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Since Google Checkout launched last month, many tongues wagged that it would slaughter PayPal. Yet these digital payment services are different beasts that cater to different needs. Both provide a secure way to shop, with policies that refund your money in case of fraud. Overall, however, we prefer the many features of the veteran service, PayPal.
Google Checkout simply serves as a holding place for your credit or debit card information. It allows you to log in to a single Google username to shop, while hiding your valuable data and e-mail address from merchants. If you're selling stuff on a Web site, you can cut and paste some code that lets visitors shop via Google Checkout, which takes a small cut of your sales.
PayPal's fine print is more complicated than Google Checkout's, but PayPal offers a wider variety of services for shoppers and businesses--particularly small ones--to exchange funds. Only PayPal lets shoppers transfer money to or from bank accounts in addition to credit and debit cards, and you can use it to wire money to other people without requiring them to get a paid account. And PayPal is the only way to go if you're shopping around the world. Your financial details remain hidden from stores, but sellers might see your e-mail address.
The Google Checkout shopping cart icon will likely be popping up more frequently within text ads when you Google all sorts of subjects that can be bought or sold. However, PayPal's user base is 100 million strong, while Google Checkout is just getting off its feet. Only PayPal can be used to bid on or list auctions at eBay, which owns the service. And thousands of merchants are already PayPal-enabled, while Google is still building partnerships with sellers. Check out the features below.
| |
PayPal |
Google Checkout |
| Merchants |
eBay, thousands of retailers |
Hundreds of retailers, including Buy.com |
| How to make payments |
Your credit card, debit card, or bank account |
Your credit or debit card |
| Rate merchants |
Yes, on eBay |
Yes |
| International shopping |
55 countries, 6 currencies (EU, CA, pound, US, yen, Australian) |
No; U.S. only |
| Hide your e-mail address from merchants |
No |
Yes |
| Peer-to-peer payments |
Yes |
No |
| Security |
SSL, same used by banks |
SSL, same used by banks |
| Fraud protection |
100 percent refund for fraudulent transactions of $50 or more |
100 percent refund (must report within 60 days) for fraudulent transactions |
| Fee for accepting payments on your own Web site |
1.9 to 2.9 percent of sales plus 30 cents per transaction |
2 percent of sales plus 20 cents per transaction (less for AdWords customers) |
| Items you can't sell |
Illegal items, weapons, adult goods, copyrighted media |
Illegal items, weapons, adult goods, copyrighted media |
| Calculates shipping and tax |
Yes |
No |
| Users |
More than 100 million |
n/a |
Read the CNET editor's take
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8.0 out of 10
