Buying from US iTunes Store

*UPDATE*

After the stories of children running up huge bills with in-app purchases, I thought I should mention that these instructions work equally well if you are looking to limit the purchases of a child on App Store – set up an account for the iPod or iPad and put money onto their account. They can only spend what is on the account, and so learn to budget their money. Also good for older kids, when relatives don’t know what to get them for Christmas or birthdays. You can buy iTunes vouchers in supermarkets or online. 

Most expats come across this problem at some point. You want to download a movie, music or a TV show but can only access the iTunes store in the country in which you are living. Or the one in which you first registered with iTunes. For me this is the German store, so I am blocked from downloading some British artists. And from downloading American TV shows until they are available on the German iTunes store, which can take some time.

Why do I want to download American TV shows?

I admit it. I am a Gleek and the new season is only available on Sky, which we don’t have.

There are ways of watching it (illegally) online, but it is a bit of a faff. Sometimes the links work, sometimes they don’t. I don’t mind paying for it and don’t understand why they don’t just put the US version on all the iTunes stores worldwide. I think a lot of people are like me – basically law abiding and willing to pay a the price of a cup of coffee once a week to see their favourite show.

There is however a work around if you have an iPhone/iPod touch or iPad.

First go into iTunes app and scroll to the bottom of the screen. You will see your iTunes name (your email address). Click “Sign Out” then register a new iTunes account. You will be asked in which country you would like to register your iTunes account, chose the one that you would like to use.

Go through the steps, entering a different email account from your normal one – you can register for a free yahoo or gmail account for this if you don’t have a free account.

When you get to the Billing Information screen, you will need to enter a credit card. iTunes will only accept a US credit card but there is a way around this too. Scroll down and you will see that you can enter a gift voucher instead. 

Simply go on eBay and buy a US iTunes voucher – eBay UK has plenty of sellers, most will email you the purchase code needed. Or direct from US eBay. If you are unsure, email the seller first to ensure that they will send you the code per email.

Put the code into the Billing Information screen and add an address. I made up an address and postcode (Zipcode)

You now have an iTunes account in the US store and can download whatever you wish for. I keep my US and UK stores stocked up with some cash so that if I decide I want to use them, I don’t have to hang about waiting for eBay seller to email me the code.