Why is eBay unwilling to offer Google Checkout?

June 14, 2007

Even though I am not a fan of Google Checkout, TDavid over at Make you go Hmm, posts some good points challenging eBays decision to not offer Google checkout to customers. This topic has my mind racing with other situations that companies choose profit over a good user experience.

At sport stadiums you can only get one type of beer, and pay a ton for it on top of that. Retail stores play this game as well, where they will only offer products from a certain company or brand. The whole cable vs. satellite war has professional sports signing exclusive contracts with one or the other. There is no choice anymore.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, I know it’s Americana at it’s finest; but take a look at Dell. They are trying to reinvent them self by giving customers the choice again; like offering Ubuntu as an alternative to Windows, or solid state drives as apposed to traditional hard drives.

If you make it harder for someone to buy you something, and give you money; say they go to your store and you do not offer the brand they need, so they go elsewhere. In the long run you lose. In the future, customers will be more likely to go elsewhere for what they need. You are basically putting a sign on your door that say “we do not have what you want, go elsewhere.”

Development