Selling tip- Charging Cards at Parties or Shows

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Selling tip- Charging Cards at Parties or Shows

by Whitney Dunn
(Stafford, Virginia)

I have come across something I wanted to share. Every review I have read for this has been positive and mine is on its way in the mail.

Go to www.squareup.com and sign up. It is free except for regular credit card fees. Research for yourself but it seems to be a winner.

Whitney Dunn
Jewelry...aaaaahhh...

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Selling tip- Charging Cards at Parties or Shows

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Great gadget
by: Anonymous

I love technology and this is one of the reasons why. Thanks for sharing this and your review of it on your blog. Always looking for more convenient ways to make the buying experience a little easier.

Hip to be Square!
by: Stephanie Florie

It is once again Farmer's Market Season! Saturday, May 7th marked the first Day of the Mineral Farmer's Market, and it was a GREAT day. We had Live Music from Buckshot Dot (aka Dee Strickland Johnson) one of the worlds best female Cowboy Poets. She is a hoot! She sand several harvest/farmer's Market songs, a few of which were written by her, specifically for OUR Farmer's Market! How cool is that! We had over 40 Vendors on Saturday. The usual suspects were there, with Pastor Paul and his daily Bread, Sweetie Pies, Miss Alice (the Market's Honorary Grandma), Biscoe Farms, and of course, Yours Truly, among others.

So let me tell you what the title of this entry means. It means that this year, thanks to the folks at www.squareup.com I'm able to take credit cards! Yes, you heard me - CREDIT CARDS. There's a little white card-swiper that fits into my phone and allows me to charge a card right there. No electricity required - just me, my cell phone, and the little white plug-in thingy. (Seriously, we need to come up with a name for it! Contest!! go to www.facebook.com/wiredstones to enter the contest.)

I had a couple of sales this weekend that wouldn't have happened otherwise, and I'm very pleased with how easy and painless the process is with my new phone and thingamajigger.

Square.up is great
by: Lorian Rivers

I saw a post a while back about Squareup and decided to give it a try. I ordered the free "swiper" and setup the account with my bank account etc. The swiper plugs into the earphone jack of your laptop/tablet/smart phone. I used my debit card to complete a transaction..super fast and easy! Told me immediately it was approved! It is available in your Squareup account after midnight when you process a charge. It does take 3-4 days (just like paypal) to clear the payment and direct deposit to your checking account. If you are selling directly then you are paid in a few days. If you are at a party and taking orders, you will have to allow for processing time. But you DO know immediately if the transaction has cleared, so you can go ahead and order the items.

Square up user
by: Lauren Moloneym 4 Daughters Creations

I have used them. It really is as easy as their website lays it out. Once I verified my bank account, the money went in almost immediately (it was over the weekend). Their fees are the most reasonable I've found, being as good or better than the bank we use for my day job, and the swiper for smart phones is free.

I would give them a 2 thumbs up.
This is also after a little bump in the beginning (which being fair was 60/40 my fault. The problem was resolved faster than expected. We even started using them when we do trade shows for the "day job". Even some of the other vendors there are going to start using them.

Hope this helps.
Lauren @ www.4daughterscreations.com

Beware of the fine print
by: Ann Nolen

I also researched credit card processing for shows. I know my customers and my price point, so I knew that credit cards was key for my success. I decided against Square, even though it sounds easy and cheap. One major issue in their fine print is there are limits on how much you can process. "New sellers of Square receive a maximum amount of $1,000 per week deposited into their bank account. For example, let's say you accept $5,000 in a week. You will receive $1,000 of that immediately while the remaining $4,000 will be deposited after 30 days."
Ok, maybe you don't imagine ever going over the $1,000 limit. But in a good show I definately go way over that in a weekend. I was not willing to let them hold my money for 30 days, so I passed on their service and found another I am very happy with.
I have some vendor friends who didn't read the fine print, and their money was held 30 days.... a rude surprise! Just wanted to warn people before they dive in.
Ann
www.AnimalCoin.com

Thanks for the info
by: Naomi

Thanks heaps for sharing. I've just looked on their site, but can't find anything about it being used outside of the US. Does anyone know if it can be?? If so, I will investigate a bit more.

credit card acceptance on cellphone
by: Pat

Would you mind sharing the merchant account company that you went with that did not hold your money 30 days? If you don't want to show in these comments, you could email me directly at rosebud116@aol.com

Only in US
by: Kim Ryan

Looks like a great idea, however if you search "UK" on their website they confirm that at this time it can only be used in the US! Shame!!

Same Idea, DIfferent Vendor
by: Mme Magpie

I don't have an iPhone or Android phone. I have a Blackberry, instead. In case you're feeling left out in the cold, Intuit has a similar system called GoPayment that works on several Blackberry models, as well as Androids and iPhones.

I have a regular wireless credit card terminal, but this has allowed me to take credit cards at any time and anywhere without lugging around the terminal. I also use it in places where my terminal doesn't pick up signal. Square and GoPayment function very well as a nice back up plan for me. Yes, I also have a Square for the iPad when there's wifi and no phone signal :) Redundancy (when it costs nothing to maintain) can be a very good thing.

poor Canadians ;(
by: Laurie

I was so excited to see this option for my iphone, only to find out that Canadians can't use it yet and they have no idea when it will be available here...so disappointing!