I was happy to see linux gain a new game to its not-so-impressive-collection of games. I tried the demo, liked it, and decided that I wanted to see more of the same. I hit the "Buy Now"-button and - to my dissatisfaction found out PayPal to be the only method of payment.

I wont go into details, but simple state that PayPal don't work for me and in fact pisses me off for various reasons. I wont touch PayPal or anything PayPal related with a ten-foot pole. I usually do my online shopping with MoneyBookers or I wire the money. But regardless the method, PayPal is big NO for me.

Sorry for the negative post, but I'd hope you could offer more than one way to purchase the game online.

for the linux version you need to do paypal.  For all others versions you can use cash/cheque (in store/amazon) or CC (in store/amazon or steam).

could always send me a check.. I'll paypal it for you  ;)

i agree 
even though i use paypal its only because i have to  :(

Dear Kyle and Ron

please consider google checkout



not only does it have the benefit of not being paypal
it also better for you guys
they charge 1.9% + $0.20 fees instead of the 2.9% + $0.30 from paypal
AND if u choose to advertise with them they give u a credit towards the checkout fees

there's even a benefit to society in general
when charities or non profits choose paypal they STILL get charged a fee to process transaction
google gives FREE credit card processing to charities who use it

disclaimer: I dont work for google. i really want to though. i couldn't care less if they ruled the world. they look like they can do a better job than the idiots who rule it now.

I agree completely, there should be more payment options. As for myself, I bought the game using PayPal but I'd like to suggest this game to a few friends and family members but unfortunately none of them have PayPal.

Please consider European bank (and USA ones too for our American friends) transfers, this would also save you the PayPal fee.

[quote author=Earth link=topic=1441.msg9863#msg9863 date=1234871375]
I bought the game using PayPal but I'd like to suggest this game to a few friends and family members but unfortunately none of them have PayPal.


You don't need a paypal account to purchase World of Goo.

I'm a Linux user so the resellers are not a possibility for me as Steam is not available on Linux (yet), and the other ones don't offer the Linux version (yet).

[quote author=Earth link=topic=1441.msg9870#msg9870 date=1234878277]
I'm a Linux user so the resellers are not a possibility for me as Steam is not available on Linux (yet), and the other ones don't offer the Linux version (yet).


I bought WoG in Ubuntu just fine without using steam or any other reseller. I didn't need a paypal account either.



also note the little bank icon in the picture. They can do bank transers if you want that option.

Creating an account isn't the issue here, or at least not for me. It's not about distrusting paypal or willingness to give them my personal information, which in both cases I'd still have to do. I still have to buy the game using paypal, using the payment options provided by paypal (which are no good to me). Do I have to create an account for the transaction is as far as I'm concerned irrelevant.

[quote author=Halko link=topic=1441.msg9879#msg9879 date=1234892267]
Creating an account isn't the issue here, or at least not for me. It's not about distrusting paypal or willingness to give them my personal information, which in both cases I'd still have to do. I still have to buy the game using paypal, using the payment options provided by paypal (which are no good to me). Do I have to create an account for the transaction is as far as I'm concerned irrelevant.


Not wanting to use Paypal for purely philosophical reasons is understandable.  I was addressing Earth's family's lack of having PayPal. (I'm pretty sure Earth means a PayPal account)

[quote author=Earth link=topic=1441.msg9863#msg9863 date=1234871375]
I'd like to suggest this game to a few friends and family members but unfortunately none of them have PayPal.




------


[quote author=Halko link=topic=1441.msg9879#msg9879 date=1234892267]
I still have to buy the game using paypal, using the payment options provided by paypal (which are no good to me).


Are you saying paypal's payment options are no good to you? Or just that you don't want paypal to manage the transaction because of philosophical reasons? Or both?

I still say send me a cheque... could have had it by now  ;)

joining the fray here.

world of goo for linux - yes (and i've alredy bought the windows version vor my sisters).
using paypal - no (never again).

i'm from europe and i don't have the option not to use paypal. so unless you give me some other option, it's no money for you.

Yes, I did mean a PayPal account but you seem to be unaware that the bank transfer option isn't available in Europe. And what I actually prefer is a real bank transfer, without PayPal.

Quick 5 minute google search.

http://www.authorize.net/
http://www.charge.com/
http://www.2checkout.com
http://kagi.com/kagisolutions/index.php <--- being the one I've used in the past.


I think they may have wanted to keep it simple and since paypal is the bigger name out there for simple payments and the number of people who have paypal, it may have been the 90% of people in their target market.

Then again. It's always nice to have something other than paypal.

/had_bad_experience_once
//cost_me_$2000
///to_hell_with_them

[quote author=Earth link=topic=1441.msg10020#msg10020 date=1235078138]
Yes, I did mean a PayPal account but you seem to be unaware that the bank transfer option isn't available in Europe.


Paypal Europe allows echeque, which is a bank transfer processed through paypal without having to directly divulge your banking information.

That being said, I agree with everyone else who has philosophical reasons for not wanting to have paypal manage their transactions.

[quote author=creamywhitegoo link=topic=1441.msg10081#msg10081 date=1235168222]
[quote author=Earth link=topic=1441.msg10020#msg10020 date=1235078138]
Yes, I did mean a PayPal account but you seem to be unaware that the bank transfer option isn't available in Europe.


Paypal Europe allows echeque, which is a bank transfer processed through paypal without having to directly divulge your banking information.

That being said, I agree with everyone else who has philosophical reasons for not wanting to have paypal manage their transactions.


Lucky euro guys and US guys. FYI, paypal in Japan and China is far from convenience --- credit card is the only option, and, mission impossible when paypal thinks that your transaction is "dangerous".

I want to mention again that in Europe, _direct_ bank transfer is the best option.

In contrast to the states, money by wire is generally _completely free of charge_ inside the European Union. Once the money has been transferred to your account, there is no way for your customer to get it back-- you're on the safe side.
All you'd need to do is to open a bank account in Europe. Although you are American citizens, this shouldn't be a hard thing to do. There are many "internet only" banks in Europe and I'm sure they'll accept customers from outside Europe, too. Most of the time, running the account is even completely free of charge, given that there is enough "income".

How this could work:
Buyer orders product on the web site, and an unique code gets emailed to the potential buyer.
The buyer has to transfer the money by wire to the given bank account, mentioning the code as "purpose of money transfer".
(So far, this is how a good part of mailorder businesses are run in Europe).
Once you see the money is on your account, send the buyer a download link by email.

Doesn't sound that hard, does it?

Cheers,

usenix

Bank transfers are cheap only if you stay within the Euro zone. For my bank there is a €7,50 fee to make international payments, and even €10,00 to receive incoming payments. Obviously these fees depend on which bank you use, but if we assume the bank transfer costs are €7,50 in total, then transfering the equivalent of $20 by bank would end up costing about €24,00 while you could also use PayPal to pay directly from your bank account for only a 1% currency conversion fee, which gets you your Goo on for just €16,00. Of course, Paypal and credit cards and other methods of payment incur costs for the seller too, but these are usually way less than 50%.

So I personally don't think direct bank transfers make sense for small orders, unless it's within the Euro zone only.

Yes, Bank transfers are free only within the European union. (Or in detail: by law, banks are requested to charge the same amount no matter if the transfer is national or to another EU country).

Knowing that, I proposed in my previous post that 2dboy should open a bank account in Europe to accept those transfers for free. This would provide a paypal-free solution for EU citizens/ppl with an EU bank account.

Did you even read my post?

I read your post but I wonder if you read mine, or maybe you failed to understand that the European Union and the Euro-zone are not the same thing.

I'm sorry Soultaker, but you are mistaken. According to the EU edict 2560/2001, bank transfers inside the _EU_ (and _not_ the Euro-Zone) have to be at the same price as national transactions. I wrote this explicitly in my last post to correct your statement of the "Euro-zone". The currency of the transfer, however, has to be the Euro. Some banks might indeed charge you for the currency exchange (I didn't experience that so far), but most don't.
In addition of the EU, most of the members of the European free trade association (EFTA), i.e. Liechtenstein, Norway and Iceland, also signed the EU edict 2560/2001. Switzerland, although EFTA member, didn't sign it. (Nevertheless, I can transfer from my swiss bank account to EU accounts for free, but that depends on the bank).
The whole thing received its legal status in 2003, so your personal experiences may predate 2003 and are thus no longer relevant.
The regulations are also in agreement with my personal experiences. I transferred money to and from Switzerland, France, UK and Germany and never paid a single penny. Of course it's up to you to choose a decent bank, and it's good to have choice. But please don't blame me because your bank charges currency exchange/doesn't let you do bank transfers in EUR. In your unfortunate case, it's still up to you if you want to spend the extra bucks or just use paypal-- I'd go for the former, but for me it'd be free anyway.

In addition, I have to say that it's about providing an alternative to paypal wherever this is easily possible. For sure, bank transfers are no worldwide solution but for the European market they are for the vast majority of the population.

Cheers

usenix

Ah, I didn't know that. I assumed that the Euro-thing required you to have a bank account with a balance in Euros, but apparently you can have a non-Euro account and it's cheap as long as you are transferring Euros. (Does that work when, say, converting from Swiss francs to Swedish crowns too?)