Tag: google checkout

Wow…Google Checkout really hates Canada

Post ImageYou may recall that when Google launched their Checkout service back in June, I posted about how Canadian merchants were left out in the cold. I went back to the site every couple weeks hoping to see that Canada had been added as a valid merchant country, but it never happened. I gave up around late August and haven’t been back to the site since, until today.

John Battelle posted this morning about a promotion Google Checkout is running for the holidays. I figured, what the heck, might as well check. Nope, still only American merchants allowed. Then I stumbled on the page titled: Google Checkout is available to buyers with billing addresses in…

I was shocked that Canada wasn’t on the list. Then I figured that maybe they left countries like Canada and the US off the list because it was assumed that they were valid countries. Nope. As you can see, the US as well as The United Kingdom are both on the list. The Vatican, Kazakhstan, and Namibia all made the list, yet Canada didn’t.

Either they screwed up and forgot to put Canada on that page, or they screwed up because they don’t allow Canadians to use the service. Unacceptable either way.

UPDATE (12/8/2006): I just checked the page again, and Canada now appears on the list. I wonder if my post had anything to do with it?

Read: Google Checkout

Google Checkout – @!%$ you too Google!

Post ImageWhen I got to the office this morning I checked to see if Google Checkout was working, and was happy to see that it was. And it’s not in beta either! I started looking through all the information (there’s a lot), glanced at the API information, and was generally feeling really great about the service. It’s really cheap too, at only 2% plus $0.20 USD per transaction. Actually, you get up to ten times your AdWords spend processed for free, which is pretty damn sweet.

And then, I came across this:

At this time, only merchants with a U.S. address and bank account can process transactions through Google Checkout. We look forward to offering more options in the future.

What?! Are you kidding me? I have an AdWords account, why can’t I create a Google Checkout account? Indulge me while I get on my soapbox for a moment…

I am sick of being treated like a third world country! We’re right next door! I’m as proud a Canadian as the next guy, but I’m not afraid to admit that we’re practically another state. Is it really so hard for Google (or any company for that matter, they aren’t the only ones) to make their services work for Canadians right from the get-go? I mean seriously, there cannot be that much work involved to make it happen.

So while I think Google Checkout looks great, and I’m happy that PayPal has some competition, I’m pissed that it doesn’t support Canada.

Read: Google Checkout