Updating site advice & Googlecheckout or PayPal?

[Frocked]

Hi again!

Well, we are looking at doing another update to the Frocked.co.uk site within the next couple of months, a small one this time, & are researching into Googlecheckout to see whether to swap or stay with PayPal; the previous Merchant Account we had was simply proving too costly....does anyone have any experience of using Googlecheckout?

We have already listed some things that need updating, but would value, yet again, any comments or suggestions.

Many thanks.

Kindest

[Dubbya]

There are some pretty great reviews from some pretty big names in the biz:

Google Checkout vs PayPal : JPMorgan Report

Shopping PayPal or Google Checkout - CNET reviews

» Google Checkout vs. eBay Pay Pal: Where is the competition? | Digital Markets | ZDNet.com

Looks to me as though the Google Checkout hype is dying down and PayPal has just updated their site and tools.

I've been using PayPal for two years and never had a single problem but your mileage may vary.

[Palindrome]

Hi Frocked

Like your site. One item I would attend to is the footer text relating to validation etc. At best unsightly and bordering on hidden. Also, as this states full validation, worth attending to the very few errors. Could winge about meta tags, some of them are pointless really, just the default and in theory (but probably not) could be damaging. e.g. revisit after. May be more effective to just adjust priority in a feshly submitted sitemap, when that's appropriate.

The site has a better balance of text/images than many ecommerce sites but any other ideas you have to add interesting, well optimised text may be worth considering.

Good luck with the site.

[Frocked]

Many thanks to both for comments!! Really apppreciate it & will follow up.

[c_karsan]

is that an ajax (possibly a ruby on rails store) it looks quite slick ...

anyway why dont you offer your customers both payment methods google checkout (which is cheaper for transaction costs) and paypal as millions already have a paypal account
do you really want to inconvenience them plus any existing customers you have had.

also if you turnaround enough transactions its always good to look at getting a merchant account with manual card processing facility if you dont have one already.

[getmea]

I had Paypal as the sole checkout on my system until I ran into fraud. It appears Paypal address/data verification takes a while, so it allows the customer to proceed with the purchase. I turned off Paypal, signed up with Authorize.net, and have not lost a dime since. Sure, I pay the monthly fees and transaction costs, but I have the peace of mind of knowing I won't get ripped off so easily again.

[Frocked]

Thanks again for your feedback.

We did have a merchant account but the costs spiralled & therefore it was not deemed viable for us to carry on using - we are still only a small fashion designer company.

Feedback from customers about having a choice resulted in a preference of just having one option ("Don't Make Me Think!!"). We are looking more into Google, but the cost of integrating it into the site is the next thing we are looking into - from what I have read it appears that Google will integrate better....

Thanks!!!