General Differences
Each locale serves a different segment of the world population. As a result, the items sold by Amazon
vary to the demands of the customers. In addition to Amazon web sites being localized by language,
custom, and formatting conventions, the locales vary in many ways, as described in the following table.
Description
Difference
The selection of DVDs, for example, sold in the JP
locale are different than those sold in the DE locale.
The same is true for books. Not only are the
languages of the books different, the selection of
books varies by locale.
Items for sale.
Amazon encourages customers to share their
feedback on items, sellers and merchants.
Customer reviews are restricted to the locale in
which they are entered.
Customer feedback.
Sellers and merchants can do business in multiple
locales but they don't have to. As a result, items
from a seller might be available in only one locale.
The largest merchants, beside Amazon, are
available in the US locale only.
Sellers and merchants.
Customer accounts are restricted to a locale. A
customer can create accounts in every locale.
Customer accounts
Item identifiers, such as ASINs, are unique to a
locale, that is, the same ASIN value can refer to
different items in different locales.
Item identifiers
The availability of some response groups, sort
parameters, and search indices varies by locale.
Availability of some response groups
Associate IDs
To be an Associate, you must sign up in each locale in which you intend to do business. That means, for
example, if you have an Associate ID for the US locale, you will not get credit if you submit a
PurchaseURL
in the DE locale. To get credit, you must get an Associate ID in the DE locale. For a list of web sites where
you can register as an Associate, see
Becoming an Associate
.
Shipping Restrictions
Amazon places shipping restrictions based on item and locale. The sale of items must obey the rules and
regulations of the host country. It is possible, for example, that a host country would restrict the sale of
some electronic equipment to specific countries. Some locales restrict shipping to specified countries
regardless of the item. For example, in the UK locale, shipping is restricted to Ireland, Scotland, and
England.
Because Amazon is used to fulfill the orders, Amazon takes charge of restricting shipping.Your application
or web site, however, should be aware of the shipping restrictions.
To see the latest details on shipping restrictions for each locale, go to
http://www.amazon.com/gp/help/customer/display.html?nodeId=468634.
API Version 2011-08-01
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Product Advertising API Developer Guide
General Differences
