Google Checkout vs PayPal

This month marked Google Checkout’s one year anniversary. Originally called the ‘PayPal Killer’, Google Checkout has gained wide market acceptance over this past year.

Additionally, PayPal has done very well in the same period.

The public appetite for online purchases and Internet fund transfers has grown enough in the last twelve months that it now feeds both of these Internet giants and one or two more just like them (Amazon.com). E-commerce opportunities both vertical & horizontal today seem plentiful in today’s online retail world.

Many users who compare Google Checkout to PayPal will tell you that Google is easier to use. They report Checkout as having fewer steps and easier to understand options. Of course, Google Checkout is just an ewallet for purchases online. While it is super handy when shopping it does not have the important features that a PayPal account can deliver. The ability to send and receive money online using your email address is not yet available on Google Checkout.

Both are free and easy to set up. Both require a credit card verification in order to get your account working.

When checking out and paying for a new purchase, users report Google Checkout to be much easier than PayPal. Users also report that Google Checkout appears more seamless and consistent to shoppers offering a smooth checkout. One of the biggest and most obvious differences is that Google is not accepted at nearly as many places as PayPal.

Both services are considered Alternate Payment Systems which is different from directly using a credit card online. Both services offer online privacy and protection. Your personal information stays private and is not shared before during or after the online sale. However, Checkout will sometimes give merchants your billing address and the last four digits of your credit card, while PayPal says it won’t unless you use the one-time option. On the other hand, PayPal shares your e-mail address with merchants that request it, while Checkout lets you keep that private and Google will forward receipts and other important e-mails to you.

But Checkout isn’t yet accepted where it counts. Google claims tens of thousands of merchants accepting Checkout, compared with the millions already using PayPal.

PayPal is better known overseas. You can buy goods from about 190 markets with PayPal compared with some 140 for Checkout. With PayPal, you can receive money in about 50 countries, while Checkout accepts U.S. and U.K. merchants only. And while PayPal is offered in 17 currencies, Checkout deals only with dollars and pounds.

Most importantly, Checkout won’t let you receive money with regular accounts you’d need a special merchant account and provide a Social Security number or federal tax identification number. With both Checkout and PayPal, consumers are charged nothing to send money or make payments.

Merchants are charged based on transaction amounts. Checkout’s rates are much easier to understand: It’s 2 percent plus 20 cents per transaction; fees are waived through the end of the year and beyond that merchants can receive subsidies by spending money on Google search ads. With PayPal, fees depend on your account type, monthly sales amounts and whether the buyer is sending money from a bank account or credit card.

Google does offers some very helpful discussion forums.

• Google Checkout Merchant forum Checkout merchants share questions and information with one another.
• Google Checkout Developers Forum Google Checkout API