How To Buy A Book On Audible

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Curling up in bed with a good book is an age-old pastime of comfort and enjoyment. However, we live in a world of multi-tasking, deadlines, and days packed full of tasks. This is where audiobooks come in; making it easy to listen to your favorite books.

Although you can get audiobooks everywhere these days, Audible is one of the more popular choices. It’s an Amazon-based service that makes browsing and purchasing this type of content as easy as making Amazon orders.

In this entry, you’re going to learn how to purchase books on Audible, and more about the service, in general.

How to Buy a Book from Audible

Audible is a subscription-based audiobook service. This means that you’re charged monthly or yearly, depending on your choice.

The Audible Plus and Audible Premium Plus plans offer a 30-day trial, which allows you to use the service for 30 days for free. With this trial, you get one free audiobook to get you started. From thereon, Audible will charge you monthly for your subscriptions. You also get credits each month, which you can use to purchase books for free.

You can buy a book using Audible via your website or mobile browser. Keep in mind that, although the Audible app is available for Android, iOS, and Kindle devices, you can’t purchase via the app itself (more on this in the FAQ section below).

The Audible iOS/Android/Kindle app is used as a library of sorts, from which you can access all your audiobook content.

Still, purchases on Audible can be performed via the mobile site.

How to Buy an Audible Book on Mac, Windows, or Chromebook?

Whether you’re using a macOS-based system, a Windows computer, or a Chromebook, you’ll be purchasing content from Audible via browsers. Once you’ve accessed your preferred browser, things work the same across the board.

1. Open your preferred browser.
2. Go to your Audible website of choice.
   
3. Sign in using your Amazon account credentials.
   
4. Browse for the Audible book you want to purchase.
   
5. Select the title.
   
6. Set up your account (if you haven’t already).
7. Add your payment information.
   
8. Choose the payment method (currency or Audible credits).
   
9. Confirm the purchase.

How to Buy an Audible Book on iOS/Android

Whether you’re using an iPhone, an iPad, or an Android device, the principle of purchasing a book from Audible remains the same, seeing as how you’ll be using the mobile browser in any case.

1. Open your preferred mobile browser.
   
2. Select the title that you want to buy.
   
3. Enter your payment information.
   
4. Confirm the purchase.

How to Buy Audible Books for Someone Else

Every book on Audible can be gifted to another person, just as it can be bought. Yes, this means that you can buy someone a book using money or Audible credits. Note that that person doesn’t have to be an Audible member. Here’s how to buy an Audible book for someone else:

1. Go to an Audible website using your computer.
2. Search for the book that you want to gift and go to its page.
   
3. On the right-hand side of the page, underneath the purchase and Wish List options, click Give as a gift.
   
4. You can choose whether you want to email the book to someone or print out a code and deliver the gift in person.
   
5. Fill in the required fields.
   
6. Choose a date you want the gift sent.
7. You’ll be prompted to add a note (if you want to).
   
8. Confirm the purchase and select Buy for [amount].
   
9. Check your inbox for a confirmation email.

You can also gift an audiobook via Audible using your mobile/tablet device. Things pretty much work the same here, particularly if you use the Audible site’s desktop version.

How to Buy a Single Audible Book

Unfortunately, the option to buy an audiobook on Audible without creating an account and opting for a subscription doesn’t exist. However, to avoid monthly subscription costs, you can opt-out and opt into Audible subscriptions according to your preference. If your goal is buying a single book and never using this service again, you can sign in to Audible, enter payment information, buy a book of your preference (using the initial credit), and cancel your Audible subscription. This is a completely free option.

If your subscription hasn’t been active for a certain amount of time, you can reactivate it for a single month, make a single audiobook purchase, and opt-out of the service. Keep in mind that you get monthly Audible credits, which you can use for purchases.

So, effectively, you can buy a single audiobook on Audible if you don’t mind activating/canceling your subscription every time.

How to Buy an Audible Book on Amazon

Audible is Amazon’s proprietary service. This means that when you buy from Audible, you actually buy from Amazon. You can’t buy Audible content as you’d order any other typical item from Amazon, though.

Audible from Country to Country

You’ll note that there are several websites operated by Audible. Each of these websites focuses on a different population group, based on geo-location and language preferences. Different region-specific Audible websites bring region-specific titles to your Audible choice, different currency options, different customer support tools, and various sales and promotions.

Audible.com is the parent website of Audible. It’s focused on the United States and all other countries that don’t have dedicated region-based options.

Here’s a list of all available region-specific Audible websites:

1. Audible.ca – Canada
2. Audible.com.au – Australia and New Zealand
3. Audible.co.uk – The United Kingdom and Ireland
4. Audible.de – Germany, Switzerland, and Austria
5. Audible.fr – France, Switzerland, and Belgium
6. Audible.in – India
7. Audible.co.jp – Japan
8. Audible.es – Spain
9. Audible.it – Italy

For unlisted countries, use Audible.com.

Additional FAQs

Do I need to play the sample in order to buy the book?

No, you don’t. If you’re using the above-mentioned methods to purchase the book, you don’t need to bother with samples. However, things are different with Alexa. To get the option to purchase a book, you need to ask Alexa to read the book sample for you before you get the option to purchase the audiobook.

Bear in mind that you can’t use any currency to buy Audible content using Alexa. You have to rely on your available Audible credit here.

Do I need to listen to the whole sample to buy the book?

Purchasing an audiobook using Alexa may require you to play the sample, but you don’t have to listen through the entire thing – interrupt the sample and say, “Alexa, buy this book.”

Where can I buy audiobooks?

Audible is not only a perfectly viable option for audiobook purchases, but it’s probably the most popular, convenient, and affordable method on the market. However, there are numerous other places where you can find audiobooks. iTunes and Apple Music, for example, offer audiobooks, and so does Spotify. Audible has the most extensive audiobook library out there, though.

Why can’t I purchase Audible books on iPhone?

Because Apple charges hefty transaction fees, which is why Amazon has avoided opting for this functionality. To be precise, Apple charges 30% of the sales profit for each piece of content bought using an iOS app. Not only is this detrimental to Amazon’s profit, but would also increase the overall audiobook prices on the platform. Using the mobile browser to purchase Audible content is a perfectly viable option.

How much does it cost to get a book on Audible?

This depends on each audiobook. While the new, popular releases tend to be expensive, there are free audiobook options available, as well. Each month, you get Audible credit that you can use to make free purchases. Of course, this isn’t actually “free,” seeing as how you pay the monthly subscription to get Audible credits each month.

How much does it cost to turn a book into an audiobook?

ACX is probably the most popular and the best audiobook making service on the market. If you have the book written, you can opt to narrate the book yourself. Alternatively, you can hire someone else to do it for you. Then, there’s production, publishing, agents, and various other factors that go into creating an audiobook. A free, Royalty Share project option does exist, but with this option, you’re taking a risk on quality. To answer the question, the cost of making an audiobook depends on many factors.

Can you buy books on Audible without a membership?

No. You have to be a subscribed member on Audible to purchase or gift audiobooks on this service.

Do I need credits in order to make a purchase?

Although using credits to buy books is the cheapest option on Audible, you can also use your currency of choice, unless you’re using Alexa.

Making Audible Purchases                      

As one of the most affordable audiobook options on the market that offers a brilliant range of content, Audible has secured its place at the very top of the list of audiobook suppliers. Amazon’s proprietary service is subscription-based, though, so you won’t be able to make one-off audiobook purchases just like that.

Have you managed to get your hands on the Audible content that you were looking for? Did the purchase/gifting go smoothly? Let us know about your Audible experience in the comments below, and don’t refrain from making any inquiries – our community is more than happy to help.