Free Transactions At Google Checkout
Between November 15 and December 15 I was away from a computer while I moved my family from the States to Europe for a few months.
Trust me, I’m not complaining.
Why this is relevant is that I’m still catching up on alot of things that broke during that time (and the few weeks leading up to it). I’m not sure why I didn’t see this earlier, but Google Checkout is now processing payments for free until 2008.
A whole year of free payment processing!
My online store currently uses PayPal, but all those 2.9% fees are really starting to add up. Needless to say, if any of my new projects in 2007 need payment processing (and they will), I’m going to be giving Checkout a try.
Although Google is leaving a ton of money on the table in 2007, this aligns perfectly with their long-term strategy with Checkout: annihilate PayPal.
In order for a payment processing system to be successful it needs two things: merchants who implement it and customers who trust it. Unfortunately, it’s a bit of a chicken and egg scenario.
No merchant is going to take the time to integrate a payment processing option that their customers don’t trust. At the same time, customers aren’t going to trust a payment processing option that they’ve never seen before.
By offering Checkout for free, they are enticing merchants to integrate it even if they may lose a sale or two. It looks like it’s working.
I haven’t used Checkout yet, but I can guarantee you that I will within the next few months because of this offer. I’m sure I’m not the only one!
If the folks over at PayPal aren’t worried yet, they should be!
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