How to Use Google's Checkout Service as a Seller

How to Use Google's Checkout Service as a Seller
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If you want to use Google’s payment processing service, which they call Google checkout, here is a simple overview of the service and the steps that you need to take to use it in order to sell items or invoice customers.

The first thing that you need to do is to make sure that you have set up your account, which if you are already using one of Google’s services will be fairly easy. Once you have done that, simply go to the site at: checkout.google.com and look for the link under the log in box that says “Information for Sellers”.

Once you have logged in to your account, click on the “Tools” tab at the top of the page to find all of the tools you will need to collect payments. You can choose to use “Buy Now” buttons for single items, use the Google shopping cart for multiple items, or select email invoices for services, auctions, etc. There is also an option for using Google Checkout with third party shopping carts.

Next, fill out the information to either send an email invoice or get the code to copy and paste into your website to create buttons. If using the invoice feature, your request will be sent to your customer for their approval, once approved you receive a notice and you can then charge the order to the customer’s account which will be processed and then Google initiates the payout to hit your account. You should note that Google only initiates payouts on days that they consider to be business days which include Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday only. So if you have a transaction occurring anytime on Thursday thru Sunday it will not be processed until the following Monday.

The “orders” and “payouts” tab will give you information about open orders and payouts that you have received along with your current balance minus Google’s fees which, as of May of 2009, will be based on a new tiered structure determined by the number and amount of transactions that you have per month.

If you are not sure what payment gateways or payment processing services are, or whether you need one for your site check out the following article: What Are Payment Gateways and How Can You Use Them on Your Site? Before you decide whether or not you want to use Google Checkout or another service, like PayPal, check out the following:

What Are Payment Gateways and How Can You Use Them on Your Site?

A Review of Google Checkout

A Review of PayPal