# Multiple kindles on one account?



## Marguerite (Jan 18, 2009)

I have talked my Mom into getting a kindle but now she suggests that we share an account.  My question to to smart people here is:  can you do that if we live in different places.  Can we each have a credit card on the account so that we can pay for our own books while still reading each others books?  I know that I would have to set it up because my mom is not very computer savvy.


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## Mike D. aka jmiked (Oct 28, 2008)

Yes, you can have the Kindles on the same account even if in different places. You can have two credit cards on the account, but then you have to make sure the correct one is switched over at the time of purchase.

My brother and I are on the same account, he just pays me for the books he downloads. I get an email within seconds of his purchases, and you can see on the Manage Your Kindle which reader the book has gone to.


Mike


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## modkindle (Feb 17, 2009)

it is so easy to switch credit cards for payment and that is what we do. We've all agreed to order from our respective computers rather than directly from the kindle (unless we don't have reasonable computer access). We've been sharing since April with no problems.


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## luvmy4brats (Nov 9, 2008)

Yes, you can switch between the 2 cards. I share an account with my mom and she just pays me when she buys a book. For my mom, switching would have been too difficult. To say she's technically challenged would be an understatement.  I set up a paypal account for her and showed my dad how to use it. I usually carry a gift card balance just in case she goes on a buying spree.


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## Evilv2 (Dec 26, 2009)

No one has really made it clear that you can both share the books you read (only have to buy them once).  I'm sure this is possible?


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## modkindle (Feb 17, 2009)

yes, every book you buy can be used on kindles (usually up to 6) registered to your account.


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## luvmy4brats (Nov 9, 2008)

Yes the books can be read on both devices at the same time. I do recommend you turn off the synch between devices in those situations.


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## vrc84 (Feb 18, 2009)

My sister just got a Kindle for Christmas and added it to my account.  She promptly downloaded all of the 100+ books I've bought over the past year (though she'll be paying for most new books for quite a while to make up for it).  I keep my books sorted by "most recent" and was a little confused to see some of my older books moved to the top of my list. It took me a minute to figure out that I was seeing what she'd been reading and that it was changing books around on my kindle.  I hadn't expected that but it does make sense. So, we're going to keep our wireless off when not downloading new books.  Tomorrow we'll be reading the same new release at the same time and I don't want to keep loosing my place in exchange for hers.


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## Betsy the Quilter (Oct 27, 2008)

vrc84, you can turn off synch between devices (go to Manage Your Kindle) and you won't have to worry about the wireless being on.  It's at the bottom of the page--Manage Synchronization Between Devices

Betsy


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## vrc84 (Feb 18, 2009)

Awesome - thanks!


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## Ann in Arlington (Oct 27, 2008)

Here's the main thing about sharing:  we don't want to see you on Judge Judy!   

So, make sure you have an agreement in place that is clearly understood by all.  My brother wanted a Kindle and had some amazon reward points to pay for it, but didn't anticipate having a lot of money to buy books for it.  So he asked if it could be put on my account.  I wasn't keen on giving him full access to my account, which is what would have been required to set up a CC in his name on it, and to allow him to browse and buy from his computer, switching cards as needed.  So the deal is that he sends me a gift card which I apply to the account and I keep track of how much he spends since I'm the one that gets the e-mail when he does buy something. . .which he can do from his Kindle.  This keeps him on a budget (actually, I do it for myself, too) and I let him know if he's getting low.

If he should abuse it and buy stuff without my o.k. . . .or build up a debt higher than I want him to have to me (unlikely as we're talking fairly small sums) I can de-register his Kindle and he can't re-register it to my account since he doesn't have my username and password.  He'd lose access to my books and any books he paid for, though he could, of course, put it on his own account.  So, it's in his interest to keep me happy.   (Not that I'm particularly worried about this, mind you, but it's the "Judge Judy" sort of scenario I mentioned!)

He can still 'shop' via the Amazon site through his own account (I believe he's used "improve your recommendations" to reflect the Kindle titles he's read that aren't, of course, reflected on his account); and then just use the Kindle to access a book he might want.   We also found that he can pre-order via the Kindle which I did not know, so that's cool.  Anyway, he has access to all 400+ of my books, probably at least half of which he would actually enjoy , so he's not hurting for reading material.  And, of course, anything he pays for, I also have access to.


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## vrc84 (Feb 18, 2009)

My sister and I have decided to use the "gift card method."  We'll each contribute $$ when we run our balance down.  From there we each buy about the same amount of books and spend equal money. I'm sure we'll hit some bumps, but in general this will work because we enjoy reading the same books and have always been good about these sorts of things. Right now we're running off her Christmas gift card and she's bought three books, all of which I want to read or are library books we loved but I never bought on Kindle.


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## nathan19 (Jul 10, 2009)

modkindle said:


> it is so easy to switch credit cards for payment and that is what we do. We've all agreed to order from our respective computers rather than directly from the kindle (unless we don't have reasonable computer access). We've been sharing since April with no problems.


This. I've been sharing mine with my sister


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## angelad (Jun 19, 2009)

Good sticky!


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## Jane917 (Dec 29, 2009)

Is it possible to share e-books with friends who do NOT share an account with you?


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## marianneg (Nov 4, 2008)

Jane917 said:


> Is it possible to share e-books with friends who do NOT share an account with you?


Not DRM'd Kindle books.


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## Richard in W.Orange (Nov 24, 2009)

Ann in Arlington said:


> Here's the main thing about sharing: we don't want to see you on Judge Judy!
> 
> So, make sure you have an agreement in place that is clearly understood by all. My brother wanted a Kindle and had some amazon reward points to pay for it, but didn't anticipate having a lot of money to buy books for it. So he asked if it could be put on my account. I wasn't keen on giving him full access to my account, which is what would have been required to set up a CC in his name on it, and to allow him to browse and buy from his computer, switching cards as needed. So the deal is that he sends me a gift card which I apply to the account and I keep track of how much he spends since I'm the one that gets the e-mail when he does buy something. . .
> . . . , so he's not hurting for reading material. And, of course, anything he pays for, I also have access to.


Yes, I have to say this is working quite well. I can probably avoid spending any real quantity of money for some time...beyond the two books I bought (via the kindle (or is it 3) I've been reading Ann's collection!!!

(We all read this way ... you have to look in the covers of DTBs to find out who actually bought them because some of the "family books" have more mileage on them than our cars!)


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## 3boysnagirl (Dec 29, 2009)

My mother in law and I are sharing an account.  My cc is attached.  I don't worry about her overspending, she's just not like that.  We will probably set it up for her to buy giftcards for me and I'll apply them to "our" account.  The fact is though, we generally read the same books.  We've been sharing books for years and so I don't anticipate a real problem.

Since it's the hubby's mom, he's not going to care what she spends (he'd give her the shirt off his back) and she is really not a spendthrift.  She will probably be very cognizant of her purchases.

I've already turned off the synching across devices in case we are reading the same book.


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## umama (Jan 8, 2010)

I'm getting ready to order my Kindle and will be sharing my account with a friend. Do I need to order it as a gift (or via her account), or will I be able to order it like usual, then register it to her account when it comes?


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## kevindorsey (Mar 4, 2009)

umama said:


> I'm getting ready to order my Kindle and will be sharing my account with a friend. Do I need to order it as a gift (or via her account), or will I be able to order it like usual, then register it to her account when it comes?


You just add another kindle under either one of your accounts.


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## vrc84 (Feb 18, 2009)

I believe Amazon was recommending that you order it as a gift. That way it should come unregistered. However, my sister's Kindle was ordered under her husband's account and came registered to him. She simply de-registed from his account and re-registred it to mine. It only took a minute.  So the answer is: you can do either.


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## jason10mm (Apr 7, 2009)

Since there seem to be more experts here, I ask it here.

If I buy a Kindle for my mom, can I register it under my account, but have her use her PC to access her own amazon account (and credit card) to buy books, which then feed into our general account? I'm pretty sure that all the devices would use the "one-click" settings which would be a single credit card, but how does this work if using amazons web site? If my mom could use her own account and $$$ but we can pool our books, about any reservation I have left would be resolved. We both read similar material and I think she would be more likely to buy e-books if she knew it wasn't coming from my wallet. Otherwise would she have to use MY amazon account to buy books from the PC? I prefer PC-based kindle book browsing over buying directly from the Kindle, and I suspect she will as well.


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## pdhenry (Apr 30, 2009)

There is no way to buy a book on one person's Amazon account and send it to a Kindle registered on someone else's account.


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## marianneg (Nov 4, 2008)

jason10mm said:


> Since there seem to be more experts here, I ask it here.
> 
> If I buy a Kindle for my mom, can I register it under my account, but have her use her PC to access her own amazon account (and credit card) to buy books, which then feed into our general account? I'm pretty sure that all the devices would use the "one-click" settings which would be a single credit card, but how does this work if using amazons web site? If my mom could use her own account and $$$ but we can pool our books, about any reservation I have left would be resolved. We both read similar material and I think she would be more likely to buy e-books if she knew it wasn't coming from my wallet. Otherwise would she have to use MY amazon account to buy books from the PC? I prefer PC-based kindle book browsing over buying directly from the Kindle, and I suspect she will as well.


You can't "link" your two separate accounts. As long as you're ok with giving her your account credentials, though, just give her your password and she can log in and put in her credit card to buy her books, and you can switch it back to yours when you're buying.


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## Marguerite (Jan 18, 2009)

My mom and I want to the gift certificate method.  We each bought $50 worth and I am keeping a spread sheet to keep track of who has spent what.  When we get close to the $50 mark we just buy the amount that we have spent.  My mom hasn't spent much because she has my whole data base to choose from.


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## drenee (Nov 11, 2008)

That's what happened to me, my mom doesn't have to purchase many books because I already had so many.  And...she loves more of the free books than I do.  
deb


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## angelad (Jun 19, 2009)

Marguerite said:


> My mom and I want to the gift certificate method. We each bought $50 worth and I am keeping a spread sheet to keep track of who has spent what. When we get close to the $50 mark we just buy the amount that we have spent. My mom hasn't spent much because she has my whole data base to choose from.


LOL, good deal for your mom


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## cheerio (May 16, 2009)

drenee said:


> That's what happened to me, my mom doesn't have to purchase many books because I already had so many. And...she loves more of the free books than I do.
> deb


There is nothing wrong with FREE


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## loca (Jan 3, 2010)

drenee said:


> That's what happened to me, my mom doesn't have to purchase many books because I already had so many. And...she loves more of the free books than I do.
> deb


Lucky mom. She is a mom after all and deserves all of this.


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## Cindy416 (May 2, 2009)

My daughter was the first to have a Kindle in our family. Now that my other daughter and I both have Kindles, the three of us now share Megan's account. We send her a gc before buying a book, and then we keep track of our balances within her account. Since the three of us like to read many of the same books, the plan is working out very well.  (I can, however, see how sharing an account with someone with whom trust is an issue. Fortunately, we have no problem in that area.)


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## drenee (Nov 11, 2008)

loca said:


> Lucky mom. She is a mom after all and deserves all of this.


You are absolutely right. She made sure I had books when I was younger and there wasn't a lot of money for extras. 
deb


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## Cindy416 (May 2, 2009)

jason10mm said:


> Since there seem to be more experts here, I ask it here.
> 
> If I buy a Kindle for my mom, can I register it under my account, but have her use her PC to access her own amazon account (and credit card) to buy books, which then feed into our general account? I'm pretty sure that all the devices would use the "one-click" settings which would be a single credit card, but how does this work if using amazons web site? If my mom could use her own account and $$$ but we can pool our books, about any reservation I have left would be resolved. We both read similar material and I think she would be more likely to buy e-books if she knew it wasn't coming from my wallet. Otherwise would she have to use MY amazon account to buy books from the PC? I prefer PC-based kindle book browsing over buying directly from the Kindle, and I suspect she will as well.


How nice of you to want to buy your mom a Kindle! My daughters and my husband bought mine for me for Mother's Day, and it is the best gift I've ever gotten (aside from the handmade, highly sentimental things that the girls made me over the years). I am still in a state of disbelief that they bought mine for me. It's absolutely wonderful! And to top it all off, my daughters and son-in-law bought me my favorite Oberon and a BB bag that just fits my K2 in its Oberon! I bet your mom will LOVE her Kindle as much as I love mine.


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## Kathy (Nov 5, 2008)

I share with my Daughter and one of my Step-daughters. I thought I would wind up paying for most of the books, but that hasn't happened. It is so easy to change between credit cards before buying. We do like a lot of the same authors so sharing has been great.


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## Guest (Feb 2, 2010)

yes, every book you buy can be used on kindles registered to your account.


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## MarthaT (Mar 3, 2009)

devilmafia said:


> yes, every book you buy can be used on kindles registered to your account.


yep


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## Anju  (Nov 8, 2008)

My cousin and I share an account, I trust her completely, after all she is also on our bank account    We both buy $25 GC a month and buy whatever we want until the balance gets low.  I don't keep track of who buys what, it would probably wash out and I read more than she does.  I like the free and low cost, she will get what she wants whatever the price


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## angelad (Jun 19, 2009)

Sharing accounts is a great idea, and very economical too.


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