work?


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## MJWare (Jun 25, 2010)

I got the "While we do retain discretion over our retail prices, I've passed your feedback on for consideration." canned reply yesterday.
Still 99 cents today. Made sure to follow the right request channel.

I'm just going to e-mail them once a day until they fix it, or tell me to stop bugging them.


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## MJWare (Jun 25, 2010)

MJWare said:


> I got the "While we do retain discretion over our retail prices, I've passed your feedback on for consideration." canned reply yesterday.
> Still 99 cents today. Made sure to follow the right request channel.
> 
> I'm just going to e-mail them once a day until they fix it, or tell me to stop bugging them.


Worked the second time. Thanks so much for the info!


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## Nathalie Aynie (Nov 24, 2013)

MJWare said:


> Worked the second time. Thanks so much for the info!


Glad it helped!


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## AnaJ (Jun 28, 2015)

Trying this now for a short story that's free on Apple, B&N and Kobo. The sequel is up for pre-order on Amazon, so I'd like to drive sales to it. Thanks for sharing!


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## RinG (Mar 12, 2013)

Has anyone done this recently? I've managed it twice before, but this time when I tried there was no pricing and royalties option. What are people using instead? I sent it though a pricing one (I think under getting started) and received the discretion reply, and that they would pass it on, and get back to me on the 29th? Has anyone else had a reply like that?


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## Cherise (May 13, 2012)

I contacted KDP within the last month or so to make a book permafree. I think I used the 'other' option. I was very specific and gave them the url to my book in the Kindle store and urls to three places it was free. Success.

If they had told me no, then my plan was the same as MJWare's up thread: keep contacting them once a day until they did what I wanted or told me to quit bugging them. I think there is a large bank of KDP Service people, and every time you fill out the contact form it goes to someone new. The only reason to wait a day is to give them a chance to respond.


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## RinG (Mar 12, 2013)

Is it just me, or is the other option gone? I can't find it anywhere.


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