Is Google Checkout for business only ?

[lyl797]

Hi,

I search this forum and do not get this clear ... so please help me .. Thanks ..

I am goign to apply for a Google Checkout account, but should I use my business name or my personal information ?
I have a WEB site currently using Paypal to accept payment, I want to diversify and spread my risk, so I want to add Google checkout as another payment gateway. Will Google checkout allow individual person to use it as a payment gateway for WEB site ? or it has to be a company with FED Tax ID ?

If both work, which one should I start with ?

[aspkin]

Use your business name and address, among other information.

I don't remember having to use my SSN to setup an account.

[lyl797]

Thank you ! And do you guys pay monthly fee for using Google checkout ?

[Lyda]

I don't pay monthly fee.

[aspkin]

Nope no monthly fees, there is a minimal fee per sale but it's almost nothing.

Deposits are done daily too, that I like.

[lyl797]

Sorry to bother again ..

Can I use a gift card when setup Google Checkout account ?
Does Google even care ?

[simogold]

you can use your Tax ID and get approved immediately or your credit card + SSN . the fees depend of your monthly sales. between 0 and $3000 GC charges 2.9% + 0.30. but if you have a new account they will hold your funds for 10 days for each sale until you get your 60 days.

[qvyhnl]

But do buyers on eBay prefer paypal? I see most of the items that are on eBay are only can be purchased with paypal, and most people only have paypal.

[cpm]

Not necessarily, though the service is pitched in such a way that sellers be a little more transparent and operate themselves like they were running a business.

Google is miles ahead of PayPal. You can easily integrate it with your website. The fraud detection is also way more superior than PayPal's. There is none of the subjective nonsense you get with PayPal.

PayPal and eBay and together have made a mess of things all on their own.

[cpm]

Accepting payments via Google Checkout is against eBay's Acceptable Use policy.

Further, it is mandatory to accept PayPal when listing on eBay. Or using one of the approved merchant services. Google is not one of them.

[imhim]

so what "approved" merchants do Ebay accept?


And can you just use Google checkout as a stand alone payment processor? or do you need a website?

[HurricaneHuntr]

You can use google checkout as an individual. have yet to get anyone to pay googlecheckout though... heh

My experience with Google Checkout (personal and business) has been abysmal. The small percentage of people willing to use it have been unable to complete the process and in a couple of cases where the buyer could complete, Google Checkout screwed up the notifications to me and failed to get the funds to my destination. You can not reach a person, when you need to. The email communication is entirely automated and you will not be contacted by a living-breathing human. Always canned responses.

[cpm]

It is still a thousand times better than PP.

I realise you have to get the hang of it. The payment process is a little different for payees and payers. But payments shouldn't be going astray, which is down to verification.

[aspkin]

Google Checkout in my experience is better than PayPal in the long run.

Like Vic said, they don't believe in phone conversations from what I've seen, but email is okay if you can wait a day or two.

It befuzzled me. I used genuine info to set up a Google Checkout. Confirmation deposits hit my bank on schedule. Transactions never arrived. Google hassled buyers, buyers emailed me about WTF, I repeatedly attempted to contact Google Checkout people. All I ever got was automated replies about things similar to but not exactly my problem. Never got a human generated response. The final straw for me was Google telling me they are putting my account in collections for $39. I never got any money from anyone, no orders were ever completed. So, how is it that I owe GC any money at all? 3 months of asking that only got me more automated replies.

[imhim]

lmao

I think i just realised this recently. I wanted to find out something, and I got an automated response.

I think because they are such a big company...

like ebay

[tbeezy]

I was wondering if I should start using Google Checkout for transactions out of ebay, ie forums and cl. I remember they use to have deals on certain sites where if you use GCO, you save a certain amount of money.

[optioner]

moneybookers works for me 85%

[itsme]

I can only echo what Aspkin said I have had a GCO account for well over 12 months now and only ever had a very positive experience with them, they are my preferred payment processor for almost everything I do now.

My account is behind a bonified website though and as said in another thread I do use other google services with the same email address such as adwords and webmaster tools gmail etc etc etc

ALso I dont process loads through this account, I have done the odd ebay item I went through a stage of offering buyer a 10% discount if they paid any other way than paypal, they would then come back to me and say OK but I still want to pay with my card, I would then reply no problem I will send a GCO invoice minus 10%

Worked well but it is a sure fire way to lose ebay accounts if you get found out............

[Hercules]

Checkout by Amazon works so good and you get more traffic just like when you used google the first time. Buyers from amazon just push the button and sold. No life story. I wish it would take off like paypal.

[itsme]

Originally Posted by Hercules

Checkout by Amazon works so good and you get more traffic just like when you used google the first time. Buyers from amazon just push the button and sold. No life story. I wish it would take off like paypal.

This looks good and again another big player being offered on a site along with google geesh should definately take some business away from paypal..............

Sadly only available in the US at this time :(

Will keep an eye on it though