PayPal has launched the PayPal Storefront Widget, a web based widget that allows anyone to embed a store widget on a web site.
The Storefront widget offers a seamless e-commerce platform for those wishing to sell anything on their site, such as t-shirts, CD’s or other items.
Users can set the widget to “sold out” or “sorry we’re closed” from the central control panel, and comes standard with a sharing option; visitors are able to grab the html for the widget from the widget and display it on their own site should they so desire.
Initially there are some limitations with the service, for example you only get the choice of one size for the widget, and it currently only supports sales in US dollars. PayPal though will be seeking user feedback once the program takes off and they are open to expanding the options available in the future.
PayPal sees a lot of possibilities for the widget; for example it provides a seamless shopfront for bands on MySpace who may want to sell recordings. It may also be a substitute for donation buttons that are occasionally used by bloggers as well.
Photo by PayPal.
PayPal Launches Storefront Widget
January 18, 2008 by Rich | 6 Comments
In Ecommerce, Internet, Sales
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cyberpenguin on January 19th, 2008 at 12:37 pm
Are you sure this isn’t a phishing scam? The website doesn’t look like it’s affiliated with Paypal? The URL is x.com; that doesn’t sound very legit.
cyberpenguin on January 19th, 2008 at 1:01 pm
The URL starts with a http://www.paypal.com address, but redirects people to x.com.
Rich on January 19th, 2008 at 1:36 pm
If you remember, when PayPal started, it was X.com.
Also this post credits the original post on TechCrunch where writer Duncan Riley spoke with Paypal prior to the launch.
I couldn’t find anything on the PayPal site about the widgets, but PayPal might not have officially launched the program yet.
As a precaution I wouldn’t log in with your ID and password.
cyberpenguin on January 19th, 2008 at 1:37 pm
The URL starts with http://www.paypal.com... etc., but redirects people to x.com.
cyberpenguin on January 19th, 2008 at 2:00 pm
OK, I just called PayPal & they said they own the domain, http://x.com. I’ve emailed them both URLs you’ve listed to make sure that it’s all legit. They’re going to email me back with the information. I’ve also received an email about the widgets, supposedly from PayPal, & so I’ve forwarded that onto their tech support to verify the legitimacy of this as well.
cyberpenguin on January 19th, 2008 at 2:11 pm
OK, thanks for the info. I wrote the other comment before I saw your reply. ;-)
I’ve since contacted PayPal & have emailed them about the other URL, http://storefront.paypallabs.com/authenticate/review , to see if it’s legit.
While they couldn’t immediately verify the legitimacy of the above URL on the phone, you were correct about x.com. They still apparently own that domain. (Didn’t know that this was their original URL, as I’ve only been a PayPal user for the last 3-4 years or so.)
Anyhow, will let you know what I find out, as soon as I hear back from their tech support division. Thanks for your reply!