Paypal vs Google Checkout

Agreeing with Medieval Maven on transferring money out of Paypal quickly if you do use it. I had a client (IAAL, but IANYL) who had nearly $20,000 "frozen" in his account by Paypal and after a year of trying to get it, finally hired me to get it out of his account. After some research, I found that this was not uncommon. You can Google it. I also found that Paypal had entered into a settlement agreement with the Attorney Generals of many states for this and other unscrupulous business activities. It seemed really shady that it only required some thinly-veiled threats in a letter from me, a lawyer, for them to voluntarily release it. My client had tried mightily before hiring me and got absolutely nowhere. But a simple letter from a lawyer and they quickly released the money???? I have never had such an easy case in my career. But I thought it odd that all of Paypal's alleged reasons for the freeze vanished upon a simple letter from a lawyer.** **And while I pride myself on being a good lawyer, the letter was nothing special or otherwise spectacular.

Single data point: I will never use PayPal. If a site uses that as their only purchasing option, I shop elsewhere. I've heard enough horror stories about frozen funds and unresponsive support that I wouldn't trust using them as a merchant, either.

I prefer Paypal because I haven't used Google checkout. Paypal is easy because all I have to do is log on -- I don't have to set up a new account or grab a card.

There's not reason you can't have both. Personally I prefer paypal but I've only used google checkout once and only because it was the only option offered. Have you set up shipping rates in your paypal account profile? (it might help if you told us what you've already tried)

As a buyer -- I don't know if you're only planning on accepting credit cards through whichever system you would choose, but as a semi-frequent online buyer, I only feel comfortable doing business with merchants who accept echecks or direct funds through Paypal (although, I'm willing to mail checks or money orders through the post, which is rarely an option anymore). I've already set up my Paypal account, and I recall it was a huge pain to do so. I don't use a credit card, so I have had a few disappointments realizing that I can't purchase from select stores. You're probably not going to please everyone, but I just wanted to point out the greater flexibility of Paypal vs. Google payments from a potential buyer's point of view. [and I AM wary of Paypal's practices, but I already have it set up and monitor it closely.]

I think it can go both ways. We get a MUCH better rate w/ Google Checkout so we only offer that - and we just stress to people YOU DO NOT NEED A GOOGLE EMAIL TO USE THIS because that seems to be a common misconception. That said, if there is no real reason to use one over the other for you (monetarily) then offering both is fine. I'd just keep my eyes on PayPal. Transfer money out as often as possible - like every week or whatever makes sense for you. Do not keep a big balance with them, no matter what they offer you. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PayPal#Bank_status You are only sort of covered by Reg E, and totally covered by the Patriot Act, so they have a great platform set up where you as a consumer have nearly no cover and they can do anything they want. Google has done like, one really arbitrary thing that annoyed the hell out of me. I can't remember what it was at this point, so I think that means it wasn't a big deal. GC transfers your money out on the regular and so you don't have to worry about the same issues as PayPal in that regard.

Another single data point: I used to use PayPal. They froze my account due to an error that was theirs. Their approach is that all customers are guilty until proven innocent. I will never use them again. I sell two items. I now use a real shopping cart (E-junkie; $5/month), Authorize.Net, and a merchant services provider. It was a little painful to set up but works far more smoothly than PayPal did, payments are automatically deposited daily into my REAL bank account, and the buying process looks way more professional to my buyers.

I work at a fairly large ecommerce company, and we switched from google checkout to paypal recently because no one was using google checkout. Paypal has been a hit, especially for our mobile customers. Even as a bigger company, they were some what of a PITA to work with in the negotiating stage. I didn't deal with them at that point but I heard about it from those that did. I personally feel the same way about paypal. Its so convenient that I use it, even though as a customer I've gotten screwed by a company that kept telling me something was delayed but on the way up until the 45 days to file a dispute had passed. So if its a shady looking company I'll use my credit card directly. If it's a bigger company or one I've done business with before, I'll use paypal because its so easy.

If the above comment is correct and your cost is significantly less through Google, offer both but Google at a discounted price. I've not gotten bitten by PayPal but I have absolutely read the horror stories. I use them for online purchases, I have used them for ebay stuff also, but I've not sold anything there in a long while. I've used Google payment system a number of times, no problems, simple, or so it seems to me. And now I'm sortof interested in Amazon payments, after reading what I've read in this thread...