Flash! Amazon reverses policy on selling Kindle with books on it

I was researching something for another post and ran across this one.

I had asked Amazon earlier if it was okay to sell a Kindle with Kindle store content still on it, and I was told that it was.  I reported that in this earlier post. 

Now, they’ve changed their help pages quite a bit.  They specifically say now that it is not okay.  Under Selling Your Kindle, it now says

“Remove all purchased material from the Kindle device. Purchased Kindle content cannot be sold according to the License Agreement and Terms of Use of the Amazon Kindle.”

Amazon help page 

That’s a major reversal to me.  I know I was only talking to a Customer Service rep, but that should still be considered an official Amazon statement.  The one in writing, though, trumps that, of course.

This also pulls into question the idea of Kindle book clubs…although you aren’t selling your Kindle in that case.  I described Kindle Kooperatives in this earlier post.  If someone has to delete the content after they leave the club, that makes them a lot less attractive.  If I get a clarification on that, I’ll let you know.

I’m sending this out as a flash because it may be affecting what you are doing right now (if you have a Kindle advertised for sale, for example).  You’ll see it mentioned again in another upcoming post.

This post by Bufo Calvin originally appeared in the I Love My Kindle blog.