Yesterday after posting an article about how Amazon hasn’t been putting Kindles on sale nearly as frequently as they used to, they went put the Kindle Paperwhite Signature Edition on sale for $159.99. Weird timing.
However, it’s another Prime exclusive sale so you have to be an Amazon Prime member to get the deal, and it’s only $30 off so my point yesterday about how the sale prices are higher now when they do run sales remains valid (in fact I think that’s the highest sale price ever for SE; it’s usually $45-$65 off when it’s on sale).
There is an interesting twist to this sale, though. While a Prime membership is required to get the sale price on the Kindle Paperwhite Signature Edition alone, the Signature Edition bundle packages are also on sale and they don’t require a Prime membership. Yeah, that makes a lot of sense.
The Kindle Paperwhite Signature Edition Essentials Bundle can be had for $207.97. It includes the SE Paperwhite, a fabric cover, and a wireless charging dock.
They also have a different version of the Kindle Paperwhite Signature Edition Essentials Bundle on sale with the leather cover and charging dock for $214.97.
In both cases they advertise the sale as being $50 off than when buying everything separately, but I’m pretty sure they’re both $30 off the regular prices, same as buying the SE alone.
This is the first sale on the Kindle Paperwhite all year, with the exception of the kids model last month. Kindle sales aren’t as frequent as they used to be, and the prices are always higher now when they are on sale, so something has definitely changed at Amazon in regards to Kindles, but at least Kindle sales are still around to some degree. Getting $30 off is still better than having to pay full price, and now that the 8GB Kindle Paperwhite is out of stock and possibly being phased out, the SE is only $10 more expensive than the regular 16GB Paperwhite, and you don’t have to pay an extra $20 to get rid of the ads since the SE is ad-free by default.
I was waiting for a sale to buy the Kindle Scribe (16 gigs). I bought the essential bundle with the cover. 135$ off (24 %, in Canada.) Just got it today. Great piece of hardware.
I got my Paperwhite 18 months ago and it’s my favorite Kindle – more used than my Oasis 3 or my old venerable Voyage. The battery lasts forever and it’s great for traveling.