Phew, the Google Checkout /Paypal checkout wars are in full steam right now and there's lots of news to cover since mid-Jan.
- First, Google Checkout extended it's $10 rebate for first time consumers using Google Checkout via a nifty Valentine's day promo here.
- Then Paypal just announced it is offering $15 off $30 and greater purchases here. Purchases must be made between Feb 8 and March 31st from ebay.com or any other site that takes paypal - there's a list on the site there. Be sure to read the fine-print on this one as it seems a little tricky. For example, here's the excluded payments:
The following transactions are excluded from this offer: Send Money transactions, payments to Personal Accounts, eBay payments made to Personal Accounts, donations, PayPal Mobile transactions, payments for services, Virtual Debit Card payments, PayPal ATM/ Debit Card payments, payments made when you are not logged into your PayPal account, and PayPal Plus Credit Card payments not made through your PayPal account.
Wow - that's a little tricky because lots of stuff you find on eBay tends to be personal accounts. Also, the rebate isn't real-time, it will be deposited in your account by May 28th. I don't understand why PayPal can't do these promos themselves. They've outsourced this one to promotionexpert.com. One concern is that the promotionexpert.com site isn't encrypted and asks you to enter your paypal ID, that can easily be sniffed and used for nefarious purposes.
Bottom line - I'd recommend only using this one if you were already buying something and don't count on the refund, but be pleasantly surprised if you get it.
- Jan 31 during Google's Q4 stock analyst call, Anthony Noto teased out of Google that 1% of their revenue was contra-revenue to pay for Google Checkout "consumer promotions". Based on this data, analysts have calculated that GC processed anywhere from $900m in payments (Peck) to $200m which is higher than what most were expecting.
- Finally, the blogosphere is doing a good job of recording all of the experiments Google is doing with the Google Checkout "Badge". Here's one and this one we snapped yesterday:
As predicted the Checkout Wars are turning out to be beneficial to consumers via the promos and also to Merchants who now have several choices and improving economics for the first time in a long time.
How do you know if the seller has a Personal or Business account? Is there an easy way to check?
Posted by: Personal | February 11, 2007 at 11:05 AM