Google Checkout vs PayPal vs. Amazon Payments: What's the best eCommerce option?

Google Checkout (https://checkout.google.com/sell)

Google has spent enormous amounts of time and money developing a whole host of other products and services to go along with its core business of being the top search engine on the planet.

Google Checkout is easy to set up, and because it piggybacks on Google’s massive network of server farms, it loads quickly -- no matter where on earth your user accesses your m-commerce site from (not an insignificant consideration as billions of people come online via their mobile devices).

Like PayPal, you can use Google Checkout to add a Buy Now button to your site, to set up a simple shopping cart and transaction package in one (you find instructions here), and you can use Google for the transaction processing in combination with any number of shopping carts that are designed to work with Google. (Some shopping carts can be integrated with PayPal, Google, or both if you want to give customers more options.)

Similar to Amazon and PayPal, if you use Google Checkout, the downside is that your customers have to already have an account with Google; otherwise, they're forced to create one when they make their first payment. The Google brand is what your customers will see when they make their payments; the buttons will have the Google logo on them, the color scheme will look like the color scheme that is used by Google, the words “Fast checkout through Google” will appear on the screen, along with a link that says “What is Google Checkout?” and leads to a page that is all about Google Checkout.

Another possible downside for you may be that Google Checkout doesn't support currency in as many countries as PayPal. At the time of this writing, Google Checkout accepts U.S. dollars, euros, and British pounds sterling, but expect that list to grow over time.

Learn how to add Google Checkout to your web page.

PayPal (www.paypal.com)

PayPal wins the game when it comes to supporting international customers. If you want to be able to accept as many different currencies as possible, PayPal is your best option. It's highly customizable and offers everything from simple one-click buttons to high-end transaction services you can integrate into most of the popular shopping cart services.

At the high end, you need quite a bit of technical coding skills to tweak PayPal’s API to work with third-party shopping carts, but PayPal has been around for a long time, so you can draw on a large international developer network when you need help. At the low end, you can easily add PayPal buttons.

As with Amazon, the PayPal brand is the one your customers see on each Buy button when it comes time to make their payments.

PayPal has also created some extremely powerful and extensible technology to allow people to transform their cellphones into wallets. And because PayPal is owned by eBay, the integration between the two services is quite good. If you’re selling your items through your eBay store, this may be all you need.
PayPal has also introduced an app for the iPhone that allows users to transfer money directly from one phone to the other, simply by bumping together the two phones.

Learn how to add PayPal to your web page.

Amazon Payments (http://payments.amazon.com)

This powerful and flexible payment engine allows users who are already familiar with, and trust, the Amazon brand to purchase goods from your Web site using their Amazon customer ID. The advantage is that Amazon has established itself as one of the biggest retailers on the Web, and its technological backbone is very strong.

The downside, however, is that your customers have to already have an account with Amazon; otherwise, they're forced to create one when they make their first payment. As you can see in teh figure below, the Amazon brand is all over every page (on the buttons, in the colors, and in the typography), which helps your customers know they’re dealing with a reputable firm -- but that also means Amazon promotes itself all over your site.

Amazon payments

Still, if you sell digital downloads, such as ringtones, MP3s, videos, or pictures, Amazon’s payment and pricing system is innovative and robust. And if you already sell your stuff on Amazon, it’s very easy to integrate the links and payment system on your Web site because customers who have already paid with Amazon at your m-commerce store can buy with just one click. The Amazon site has detailed instructions for both amateurs looking for the simplest solution and seasoned developers looking to customize.