The PayPal and Google Checkout Thread

DavidTO

Nikolai wrote:

FWIW, both Paypal and Google Checkout would help you with CC with almost zero hassle, fee being negligible...:deal

[MOD EDIT: This thread was splintered off from another thread. We're picking up the conversation part-way into it.]


Google Checkout, FTW.

PayPal sucks.

Nikolai

DavidTO wrote:

Google Checkout, FTW.
PayPal sucks.

FWIW, I've been a happy (and rather active) paypal user for 3+ years, no complains thus far. Their recent Security Key (extra way to protect your account) and Credit Card (you can enter/verify/run credit card info manually, just like a "real" store/restaurant) initiatives are making their sevices even more appealing than before...

DavidTO

Nikolai wrote:

FWIW, I've been a happy (and rather active) paypal user for 3+ years, no complains thus far. Their recent Security Key (extra way to protect your account) and Credit Card (you can enter/verify/run credit card info manually, just like a "real" store/restaurant) initiatives are making their sevices even more appealing than before...

Could be that I'm unduly biased. But as long as we're discussing this....Google offers services that are not available in PayPal. Coupon codes, refunds, and generally just a better, more robust service, IMO.

Nikolai

DavidTO wrote:

Could be that I'm unduly biased. But as long as we're discussing this....Google offers services that are not available in PayPal. Coupon codes, refunds, and generally just a better, more robust service, IMO.

David, I'd love to discuss this issue more deeply (it's always good to know all the options), but I don't want to hijack this thread either. Maybe you can split this topic into a separate post?

DavidTO

Nikolai wrote:

David, I'd love to discuss this issue more deeply (it's always good to know all the options), but I don't want to hijack this thread either. Maybe you can split this topic into a separate post?

I've split the threads. More on GC when I have time, I promise.

DavidTO

First off, PayPal has ads everywhere, and they get in the way of you navigating the site. I hate that.

I'll post other things about Google as I think of them. Here's one:

DavidTO

Google Checkout is set up for serious business, not sending your buddy a payment.

DavidTO

You can create coupon codes.

DavidTO

Send invoices via email

DavidTO

Transaction information is more robust.

DavidTO

DavidTO

Plus, Google pays out money without me having to intervene. It just shows up in the bank account I've assigned. No muss, no fuss, no fees (for now!!!)

DavidTO

Nikolai

Wow, David, if I didn't know any better I'd say you're a Mac user talking about some Apple service

Seriously, thank you for the details. I'm a bit tied up at the moment, but I'll try to provide some info on paypal tonight.

DavidTO

Google provides API integration (whatever that means )

DavidTO

This is what I see every time I log into my PayPal account, and everytime it's a reminder of why I hate PayPal.




And once in...

schmoo

I was musing/asking/talking/wondering about this the other day. It's great to see all of this together in one place

Phyxius

I also can't stand Paypal's so called customer service. I sent them an e-mail asking for help on a situation regarding a visa check card on Saturday and I've yet to hear from them. I sent payment by other means on Monday. I can understand no response on nights/weekends but even if it wasn't received until Monday it is now Wednesday and I've not received anything.

This is not the first problem I've had with paypal. If it weren't for ebay, I'd cancel the account.

jdryan3

DavidTO wrote:

Transaction information is more robust.

Hey! Some of that info looks awfully familiar. :giggle :giggle :giggle

If you want I can post the e-mail reply I got on the other end from Google - very nice, no delay. I've never been a fan of PayPal, and now have to look more closely at Google Checkout. Nice discussion David (including the screen shots).

Nikolai

David,
nice "selling" of the GC :-)

My post is not gonna be as pretty as yours but here it is:

Paypal is very simple to set up and very simple to use.
It has enough features to accommodate the most of the personal/very small business needs, yet they are all very easy to find and to use.
You can use it as both check-out tool and billing/invoicing tool.
Refunds are always one click away, so are dispute buttons (remember, it started and continued to be the primary eBay tool).
It has all sort of integration options (API, mobile, etc.)
It also has an option of Money Market (current APR is 4.73%).
Its latest feature (Virtual Terminal) allows for store-style CC processing,
and a little device you can carry on your key chain would double secure your transactions even if you access it from the Internet Cafe in Russia (not that I would recommend it :-)
A couple of disputes I had were handled via email with enough efficiency to satisfy my needs.

I didn't see any coupons or sales support.

Yes, there are banners/ads on the site, but hey, there is a banner here on Dgrin , so give them a break, they are not so annoying. I'd say they are less annoying that many of the online banking sites I use.

Bottom line - it's simple and effective. My volume - 100-150 transactions per year.

I can see that a person with a more complicated workflow (more than one transaction per day), like an online store or something, may need something more powerful, and I have no doubt GC would suit such a need. However, at first sight it looks more complicated than Paypal, and I would assume that many not-so-computer-savvy users (remember, we off sprang this thread from the thread where customers did not have computers at all or did not know how to use them) would feel intimidated by all the numerous options and features. I know I was (and I'm a computer pro)..

HTH

DavidTO

Nikolai wrote:

Yes, there are banners/ads on the site, but hey, there is a banner here on Dgrin , so give them a break, they are not so annoying. I'd say they are less annoying that many of the online banking sites I use.

Nik, if the ads were just there, I could maybe get behind that statement, but I have to CLICK THROUGH them. I log in, and I can't do anything until I've clicked through an ad. Ugh.

xris

Question
Good thread! Just the kind o' stuff we need.

Questions:

Is Google Checkout as ubiquitous as PayPal?

Any knowledge of the cross-currency features?

I just opened my first PayPal acount. I'm in Canada and it took less than a day to pull the funds from my bank account and another 6 days to post them to my PP account.

When the money was removed from my bank account, the Cdn $ was worth about $1.10 USD. When it showed in my PP account, $100.00 Cdn should have been roughly $110 USD, but it had turned into just over $91.00 USD. That's around a 20% loss nearest I can tell, for the privilage of giving them my money for a week!!

Isn't highway robbery just great?

DavidTO

xris wrote:

Good thread! Just the kind o' stuff we need.

Questions:

Is Google Checkout as ubiquitous as PayPal?

I doubt it.

Any knowledge of the cross-currency features?

No, I've received foreign funds, but it just came in the US $ I requested.

I just opened my first PayPal acount. I'm in Canada and it took less than a day to pull the funds from my bank account and another 6 days to post them to my PP account.

When the money was removed from my bank account, the Cdn $ was worth about $1.10 USD. When it showed in my PP account, $100.00 Cdn should have been roughly $110 USD, but it had turned into just over $91.00 USD. That's around a 20% loss nearest I can tell, for the privilage of giving them my money for a week!!

Isn't highway robbery just great?

Google Checkout has no fees through the end of this year, then it will be 2% plus $.20 per transaction. PP is 3% I don't really understand the exchange rates. If you wish to experiment with it, let me know. We could do a transaction that I could then cancel/refund.

Andy

xris wrote:

Is Google Checkout as ubiquitous as PayPal?

I think so, and it's a 5second harmless registration, they just use their credit card to purchase. Pretty darn simple if you ask me.

I think Google's trust-factor is pretty high

Nikolai

DavidTO wrote:

Nik, if the ads were just there, I could maybe get behind that statement, but I have to CLICK THROUGH them. I log in, and I can't do anything until I've clicked through an ad. Ugh.

Uhm, I guess I'm using a different paypal... The only ad-page I ever have to go through is the first page after the direct login, where it sometimes (not everytime!) offers something. I just click "go to my account" button below and for the rest of the session nothing distracts me. I don't think of it as of any major hassle, but may be that's just me...

Sam

Good thread.

The idea of PayPal, and the service they purport to provide is certainly something I could use now and again.

Unfortunately I had a PayPal account at one time, and after experiencing what should have been a very easy issue, I could not get any response from them, or find a phone number to talk with someone.

I now have a very firm policy; I will not do business with any company that doesn’t have a phone number or a gun to my head.

I may have to look into the Goggle service. (If they have a phone number)

Sam

urbanaries

Phyxius wrote:

I also can't stand Paypal's so called customer service. I sent them an e-mail asking for help on a situation regarding a visa check card on Saturday and I've yet to hear from them. I sent payment by other means on Monday. I can understand no response on nights/weekends but even if it wasn't received until Monday it is now Wednesday and I've not received anything.

This is not the first problem I've had with paypal. If it weren't for ebay, I'd cancel the account.

I am a GC user, and for the most part LOVE IT but when you or your customers have an issue you are similarly SOL.

xris

Hmmm

DavidTO wrote:

If you wish to experiment with it, let me know. We could do a transaction that I could then cancel/refund.

Thanks for the offer. I'll consider it.

DavidTO

Nikolai wrote:

Uhm, I guess I'm using a different paypal... The only ad-page I ever have to go through is the first page after the direct login, where it sometimes (not everytime!) offers something. I just click "go to my account" button below and for the rest of the session nothing distracts me. I don't think of it as of any major hassle, but may be that's just me...

That's the same thing, Nik. Only difference being that in my experience it happens every time, but that could also be because I log in so much more infrequently.

dogwood

urbanaries wrote:

I am a GC user, and for the most part LOVE IT but when you or your customers have an issue you are similarly SOL.

Sort of SOL... I've successfully emailed google (and gotten a reply!) when I wasn't recieving email notifications of sales using GC.

Incidentally, my last GC sale I didn't get an email notification though they've been pretty good for the last couple of months.

I have to echo David's dislike of paypal... I can't tell you how many times I've tried to log into "my" paypal account using the correct info only to have some weird error that says something like "you already have a paypal account". Well, duh. That's why I was trying to log in. And no, I wasn't still logged in.

Then if I pay using a regular CC or debit card, paypal tells me again that I already have an account! Well, okay, but if it won't let me log in and use it, what's the point?

And I don't have any proof of this, but I suspect using google checkout boosts you in their SEO ratings. Again, I don't have any proof-- just a suspicion that their super-duper secret way of raking/listing websites likes it more when you use a google product rather than a paypal product. But I could be wrong on that...

bham

Sam wrote:

Good thread.

The idea of PayPal, and the service they purport to provide is certainly something I could use now and again.

Unfortunately I had a PayPal account at one time, and after experiencing what should have been a very easy issue, I could not get any response from them, or find a phone number to talk with someone.

I now have a very firm policy; I will not do business with any company that doesn’t have a phone number or a gun to my head.

I may have to look into the Goggle service. (If they have a phone number)

Sam

You have a smugmug account don't you. They don't list a phone number. Many companies that do business almost exclusively online, it is easier, and probably more cost effective to try and do most things via message boards, email, chat, etc.

I have both paypal and google checkout. What enticed me to try google checkout was the no fee, since I was gonna get a $500 payment, I figured I would save at least $15 and give it a try, because hey its Google (a very reputable company). I really like their interface much more than paypals. They took time and did it right. The cost (free until Dec 31) enticed me, but I will continue to use them for 2 reasons, lower cost and the horror stories I have heard about in this thread and other locations about paypal.