Has anyone used Google Checkout to sell merchandise? We're having shirts, caps, and sweatshirts manufactured in various sizes. We're looking for a store site like you see at the Google Store or the Apple store - individuals items are pictures and described; people can choose an item, specify a quantity and a size and this is added to a cart; then people check out - you know the routine ala Amazon and tons of other sites.

It looks like Google Checkout might be our answer, but perhaps someone can guide us through this from your experience - Google provides little if any direct help (after all, it's "free" they I'm sure they take a small cut of each sale). This example shows what we think we'd like to do.
https://sandbox.google.com/checkout/seller/experience.html

Thanks

Hi Joe,

Up front info about my experience on this subject...
I worked full time for a veterans association. When I started in 2006, there was a huge inventory of items. Each year, we had to order at least the suppliers' minimum order when we needed more apparel in different sizes. One manufacturer was wonderful in spreading the order minimum over the different sizes. Though I left in 2008, I see they still have the old merchandise I put 'on sale' in 2007. Reason for this info, take preorders with a deadline.

Now, CC is coming out with a store this year. If you can, wait for it. Your ordering of merchandise and payments will all go through your site making your life easier - unless you have to stock and ship. (I did that part for the association, too.)

Should you not be able to wait, I recommend PayPal. They have good customer support. Personally, I always call them to be clear on everything since this is all about funds.

When using a service to accept payments, there is a fee. Be sure to price your items accordingly - rounding up to the next dollar. If you will be shipping, that is another reply.

Hope this helps. Please pardon any typos. My PC is dead. I am replying on my BlackBerry.

I love the merchandise aspect of associations/reunions. Enjoy!

Joe,

I missed addressing where to sell your items. You can do that in Reunion Planner with your reunion registration or alone. It is one of the reasons I moved my class site here and why we extended our subscription ten years.

CC is your home base with little reason to go anywhere else.

The son of one of our alumni committee members is in he apparel sale and we have committed to purchasing items from him for sale to our alumni for the reunion and afterwards. He set up a sample Google Checkout site. I had a link in my original email showing what an item looks like in the Google Checkout store system - this is what we're hoping for.

The Reunion Planner allows for selling other items, but it doesn't look like it's in a store setup with images and a shopping cart (that's I'm sure why CC is creating one).

Anyway this alumni's son created a sample site at
http://infinityideas.com/googlesample.htm
This to us looks good. He said in his email:

"With the sample site that I created, I started a new spreadsheet within the setup for the Checkout. Items and details were added (it's just like working with Excel), then I published it by following the simple instructions. Once this is done, you'll get a section of code that you'll cut and paste into your webpage. This small section of code is everything you'll need to see what is in my example (your e-store). Realistically, all you'll need is a link on the WHS Alumni site that will point to this new site, and the users can purchase apparel. So, all that being said, you won't have to worry about having the spreadsheet in a certain place (unlike a database connection, etc) because it's been published to some public place that Google deems appropriate (it's also now within your 'Google Docs'). The file location link is completely obscure and can only be accessed when appropriate authority has been granted, and requires HTTPS too."

Can the code he's talking about which was generated by Google Checkout by inserted into CC? Or should we plan on buying another domain name and linking to that?

If I need to call CC and discuss further I'm happy to.
Thanks