Google Checkout, described by some as a Paypal killing service, is up and running. By registering your credit card details with Google you can easily purchase items at participating merchants (and avoid that merchant’s checkout process almost entirely) by clicking on the Google Checkout button provided as in the illustration below…
Google has made their service attractive to merchants in 2 ways. First, they offer a better rate for credit card processing than other credit-card processors; charging 20 cents plus 2% of the purchase price per transaction as compared to 30 cents plus 1.95% through most other credit-card processors. On a $100 purchase this would translate to a payment to Google of $2.20 vs. $2.25 to other processors. Your average sale would have to exceed $200 for other processor’s fees to be less than Google’s.
The 2nd way, and the kicker for many on-line advertisers, is that for every $1 you spend on search advertising through Google, Google will waive the fees on $10 worth of purchases. According to Google’s CEO, Eric Schmidt, this is their real goal. He stated that they are willing use transaction fees as a loss leader in order to gain more advertising spending.
In any event this is a win/win for you as an on-line merchant. Lower, generally, transaction fees and more convenience for your Google Checkout-using customers plus, if you advertise with Google, you stand to gain even more. And, in these times of ever-increasing pressure on your bottom-line, every cent counts.
