Okay, so I could probably figure the answer to this on my own if I dug around the Kindle Help site a bit.  But I figured you all might be able to provide the answer faster.  :)

Is it possible to borrow/lend Kindle books without having a Kindle?  I know you can read them using the Kindle app for iPad, android, PC, etc.  But I was wondering if using the app as opposed to an actual Kindle device would change the way the lending/borrowing process worked. 

yes, you can borrow/lend books without having a Kindle.  the borrowing/lending process is all done through the website anyway (even if you have a Kindle).  as a lender you specify the email address of the person you're loaning to (the email address, NOT the Kindle email), and as a borrower you accept from the link sent to your email and specify which device/Kindle app you want the borrowed book sent to.

Is it possible to borrow/lend Kindle books without having a Kindle?

As Ellen pointed out, regular Kindle Loans are available through the web site, without having to have a Kindle.

What you can't do without a Kindle is borrow the 1 book a month allowed on their Prime Membership. For that, you actually have to have a kindle, as you can only borrow the book through the Kindle itself. Bummer, but there it is.

Is there a limit to how many times a Kindle book can be lent?

Is there a limit to how many times a Kindle book can be lent?

Yes.

First, the author/publisher has to authorize lending. To check, you can go to the details of a kindle book and look for...

Lending: Enabled

Many organized lending sites wants you to be able to go to Amazon from their pages and buy a books, so they can get a cut. (Just like PBS does.) So just because you see a book at a lending site doesn't mean it's available for loan.

Each book you have that's lendable is available for you to loan only once, for 14 days. During the loan you can't access your own book, as long as the person you loaned it to has it. At the end of 14 days you get it back and the borrower can't access it. So it's a one-shot deal.

There are several Lending sites I use ebookfling.com.      Each time some one requests your ebook you get a cr.  Than you can use the cr to borrow some one elses ebook.

Once! That's ridiculous. So if you find a great book and your sister and your MIL want to borrow the eBook, one of them is out of luck. Meanwhile, if you had the hardcopy of it, for the same price, you could have loaned them both the book at different times. 

So if you find a great book and your sister and your MIL want to borrow the eBook, one of them is out of luck. Meanwhile, if you had the hardcopy of it, for the same price, you could have loaned them both the book at different times.

See, I got around that one by loaning the whole Kindle (with book on it) to my brother.  :) 

Thanks for the info everyone!   I was pretty sure the lending wouldn't be a problem, but better safe than sorry. 

"Physical books eventually wear out or get destroyed. Ebooks don't."  

I don't have a problem with putting a loan limit on eBooks. As you said, even physical books wear out to n unreadable state. But, the limit should be of a more reasonable amount, like 3 loans.

"See, I got around that one by loaning the whole Kindle (with book on it) to my brother.  :)" 

I wonder if a person with a Kindle for PC can unregister their account and then another person on another computer can temporarily register the account to their computer to read the eBook, then unregister the account so the original person gets their account back on their own computer again? Isn't there something about a number of people can share an actual Kindle account? Does anyone know if there is something for Kindle for PC users, too?

IF you ALL used the Same Account then Up to 6 people can read the ebook even at the same time!

But, the limit should be of a more reasonable amount, like 3 loans.

Except you have to remember, Amazon isn't a library. They're a book store. So they don't even have to offer loans at all, especially when it costs them money and time to run it all.

Regular authors/publishers get 35% royalties when they sign up to offer their book through Amazon. The authors who chose to offer their books through the loan program get 70% royalties, so they're getting compensated for two purchases rather than one, even if no one ever borrows most of them. So the authors are compensated, and Amazon gets more foot traffic through the store.

But there aren't that many ebook stores offering any loans at all. So "reasonable' is subjective when it's something they don't have to be doing at all.

 Isn't there something about a number of people can share an actual Kindle account?

You can have several people assigned to an account. I have six different devices attached to my account. (all my stuff. DH and Kids aren't interested in what I read anyway.) I know some people have 9 or more. I'm not sure what the end limit is. You just have to trust the people who have the machines registered to your account, 'cause they then have your password and access to buying books.

And as Barbara says, some books have a limit to how many devices a book can be on at the same time. I do think that limit is six. So the person with 9 devices will have to do without that book on three of them. (And that's an author/publisher decision. Not Amazon's.)

And I'm sure you can find a way to register-unregister for a while to share books. But then you're gambling with your Amazon account. Suspecious activity can (and has) gotten people accounts shut down. When that happens, you lose access to all your book library with no recourse.

Not something I'd want to trip red flags on.

Does anyone know if there is something for Kindle for PC users, too?

The only thing Kindle for PC users can't borrow is Prime Membership books, which are limited to actual Kindle devices and only allowed one a month.

Otherwise, they can do anything else anyone with a Kindle or Kindle App can do. For my loans and freebies I almost always send to my Kindle for PC, then send to the device I'm going to read it on.

You can also get the freebies on offer, and join the lending sites, with Kindle4PC.

You may be able to put 6 people on an account but I'd be real sure that you want the other 5 people to see every title you have available to in your library. A cautionary tale: a bunch of friends and I all became Nook Friends when it first got going. You see every lendable book in your buddy's library. I'm not sure one of my friends realizes that. Spanking the Nun's Bottom is one of her tamer titles.

"Spanking the Nun's Bottom is one of her tamer titles."  

Spanking the Nun's Bottom is one of her tamer titles.

Gee, she must find the rest of the shelves really boring. Lol.