Jefferson Graham at USA TODAY looks at the new offers being pushed by the Google Checkout online payment system in Google’s efforts to attract new and large merchants.
First Google has worked on boosting consumer demand for Google Checkout by offering $10 off purchases and other incentives – these offerings were quickly matched by PayPal.
Now Google Checkout has gone as far as dropping merchant fees for the rest of the year, which is quite enticing as Google usually takes a cut of anywhere from 2% plus $.20 on each transaction.
Google ratchets up the pressure by dropping merchant fees through 2007.
Merchants pay a variety of fees to use the services. PayPal charges 2.9% plus 30 cents per transaction on sales up to $3,000 a month. Google’s fee is 2% of the sale plus 20 cents, less if the merchant is a Google advertiser.
Google’s consumer rebate can be used many times. The PayPal rebate expired in November, but the company is offering a one-time-use discount to selected customers via e-mail. Some stores may offer extra incentives through either service.
EBay had no comment on Google’s plans.
It seems google is bent on taking over paypal’s market. I am guessing ebay is next.
Thank You
I just received an email from Paypal how they could save me money from my existing account by switching to another product of theirs. I had no idea this was a result of reacting to Google’s offering. And here I thought it was out of the kindness of Paypal’s heart……..:)
Google keeps pushing the limits, there is only one thing i make out of it, Google Checkout is a flop and Google is desperate. They are clearly using their large cash possition to bully merchants. Google the Evil empire…
Sam:
Google also did not do their homework and made a lot of people mad already, especially now during the holidays. See
http://www.searchenginejournal.com/?p=4059
2% … mhh.. I wonder how much Google is paying VISA/MC and Amex. Thats the most interesting part. As long as the don’t loose on a transaction and can sustain those lower fees, its good for the business and bad for the Credit Card Companies. It will not put them out of business though, don’t worry :)
good
Google taking market share is a great thing…this forces PayPal to lower prices and become more seller savvy. “Google Base” is another new addition to the Google family. This centerfuge allows merchants to take full advantage of Googles many tools…all from one central account. Take a L@@K!