Interesting. I’ve been thinking of using Google Checkout for my shop, because I’m getting to the point that CafePress isn’t enough all by itself. I like it, sure, but there are other POD suppliers that I can use for additional product flexibility, especially considering I’ve had an account with a dropshipper in Missouri for over a year and haven’t actually publicized any of their items because I haven’t had a payment gateway. Clickbank insists on a per-product checkout, which is fine if you only have one item to sell, but if you want to offer multiple items that people may want to combine, well, that’s going to be a mess.

I stormed away from Paypal for customer service reasons, and when Google announced their payment system, I had high hopes for a viable alternative. Unfortunately, it seems that Google has similar problems, as evidenced by the not-really-in-the-right-forum message posted on OSCommerce’s Google Checkout Module page (for some reason, WordPress is determined to remove all empty lines, so formatting is slightly different here from the original post):

Be Warned!
vdezine
10 Jul 2007

I am not endorsing or recommending any other method of checkout.

But I am advising against using google checkout!

I’m assuming that professionalism is important to you.

With this in mind, the problem lies here:

1. No live customer support.

2. Very lengthy waits for support.

3. Very obsure answers that don’t answer your questions.

What seems to happen is this:

You have your client make payment via google checkout.

Everyone assumes all went well.

You then get a notice that Google has “Cancelled” the order due to “Possible Fraud”.

What then? Do you tell your client this?

How can it be the clients fault if 1 invoice was just processed for $1000 but the one for $5000 was labeled “Fraudulent”?

Bottom line, it seems that Google wants to be in the business of processing money, but if there is any risk at all, they simply say that the transaction seems “Fraudulent”.

Note: I’ve been using Google checkout since its introduction. I’ve processed thousands and thousands of dollars with them previously.

The sad part is that it only takes one bad experience to affect your business.

This last experience involved a very successful doctor, who had an invoice for an amount that Google must not of been comfortable with.

Instead of just letting me know this, they put me and my client in a very embarrassing position.

My clients must and will always come first!

Take from this what you will, and use at your own risk!

Now, I’m sure there will be any number of “I’m using Google and having no trouble” responses, if anyone bothers to look for them in more appropriate venues, but I was one of the “I’m not having any trouble with Paypal” people up until the namechange fiasco. This bothers me, because the other options are not looking much better, and I’m wondering if I’ll have to give Paypal another chance, if only because it is still the 800 pound gorilla in the ecommerce world and I don’t want to sell my liver for a traditional commercial account.