Point of sales

[Ralph Lindberg]

Today being able to accept CreditCards for doing sales is almost a must, during this last holiday season about 40% of our total sales were via credit-card, and all of the high-dollar sales (over $100) was via credit card.
Today, both Square and PayPal have "readers" that plug directly into a Smart-Phone or (selected) Android based tablets. Their fees are really quite modest, less then 3% which is really compared to getting a "Knuckle Buster" reader from your local commercial bank.
We started out using a reader on a Smart-Phone but found that the small size was an issue for both us and our customers.
Doing some research into Tablets quickly showed me that most data-enabled Tablets were 1) expensive and 2) required either a separate data-plan, or swapping SIM cards between the phone and tablet.
Until I ran across the Axis Trio sold by WalMart in partnership with T-Mobile, which comes with 200Mbyt (per month) of data FOR LIFE.
That much data would be over 10,000 sales per month. Way (WAY) more sales then we would make per month.
My understanding is that the Trio AXS -with- data is only available in-store.

For more info search WalMart for Trio AXS

[John Conklin]

A local Christmas tree grower and seller used one of the cell phone card readers, a square I think, and somehow clicked a button that refunded approximately 300 customers payments. Evidently there's no way to charge them again so they're left putting the word out in the newspaper and online asking people that bought a tree and know they weren't charged to send them a check. No judgement, just a cautionary tale.

[Marvin Hasenak]

I deal in cash, check or money orders only. A few complaints, but over all not enough of a problem to change my system.

[Steve Doerr]

I use the Square with an iPhone at shows and at the gallery we use it with an iPad. I have used the Square at shows for over two years and have never had a problem with it. I have refunded a couple of charge but not by accident. It takes several steps to do a refund and is not on the charging side of the app. I have never had anyone complain about having to sign the iPhone. I just tell them to use their finger tip.

I'm not familiar with Paypal's credit card swipe process. I have used them online and I know it is a reliable company as well.

Good luck.

[Ralph Lindberg]

We use PayPal, but both Square and PayPal have downsides, and they are different.

[Gary Baler]

I resisted the cost of the phone to be able to do charge sales ... until ... I missed a $600 sale to a woman who had to catch a plane. There was no ATM handy and she was afraid she was going to miss her plane ... had no checkbook, etc. Next day I bought a phone, got a square and it was the best thing I've done. That was 3 yrs. ago. As much as 90% of my sales will be on the square. I have had no negative consequences with Square. It has done more to help my business than anything I've ever done.

[Thom Sturgill]

This should be in off-topic, but I'll leave it for now. I believe Quickbooks also has a system that ties directly into your Quickbooks accounting system, but they are also the more expensive and slower to pay you. Could be wrong on that, just what I seem to remember. Paypal issues you a debit card that they put the money into and you can then transfer out of or use directly. Helps keep your sales separate from the household account.

I don't sell, but I've seen these used and my DIL is looking into systems for her jewelry making. I have seen vendors in several area have to walk to a specific areas to get good enough cell service forthe unit to work if the venue does not provide WiFi to them.

[Fred Belknap]

I have been using the Square for a couple years and it accounts for around 70% of my sales. Like Thom said getting a good signal is critical, here in WV we have a lot of dead spots.

[Dale Gillaspy]

I use square and have no complaints. I rarely am without cell service, but on a few occasions that I have been, I have taken down the card number and processed it after the fact.You have to pay a higher fee for entering it manually, but it is better than not making the sale at all.

[Steve Mellott]

Our local woodturning club uses Square (with a smart phone) to allow members to charge their annual dues. I know several friends who use Square at various fairs and festivals. I am not aware of any problems.

[Mark Levitski]

The Intuit system is called Gopayment. We have used it for a number of years for shows with no problems. It was no more expensive than Square at the time. We do not use Quickbooks, but with that additional feature I would highly recommend Gopayment. The payment is prompt, usually the next business day or two.

[Ralph Lindberg]

I resisted the cost of the phone to be able to do charge sales ... until ... I missed a $600 sale to a woman who had to catch a plane. There was no ATM handy and she was afraid she was going to miss her plane ... had no checkbook, etc. ....

We had something very similar, fortunately a neighboring vendor (and old friend) was able to handle the transaction for us.
Before the next show, we were setup.

At our last show the only vendor not using one of the "smart-phone/tablet" readers was the one selling freshly roasted nuts.

One of my old (as in his late 70's) friends is a full-time RVer and they love going to fleamarkets/craftshows/etc (but not buying much, as they live in 40ft RV). He recently noted a major change, 10 years ago he seldom saw a vendor that took cards, today most do. All due to the smart-phone/tablet readers

[Ralph Lindberg]

This should be in off-topic, but I'll leave it for now. I believe Quickbooks also has a system that ties directly into your Quickbooks accounting system, but they are also the more expensive and slower to pay you. Could be wrong on that, just what I seem to remember. Paypal issues you a debit card that they put the money into and you can then transfer out of or use directly. Helps keep your sales separate from the household account.

I don't sell, but I've seen these used and my DIL is looking into systems for her jewelry making. I have seen vendors in several area have to walk to a specific areas to get good enough cell service forthe unit to work if the venue does not provide WiFi to them.

Thom, I really have to disagree. For any Turner that sells his stuff (or wants to), how others actually sell their stuff is very topical.

[Ralph Lindberg]

My gleaning of the up-sides and down-sides of various systems:
PayPal, better customer service then Square.
Square has a better "off-line" mode then PayPal, allowing sales easier when no connection is available.
PayPal is making a profit, in fact PayPal is so profitable there are investors trying to force eBay to spin the company off. While Square is losing money and is being shopped around for a new owner.
PayPal's anti-fraud policies are tighter then Square, this has a down-side for the vendor as PayPal can freeze your account, if it exceeds $2500 in a month to ensure none of the transactions were fraudulent. This freeze can go for up to 90 days. Also, without providing additional verification to PayPal, PayPal limits the amount of money you can move from your PayPal account to your (linked) bank account with a regular bank.
However, other then the $2500 thing, PayPal does not prevent you from spending funds in your PayPal account, since many places (like Crafts Supplies USA and Penn State Industries) take PayPal, this allows you to spend money from the account.
From my talking to people that have had PayPal accounts for a long time, the $2500 thing is not always a "firm we will freeze", but rather something that is more likely to happen to an account that was just opened vrs one that has existed for years.

Both PayPal and Square (and I assume all the other firms) are getting ready to move to the "Pin&Chip" cards that are starting to come out. Both PayPal and Square have readers for the new cards out, just not common in the US, probably until later this year.

[Thom Sturgill]

Thom, I really have to disagree. For any Turner that sells his stuff (or wants to), how others actually sell their stuff is very topical.


The apparent interest is why I did not move it. I'm sure, however that other sub-forums would also chime in. I personnally think it just gets lost in 'off-topic'.

[Thom Sturgill]

Both PayPal and Square (and I assume all the other firms) are getting ready to move to the "Pin&Chip" cards that are starting to come out. Both PayPal and Square have readers for the new cards out, just not common in the US, probably until later this year.

Pin and Chip has been in use for several years in Europe and is more secure. Chipped cards still have the stripe, but Europeans fuss when they have to swipe a card as they know info can be stolen from the terminal more easily. My bank had to replace my Debit card becasue I used it at Home Depot's 'self-service' registers and they had been hacked. As I understand it, with Pin&Chip there would have been no account data stored locally, just a transaction ID.