Audible.com: how to bypass geographic restrictions?

[kha0s]

After several years of podcast listening, I've decided it's time to take the plunge with audiobooks. Since Audible.com seems to be the uncontested top dog around, went directly to their site this morning. It quickly became apparent that their "85 000 audiobooks" catalog is only available for US residents. Non-US residents have to settle with a much limited catalog. These geographic restrictions are apparently an end result of the convoluted world of book publishing rights. EU legislation also seems to play a role since, as explained here, if a UK resident tries to join the US Audible Website, EU VAT imperatives will force the US store to automatically redirect to www.audible.co.uk. Although the pricing plans are pretty similar between the US and UK sites, the later only has "50 000 audiobooks" available on catalog. Long story short, in what audiobooks are concerned, it sucks big time not to be a US resident! Or does it?

After researching the matter more diligently, I've bumped into this insightful thread. It provided airtight evidence that non-US residents can indeed join the Audible.com US store. Apparently the trick is to register with a REAL US address on the "Billing Address" field. Doesn't matter if you credit card has a non-US billing address, doesn't matter if you register from a non-US IP and, since Audible.com only communicates with it's clients by email, it doesn't matter if the "Billing Address" recipient is a random stranger.

Can anyone verify the accuracy of these claims? Really wanted to avoid associating my credit card info with a random US address without a couple of rock-solid double-checks...


Thanks in advance!

 

[kha0s]

Spent the last few days filling up my "Audible" wish list. It turns out that all the specific titles I searched for were available on both "Audible.com" and "Audible.co.uk". I've yet to find an audiobook exclusive to either site. At the moment I no longer see the need to jump through hoops in order to access the US store. Will stick with "Audible.co.uk".

Cheers!

 

[Hungol]

Just wanted to give a heads up for this tip, worked perfectly for me. Just changed the adress from my norwegian to my american, and voila! Thanks a bunch

 

[DMBDenver]

I thought that linking a US billing address would cause problems with the CC, but after entering the address, the books that were blocked before are now available for ordering. When ordering, the card will was accepted and the order went through.
Thanks for the tip!