Google Checkout helps you attract new customers, convert more sales and lower transaction processing costs. Google Checkout™ is a checkout process that you provide on your website to enable your customers to buy from you quickly and securely, using a single username and password. And once they make a purchase, you can use Checkout to charge their credit cards, process their orders and receive payment in your bank account. Information for buyers.

Store2Go.net is proud to offer you Google Checkout to use in your ecommerce store. Simply follow the following steps to accept Google Checkout today!

Step 1: Setup Sandbox Google Checkout Accounts

You need to create two test accounts in the Sandbox. One of these accounts will function as a buyer account and the other will function as your merchant account. Please note that Google Checkout will not let you use your merchant account to complete an order at your own store. You need to provide different information to create these two accounts.

• Create buyer account at http://sandbox.google.com/checkout
• Create merchant account at http://sandbox.google.com/checkout/sell

Skip any sections that ask for your bank account information. Since the Sandbox system does not process billing or payments, this information is not necessary when you are testing your implementation. Enter any 10-digit phone number for the Phone Number field.

Use one of the credit card numbers in the table for your buyer account to run test transactions:

Step 2: Testing Google Checkout in Your Online Store

After signing in to your Google Checkout account, click on the Settings tab. Then click on the Integration link on the left side of the page. Your 10- or 15-digit Merchant ID and your Merchant Key will both be listed under the Account information header. The API callback URL is https://www.store2go.net/shop/google_checkout_api.php using XML callback method.

Login to your Store2Go.net control panel, then go to the "Payment Options" page. Enter your Merchant ID and Merchant Key in the fields provided. Click the Update button to save the details. The Google Checkout button is now available in your online store Shopping Cart.

Try a few transactions in your store, using both your Sandbox Buyer and Merchant account.

Step 3: Signup a Live Google Checkout Merchant Account

Once you are happy with the Google Checkout test transactions, go to http://checkout.google.com/sell/signup to sign up for a Google Checkout merchant account. Please note that you will use this account for your production (Live) service whereas the accounts you created in step 1 are for testing only.

Replace your live Merchant ID and Merchant Key in your Store2Go control panel, and change the Transaction Type to "Live". You will receive an error if you try to process live orders using the Sandbox Merchant ID or Merchant Key, and vice versa.

Step 4: Go Live

When a customer places an order, the new order will appear in your Inbox in your Google Checkout Merchant Centre. When the order is submitted, the listing for that order in your Merchant Center Inbox will display a status of Reviewing. As long as the order's status is Reviewing, you will not be able to charge the customer for the order. During this time, Google Checkout will authorize the customer's credit card for the amount of the purchase.

After the payment has been authorized, the order's status will update from Reviewing to New. You should not ship the ordered items to the customer until the order's status has updated to New. After that time, you will also have the option to charge the customer for the order. At this stage, the order is showed as 'Awaiting Payment' in your Store2Go control panel.

To charge the customer, you would click the Charge button that appears next to the order in your Merchant Center Inbox. Merchants can instruct Google Checkout to automatically charge orders as soon as they become chargeable. To activate this feature, log in to your Google Checkout account and click on the Settings tab. Then click the Preferences link in the menu on the left side of the page. Under the Order processing preferences header on the Preferences page, check the option for the auto-charging feature.

Google Checkout and Adwords

From January 1st 2008, for every £1 you spend on AdWords, you can process £10 in sales for free through Google Checkout. For example, if you spent £1,000 on AdWords last month, this month you can process £10,000 in sales at no cost. The more you spend to promote your business through AdWords, the more you save on transaction processing fees with Google Checkout. If you exceed your free transaction processing for the month or you do not advertise with AdWords at all, you will only be charged 1.5% + £0.15 per transaction.

Enjoy your growing business with Google Checkout!