Use Google Docs & Google Checkout to Sell Online | Hacker News Reader

Use Google Docs & Google Checkout to Sell Online

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49 pointsdc2k0811 comments

Combine this with apps for your domain and a google site (running on that domain), and you've got a drop dead simple e-commerce solution, all for the cost of a domain and the time it takes to execute a good design. Have Amazon do fulfillment, and you've got a nearly autonomous store.

This is exactly the type of tool I've been hoping someone would make for small businesses like my mother's. Since she already knows how to make a spreadsheet of her inventory, all I need to do is place a snippet of code on her website.

Unfortunately Google Checkout is still USA & UK only.

Edited: exactly those countries with more offers in this area.

Always the same thing, it's like the rest of the world didn't exist. Anyway, when there's a problem, there's an opportunity.

Maybe offer Google Checkout to other countries through your own office and bank account in the US?

Unfortunately, this seems to be directly prohibited by Google Checkout's Terms of Service:

"The Service may not be used to process a Payment Transaction, or otherwise transfer money between a Buyer and Seller, that is unrelated to a purchase of a Product."

Not only that, but their customer service is terrible. They overcharged me a few hundred dollars and I haven't heard back since I notified them a week or so ago.

It's not really worth my time chasing it, but it's pretty terrible service.

Google continues to have its hand of the pulse of the online community. They continue to make technology available to the masses.

I would love to see how Google continues to drive all of this innovation. I think many companies could learn a lot from how Google functions.

I'm curious whether this will take off (my prediction is that it will not).

People who are serious setting up an online shop, presumably are also (a) hardworking, and (b) smart. Hence I predict they will be OK with investing the time to learn to use one of the more powerful tools (e.g., something that will automatically print mailing labels and decrement quantity on hand all in one database).

I predict people will (a) want power tools for their trade and (b) spend the time to learn the tools of their trade.

This thing is easy to learn, but it does too little. IMHO and I do not have an online shop.

There's no reason someone couldn't develop a dead-simple label-printing app for this. In software and in markets, loose coupling is a Good Thing.

The trouble is, that you're limiting yourself to hardworking & smart people. Opening it up this way gives them a much broader audience.

You don't know how many - "serious business men" call me then get all the information I can give them in 2 hrs; then a year later show me "their" site - of course it was a pre made template thrown into a premade storefront, and they wonder why its not ranking organically - with all their text in pictures etc... I just shake my head sometimes...

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