Online Payments in Flux as Google Exits, Amazon Expands

by: iheartjacksparrow

When the Google Checkout exit was announced, eCrater stated it would be adding additional payment services to its site. So far, though, they have not indicated what the services would be and when they would be implemented. I'm hoping they will add Amazon since everyone knows the name.

by: Anonymous Annie

I'm confused... how can Google Wallet exist without Google Checkout? How can a merchant accept payments though GW unless there's a Google-operated checkout mechanism involved?

I know, I'm probably overlooking something that I really ought to know (please don't laugh).

by: iheartjacksparrow

@Annie - Google Wallet will continue on only with regard to sales of digital items; it will cease handling sales of physical goods. It's confusing to me, too, since I don't understand why it would make any difference what is being sold; there's still a transfer of money to one person and "goods" to another. I've been trying to figure it out since the change was announced.

by: Anonymous Annie

Thanks, Iheart! Glad to know that I'm not the only one who's confused about the whole thing.

Back-in-the-day (before my website's sales volume made it worthwhile to have a merchant account) I used both PP and Amazon payments for my checkout. --- About 95% of my payments were PayPal and the rest were Amazon or simply an abandoned cart (presumably because the customer didn't want to use either checkout method.)

That's about the same time that I realized how amateurish it looked to use PP or Amazon *exclusively*. It was a dead giveaway that we were small-potatoes (which we were) and that may have been a turn-off to some customers.

When we finally got a genuine merchant CC processing account, we continued to offer PP and Amazon for about a year... just as an option for those who truly wanted to use it.

To my delight, about 95% of our customers chose to pay DIRECTLY with their credit card (instead of PP or Amazon)!!

Shortly afterward, we dropped both PP and Amazon and things have been wonderful ever since.

From time to time I'll have a customer ask ''what happened to your PP option?'' ... but it seems that the queries are mostly out of curiosity. As near as I can tell, I've never actually LOST a sale because I didn't accept PayPal.

But in ALL cases, by not using PP, my cost per transaction has decreased and my profit has increased.

I'm sorry to see Google Checkout disappear... not because I'll miss them, but because I think it's good for PP to have some serious competition. ~ Now that Google has exited, this probably makes PP feel more empowered to do whatever the feel like doing.

I feel sorry for those who rely exclusively on PP.

In fairness... PP is a great way for people to get their feet wet when starting their own website. It's a way to start slowly, test the waters, and to build their business without too much expense up front. (And that's exactly what WE did! No shame in that, I figure.)

But, based on my personal experiences and based on my observations... I'd strongly urge anyone with an ecommerce site to get a merchant account.

In the long run, it's cheaper... and being able to process the complete transaction (without sending the customer to the PP site) definitely makes your small business appear to be more professional and competent.

by: The End

I KNEW after Google hired on that Ebay cast-off, everything would get mucked up.
And Sure Enough.
LISTEN ALL YOU NAIVE CORPORATE NEWBIES :
To Hire an X-Ebay person is to hire a corporate spy / saboteur. Craigslist felt it, Google felt it,...
Now GET SMART and make sure you do your background checks THOROUGHLY before you sign that contract. Or "You're gonna be Very VERY Sorry."
DO NOT HIRE X-EBAY EMPLOYEES EVER.
I don't care What their sob story is. Avoid them like the Plague that they are.

by: elpereles

They only thing I didn't like to eCrater was the promise about a substitute. And wait to November to announce it.

For Bonz, why some people are still surprise with them? Remember they are the eBay soul.  

by: The End

HERE IT IS :
Stephanie Tilenius.
That's the virus that murdered Google Checkout.

by: Moonwishes

those of us that sell on ecrater would really like to know what our other payment plan will be. Some newbies seem to think that they can pick any payment program that they want which isn't true. I too hope for Amazon as I figure it is a recognizable name. Prop Pay I've heard of but rarely seen at any on line venue that I shop at. Annie is most likely right that having the merchant account would look more professional but I thought that having one was pretty expensive. Whatever, I hope ecrater makes a choice soon so we can get set up and used to things before a hopefully busy time of year hits.

by: DingDong

Bonanza never gives the sellers any notifications on serious items that pertains to the sellers.

From Bonanza Blog:
''No real reason other than we like to stay on top of things when we can'' and ''Because of the high percentage of sales on Bonanza that take place via PayPal and Checkout by Amazon, that has afforded us a bit of time to research adding credit card payments on Bonanza. I agree with you, I hope we add them too''.
If we still had the old forums, it's been requested for other outside payment services for over 1 1/2 years. I guess Mark really needs time to investigate other sources.  

Hmmmmm They really listen to the the sellers, don't they.

Boy, what happened to the Bonanza's spotlight of ''The Handbags'' or ''Fashion Exchange''. Both DEFUNCT and a waste of their time. Grrr Don't get me going

by: Belle

Bonanza has already done away with the google checkout feature, 2 months early and without any warning to sellers. Many are furious about it. Now, only Paypal and Amazon are available to use.

I wouldn't doubt at all that bonz gets a cut of any amazon payments going through the site.

They keep throwing their members under the bus and backing up over them time and time again.  

by: Tula

ArtFire offers Amazon Payments, too. About half of my sales use it vs. Paypal and I've had no problems with it. They're also offering Propay merchant accounts, too, though I haven't set up with them yet.

Atomic Mall also offers Amazon, but so far most of my sales are through Paypal there. They have direct payment through Authorize.net merchant accounts and they've also started allowing you to pay your fees with Bitcoin. It will be interesting to see how that goes.

by: gutspiller

@ Anonymous Annie

I like your post so much. So great to hear a success story from a seller that managed to completely get away from the pest of Ebay.

I'm following your route. Still a long way to go though, but we're getting there. I used to be a 100% ebay seller. Now 50% of my sales come through my own website and other venues.

If you're really serious about your business your own website is the way to go. The days where you could trust on sites as Ebay are long gone. With all their rules they can put you out of business before you can breath. Although I've never used Amazon with the stories I've read they don't seem to be any better.

If you're running a business it should be you who decides what are the rules and they shouldn't be dictated by a scrupulous company as Ebay.

It's as Annie says. Every sale I make outside of Ebay = less fees + extra profit. While selling prices on Ebay go down every day, I can often maintain prices on my website. Some of the items I sell I no longer sell on Ebay. I can sell them without a problem on my website. So why list them on Ebay and pay the fees???

Personally I think this is the biggest challenge Ebay's facing. Not the competition from Amazon and other sites, but all the people starting their own website.

From every 100 sites that are launched only a handfull will survive on the long term. Generating traffic and convert this into sales is the biggest challenge. But there will always be sites that will be successful. Every sale made on this website is a sale less on Ebay.

As said I used to be a 100% Ebayseller. Now almost dayly I have to end 1 or more listings because they are no longer available.

Every time I end a listing on Ebay because I sold it elsewhere I consider as a victory on Ebay.

I have big plans for the website. All the plans I had for Ebay are put into the refrigirator. As long as Ebay stays on this self-destruct course there's no point to invest any more time/effort in this site.

The only thing Ebay is accomplishing is that I do anything in my power to become less and less independent from Ebay until a point where - as Annie - I will no longer need them.

And I really hope this day will come very soon. I'm completely fed up with all this Ebay bullshit.

by: Anonymous Annie

@Gutspiller: You're quite correct! Before leaving eBay, I also noticed that I could actually *raise* my prices (just a little bit) on my own website and STILL sell more than I was selling on eBay!

Amazing!

Perhaps when the prices get to be SO LOW, there may be customers who think to themselves ''it's too cheap, it's probably a hunka-junk''.

In many cases, a reasonable price (or even a slightly inflated price) suggests quality... either in the item itself, or in the level of customer service that comes along with it.

eBay can continue their race-to-the-bottom... I won't be joining them. :-)

by: Digmen1

Paypal is so bad that even Google could not compete and gave up !

by: The End

No, Google caught the Tilenius virus from Ebay. It was a setup.

by: DingDong

Well, Bonanza did botch the notification of Google Wallet. I guess Mark must of read some of our comments that they won't admit to making mistakes and they finally admit to one of their mistakes.

kenoticket says: 09/10/13 at 12:21:14

Mine is also marked to receive notifications, but nothing was sent. You said “Bill let me know when the email was sent out yesterday….”, if you mean the notification was sent yesterday, that’s still 4 days after you announced it in this blog.


 bonanzamark says in response: 09/10/13 at 12:49:19


You are right Kenoticket. We messed up. We should have notified our sellers of this prior to us removing Google Checkout so they could have time add another option if need be. We made a mistake and we sincerely apologize for that. Moving forward we will do our best to make sure to be more sensitive of such things. Thank you for your comment

by: permacrisis

Google's entire approach to ecommerce has been completely non-committal, entrusting all the heavy lifting to third parties and always careful never to get any dirt on themselves. They are super duper chicken and never got around to launching the auction site that we've all been begging for. Dammit where's my GBAY guys, Build My Stinkin Gbay! Getting tired of these substitute sites that go way wide of the mark, purporting to know what's best when we actually saw and experienced and know what really works.

To all the wannabe executives someday hoping to plumb up a selling site: Give us old farts what we want and we'll HAPPILY piss away every last dime of our retirement money on your pure auction, time ending soonest auction site.  Does that spell it out for ya?