Google Checkout and why it's the best alternative to PayPal

The purpose of this thread is to shift the sellers' use of PayPal to Google Checkout. After several months of consideration, I believe it is the best alternative to PayPal's mess.
So without further delay, you should read this long-ass thread if you're interested in an alternative method to PayPal.


Why you should stop using PayPal

Limitations​

It's absolutely guaranteed that you will wake up to a limitation one day for any of these reasons: having a large balance, someone scamming you, having a large amount of sales, being under PayPal's review. Under PayPal's impossible-to-escape terms, they are legally allowed to hold YOUR money for 180 days when it is limited, even though it is completely unnecessary. Even then, you can only withdraw your money in intervals unless you already have your identity verified. What's even scarier is how easy it is to get limited. You can still get limited if you have thousands in your account, with all your information verified, including your social security number, bank account, and credit card. Even if you manage to get your limit lifted, PayPal will continue to monitor your account and you can get limited more easily than the first time.

Chargebacks & Disputes​

PayPal is completely anti-seller. If you get charged back, it's your fault because as a seller you need to take precautions to prevent chargebacks, even though PayPal has absolutely no credible security system. If a buyer says he didn't receive his item, you have to show them every single drop of proof you have, and chances are you won't get your money back unless you shipped them an actual item. To make it easier for people to send and receive money, PayPal completely ignores the security of the sales. Their alternative to it is completely screwing over sellers on behalf of the buyers. Even if you win a dispute or chargeback, you can easily get limited because you "put PayPal at risk" or may "harm the buyers".

The benefits of Google Checkout

Before I introduce you to Google Checkout, I would like to list some of the obvious benefits.

Security​

Google does something right: anti-fraud. While credit cards may be the monster in PayPal due to the high rates of chargebacks, they are the solution at Google. The first thing Google does when you receive a payment is run a fraud check on the amount sent to you. The buyer can easily enter their credit or debit card and checkout in minutes, unlike PayPal, while still keeping you safe. What Google does is run a series of checks on the credit card and make sure it is safe to accept the payment. If the payment fails any of these security tests, the payment is automatically rejected: that's right, instead of allowing you to accept the payment and reversing it in a day, Google makes sure the transaction is safe BEFORE accepting it. In additional, it lets you know a quick report of how and when the check was done, and if they're not sure about it, they usually put the payment on hold for a few hours to double check it manually.

Payment & Intergration​

Google Checkout is made specifically for sellers. While they made it simple for buyers to use, it's more feature-rich than PayPal yet easier to use. You can create a buy now button or invoice customers directly. You're in charge of how the payment is charged, not the buyer. You get to pick the description of the item, what it's for, if it'll be delivered virtually, etc. You can even create coupon codes to hand out to buyers for an easy sale. All payments go directly to your bank account after a 10 day waiting period for new sellers. The reason for this 10 day waiting period will be explained in the next section below.

Reasonable Limitations​

Google Checkout understands that chargebacks are not your fault. Even if they happen after the rigorous fraud check, Google Checkout will not simply close your account. The reason they have the 10 day limit is to assess your chargeback rates, etc, for 60 days before completely lifting the limit. This allows them to work "reserves" with you. That means, if you present a high risk to them, they will simply tell you that you must have X amount of dollars in your account to cover for chargebacks if they occur. This allows large-volume sellers to have a chance to continue services. PayPal would simply limit your account permanently and tell you to fuck off.

Not Anti-Virtual​

PayPal encourages it's use of selling tangible goods, and almost condemns virtual sales. Being a primarily virtual market, Sythe sellers can benefit from the added security, knowing Google permits these types of sales and supports you through it. In fact, when you select categories of sales, electronic goods are almost there. When I first started selling, Google quickly questioned me on what I was selling. I told them I sold in-game currency and they were absolutely fine with it, whereas the same situation occurred when my PayPal was limited and PayPal freaked out.

Buyers Prefer It​

After several days of using Google Checkout, I think it's absolutely safe to say that legitimate long-term buyers prefer Google over PayPal. Several of the reasons are the ability to quick use multiple cards, the simplicity of the system as opposed to PayPal's mess, and of course, the separation of sales and purchases. With PayPal, a lot of the users only get money directly from selling their virtual goods, and if they get limited, you're screwed over. It's kind of like a row of dominoes waiting to collapse. When I switched over to checkout, I thought I would lose all sales, but my website is still going strong. In fact, I have noticed a higher volume of larger sales due to the fact that people with credit and debit cards are usually the ones who can afford to buy gold anyway.


How it Works

Business-Focused​

Google Checkout is best for those who are making a decent amount of money off their small business at Sythe. It can easily be used by anyone and there's no requirement to actually have a large business though. You can sign up in minutes, confirm your bank, and have money pouring in. One thing that's great about checkout though is it's focus on sellers. No, you can't buy stuff using your SELLERS account. You can still have a separate account for purchases, but Google separates them as mentioned previously. This keeps it easy for sellers to remain in control of everything.

Credibility System​

Google automatically gains trust in you as you go. Buyers can review their purchases to increase everyone's trust in you, including Google. Your fees will also drop if you sell more than a few grand in a month, and also as previously mentioned, Google will work it out with you if you have any issues. Best of all, they don't encourage buyers to create disputes like PayPal does, so there's a substantially lower amount of these.

Signing Up​

Google Checkout is not for those who want to remain anonymous. In fact, buyers will be able to see your address during the checkout and Google asks for your social security number, credit card, and bank. However, this opens a window for those sellers who just want to get on with their business securely and efficiently. So if you think Google Checkout is for you, follow the link below


http://checkout.google.com/sell

I might go more in-depth on using Google Checkout if I have free time

 

This thread is full of win.
I'd recommend everyone using Google Checkout rather then PayPal.

Thanks Grave!

 

Can you transfer money from Google Checkout to PayPal?

 

I thought because you left the fees out that they would be big, but the biggest is only 3% which isn't that bad. Though I can't find anything about international sales on the web page. Is this service only for United States?

 

its definitely worth looking into -- thanks grave.

 

Best GC - paypal thread yet, thanks!

 

The only reason as to why i don't use google checkout, is i don't really want everyone to know my address.
But apart from that it looks great.

 

thanks grave will definately look into this.

 

Thanks for the thread, really helpfull.

However, as a starting seller you have to wait 10 days untill you can withdraw the money, and later on this time will drop?

 

This sounds great. I was actually considering using Google Checkout a while back, but didn't go through with it.

The biggest problem is getting people to use Google Checkout. When I try to sell to people on other forums (Who aren't used to using Player Auctions), and tell them to use PA, I get dismissed as a scammer, or people say they're not comfortable using a website they're not used to.

Overall, ignoring the fees (Since PA has higher fees, obviously), would you say Player Auctions is safer than Google Checkout, or vice versa?

 

Google Checkout only allows you to directly deposit into your bank for security purposes. They don't want you to be spending your money and having disputes for outgoing money, etc. However, you can use a PayPal debit card on Google Checkout I believe to pay, which gives PayPal customers the ability to actually use it for Google Checkout.

The fees continue to drop depending on your sales, and it works internationally too. It should be available in all major countries if not all.

After 60 days, there is no waiting period unless you pose a high risk to them. In that case, they'll figure out something for you.

I thought it would be a big problem getting people to use it, but we've sold about four thousand dollars of gold so far using it, which isn't bad. Player Auction would most likely be safer than Google Checkout since it has a lot of additional steps, but you can perform those steps yourself on Google Checkout. This includes confirming the person's ID, phone number, and cross-checking IP addresses with their address. Right now my form has all these security features in place other than ID check, using Checkout's custom integration.

I think you may be able to use a PO box for your business address. They just want customers to be able to contact you.



Everyone else, thanks for the feedback.

 

That's surprising. I didn't think people would be so quick to adapt to a new payment type.

Then again, you do have your own website, and are extremely trusted, so I guess that does make sense.

I checked out the form on your website (http://rsultimate.com/gold/) and it looks GREAT. That was made using Google Checkout? Or you made your own form and integrated it with Google Checkout?

Either way, I'm impressed. I might continue using Player Auctions, but am worried about receiving a lot of money to my Paypal. At the moment, I've got $800 in my Paypal. I'll make a topic asking, to get more opinions, but I figure I'll ask you since we're on the subject of Paypal. What do you think the danger of using Paypal solely to receive payments from PA is? Will my account end up getting limited for no reason at all, just because I received a certain amount of money? (Even though I have no chargebacks/disputes)

 

You mentioned that it shows the seller's name, address, etc., does it also show that for the buyer?

 

Great Guide Grave.

 

Amazing guide, but I'm wondering is there any way you can keep the money online ? Again AMAZING guide.

 

I believe you can still keep it on Google Checkout and withdraw whenever you want.

 

Yeah it would kind of be a pain then having to add funds to your paypal account to buy more rsgp with.

 

Great guide. Thanks for posting it. I'll definitely start using GC.

 

Back in 07 I remember making the change to Google Checkout. I still had unauthorized transaction chargebacks. I don't know if it's changed since then.

 

How's contact with Google, Grave? Is there a phone number available once you sign up?