Have you tried Google Checkout yet? I had seen the mentions of it on various Google pages but finally got around to signing up. (I have no connection to Google, or AdSense, or any sort of affiliate program, and I do not benefit in any way from blogging about this.)

It’s sort of like PayPal. You give Google a credit card number and your mailing address, and when you see a participating merchant with a Google Checkout logo you can check out instantly, and without giving each individual merchant your credit card information. Google automatically enters your address, so the checkout process is really streamlined. The main drawback, and it’s a minor one, seems to be that if it’s an online merchant that you already had an account with, you are — in effect — creating a new and separate account for use with Google Checkout, so you can’t look up your old orders from your new account or vice versa.

Google has enough clout to have lined up a large variety of merchants for their startup, with more to come, I’m sure. But the incredible thing is that they’re offering a $10 bonus just for new signups. The bonus is applied to your first order of $10 or more using the service. I used the bonus to order the newly-published Lonely Planet guide to Bolivia from Buy.com for less than half price (before tax and shipping). Actually, as it turns out, I’ve pre-ordered it. It’s scheduled for release this month but neither Buy.com nor Amazon seems to have it in stock yet.

Lonely Planet had a previous Bolivia guide by a different author, and some places still have that one in stock. But this one will no doubt have newer information.