Having started out as the 'PayPal Killer', over the last year Google Checkout has achieved acceptance over the world market.
However, PayPal too has excelled during the same period.
In the past twelve months, there has been a tremendous upsurge in the number of internet purchases and online bank transfers, such that it involves not only PayPal and Google Checkout but also other Internet giants such as Amazon. Online business opportunities, both lateral and upwards, are multifarious in the present Internet retail scene.
In comparison, Google Checkout has been deemed more user-friendly than PayPal. Checkout is reported to have lesser number of steps and has options, which are easily comprehensible. and is only an online wallet of sorts for purchasers to carry out online transactions. It doesn't boast the various features of PayPal although it is very useful while shopping online. The option to receive and send funds via your email is still not present in the checkout by Google.
Both accounts are free and can be set up easily. Both the accounts also require you to link and verify a credit card before starting out.
When checking out funds and making payments for a product, Checkout by Google is reportedly easier to use than PayPal. Checkout by Google is also a smoother process and far more consistent or shoppers to use. However, the major differing point is that PayPal is more widely accepted than Google is.
Both Checkout by Google and PayPal are termed Alternate Payment Systems and are different from making credit card payments online. Privacy of information and secure payment methods are features unique to both systems. No personal information is made public during your transaction or subsequent to it. While Google Checkout sometimes gives out your billing address as well as the final four digits of your credit card number, PayPal will not give out any information till you decide to use the one-time option. Alternatively, PayPal will reveal your email address to business owners who ask for it, whereas Google keeps it private and forwards receipts and other mail to your inbox.
The disadvantage with Google Checkout is that it is still not widely accepted. Although it does have accepted numbers ranging in the tens of thousands, it does not compare to the millions who accept PayPal.
PayPal is a more accepted payment service abroad. 190 markets support PayPal payments, while Google is supported by only 140. 50 countries worldwide accept payments via PayPal compared to only US and UK payments for Google. Additionally, while PayPal accepts payments in seventeen different currencies, Google only transfers pounds and dollars.
Further, Google will not allow payment receipts from regular accounts, but only with merchant accounts which require Social Security numbers or Federal Tax Identification numbers. Both with PayPal and Google, customers are not required to pay any fees for sending money or paying for purchases.
Business owners are charged according to their transactions. Google Checkout has rates that are far easier than PayPal's. Google's rates are 2% of the transaction amount plus another 20 cents for every transaction. At the end of the year, these fees are waived and after that, merchants receive subsidies for spending on Google Ads. On PayPal, the fees are dependent upon the type of account, the sales numbers as well as the method of payment that the buyer uses, whether bank transfer or credit card.
Google also has some forums that have helpful threads on them:
Forum for Google Checkout Merchants where Checkout merchants can share information
Forum for Google Checkout Developers to discuss Google Checkout API
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