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Google vs. eBay/PayPal
That's Unpossible! writes "Google has today made a small announcement on their blog which could shake up the landscape of buying things online : they are going to start allowing certain parties to sell items through Google Base, which people can buy using credit cards linked to their Google Account. According to another blog post, Google already accepts payments in this fashion for Google Video, Google Earth, Google Store, etc. How long until Google Base is directly competing with eBay? The framework is now in place."
A few years ago, there were many announcements about Microsoft getting into different businesses:
Microsoft getting into the business financial software space
Microsoft getting into XXXX space
And the world thought the sky was falling, and Microsoft was going to take over everything and nobody else had a chance.
Ended up not being true. Away from their core businesses, Microsoft ended up being 'just another competitor'.
Will Google get away from their core, and have they same thing happen? Can the magic last?
eBay is very well entrenched...
No reason to lie.
PayPal and eBay are both very successful venues and means. They've become (at least, in the US) universally known and serve as the Kleenex tissue of online payments and the Styrofoam foam of online buy/sell/auction, respectively.
.99 with $19.99 shipping {nudge, nudge}) and accept payment through PayPal at this point. It would be nice to see an alternative.
I do believe that it would be nice to get some real competition going for these companies - and perhaps Google has the chutzpah to pull it off (not to mention the cash). I, for one, would love to see some new ideas in the auction/sell/pay space. It could also keep the costs of these services relatively in check, as well.
It costs a very large percentage of a sale to sell something on eBay (that is, unless you are a super-seller who can get away with selling an item for
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