Google Checkout discount

Filed under: Business, Finance, Internet, Web services, Google

Google Checkout discount

by Chris Gilmer Oct 3rd 2006

Google has just announced a discount for users of the Google Checkout system. Google will be giving a bonus of $10 on purchases of $30 or more at participating Checkout stores like Timberland, Buy.com, Gamefly, Zales, GNC, and Starbucks. This is another great way by Google to get people fired up [again] about the Google Checkout system, since people have been bashing and banning the system, like eBay has done with their sellers. After all, how can you say no to a $10 discount? Is there anyone who has used, or who prefers using the Google Checkout system? Most of the people I speak with haven't even heard of it, or have not had the opportunity to use it. Let us know how you feel about it.

Tags: checkout, discount, ebay, google, pay

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Mike said 4:56PM on 10-03-2006

I love Google Checkout! I've used it a number of times [usually w/ Buy.com] for my every day things like DVD-R's and whatnot. Ultra quick checkout, shipping, and a discount? What's not to love?

[according to ebay: everything]

Brian said 5:08PM on 10-03-2006

I agree with Mike. I choose my online vendors by who offers Google Checkout. It is a great service.

Ron Savage said 5:48PM on 10-03-2006

I don't know if I would choose my vendors by if they offer Google Checkout, but the three times I've used it I've been satisfied. It's pretty easy to use, and you're actually doing business with Google and not the place you're purchasing from, which adds another level of security.

In fact, the ease of use was kind of scary. I went through all my transactions in about two to three clicks. If someone ever were to find out my e-mail address password, I might find myself in big trouble.

Serge said 6:11PM on 10-03-2006

Does anyone know if there is a hidden cost to the customer? Below I pasted the terms of agreement from Google and refrained from using it not knowing if I would end up paying more than the actual price of the goods:

9. Service Fees

We do not charge a fee to use the Service as a Buyer. The financial institution that issues your Payment Instrument may charge a fee in connection with the debiting or charging of the Payment Instrument resulting from the Payment Transaction. You should consult the terms and conditions governing your Payment Instrument for more information about any such fees.

Ray Earhart said 6:22PM on 10-03-2006

There might be some unsecured credit cards that might charge a per transaction fee but Google doesn't add anything. If you have never seen one of these charges on your credit card statement, you probably never will.

The merchant pays a percentage of the sale to Google and that's how they make their money.

Aaron said 7:58PM on 10-03-2006

I love Google Checkout, its seems to work better, and faster than other payment options, paypal is always so frustrating, like forcing you to pay with a checking account by always defaulting to that rather than a credit card.

I hate ebay for not adding Google Checkout. If there was any decent competition in the online market place arena, I would quickly switch. It is a monopoly, in my opinion, how we are forced to use paypal as one of the few online trusted payment methods.

tahlyn said 10:07PM on 10-03-2006

never used it before today, but it worked fine. Got $10 off a Xbox 360 wireless controller that buy.com had already discounted $10. Got the controller for $30 so I'm pretty happy. As long as Google keeps offering the $10 discount, I'm definitely going to keep using their service.

Shannon said 12:06AM on 10-04-2006

I love Google Checkout. I really like the fact that they will filter all of the email for you. They offer the option of not giving your email to the site you are buying from, thus much less Spam.

It is also alot easier for me to use, since I use Google as my homepage, I am always signed in so all I have to do is click and buy. It is also an instant purchase, I am not waiting on PayPal to charge my card or debit my bank account and then pay etc...

But then I admit to being a Googleholic

Mini said 7:51AM on 10-04-2006

discounts are perfect !

Irritated said 10:37AM on 10-04-2006

Checkout just pissed me off throughly. Using it I bought something at Buy.com and now I'm told it will take Buy.Com 5 days to charge my card and then only will it ship. This message was related to me by none other then Google. I need to wait 5 extra days for my goods? Sorry, not going to use it again.

Ray said 10:55AM on 10-04-2006

Hey Irritated -

It probably won't take 5 days.

Your charge will be made by Google themselves, not Buy.com . What happens is.. Google will let Buy know that you made a purchase but they don't actually charge your card at that time. They wait until Buy tells them that the order is ready to ship. This timing of only charging the card when the order is shipped is a requirement of all of the credit card companies.

Google is changing the way credit card processing is done.

g-man said 2:00PM on 10-05-2006

why let google know where you shop and what you buy? $10 is a cheap price for them to get you hooked to their service...

google wants to know everything about you...that's why i refuse to use google mail.

angelique said 4:48PM on 10-26-2006

I've used google checkout for a couple of weeks now, and its great. Remember all those sites you had to sign up to purchase stuff from, ...confirm your email, type in more information than any company needs to know... well that is over, just use google check out, a few clicks, ONE form, and enter. And next time, its just a couple of clicks even if it's a diferent store. Its great. Plus... you might luck out and get a 10 dolar discount. Hello Google...!

redundancy said 2:53AM on 12-20-2006

how do you get the discount? buy.com still charged me the full price. do i get a check or something?

paul said 4:07PM on 12-28-2006

I also purchased something with google on sportsauthority.com and received no discount.

Featured Time Waster

Civiballs is a beautiful, soothing physics puzzle Time Waster

I have an absolute weakness for physics games, and while Civiballs isn't the strongest physics-based game, what it lacks in the physics department it makes up for a few times over in style and fun.

In Civiballs, you are presented with a few colored balls, and your goal is to get those balls into the same-colored urn on the level. The "civi" part of Civiballs is that there are 3 sets of levels to play, each representing a different civilization. While the civilization doesn't affect gameplay, the artwork for each level is beautifully themed to it's appropriate era.

To play the game, you are given only one tool - a sword with which to cut the chains that are holding the balls. The puzzle part of the game is in figuring out what order, and with what timing to cut each chain. Do it right, and all the right balls end up in the right urns, with no stray balls entering an urn (a no-no). Do it wrong, and you get to start over again.

Civiballs is not terribly deep on gameplay; the entire game can be completed in about 15 minutes. But if you enjoy this type of game, it will be a very enjoyable 15 minutes.

View more Time Wasters