Square Up For The Win!

I signed up for Square on Wednesday. I was at a show yesterday and took two credit card payments. This morning I wake up and the money is in my bank. I did not even have the card reader. I had to manually enter the information. With no set up fee or contract I have to say that when PayPal rolls out their version of this they had better be just as good or better to have me use it.

Manually entering the information was quick and easy. From start to finish it took only minutes- about the same amount of time it takes to print two copies of a receipt from a regular card reader. I can only assume that once I have the card reader the process will take even less time.

The fact that being able to accept credit cards doubled the amount of money I was able to make was also a huge plus! I only do one show a month, but I am about to open a brick and mortar shop and I am considering using them for credit card processing at my shop. I will keep you updated.

Let me know what your experience with credit card processing has been. Either comment here or send me an email to MarketMyShop@gmail.com

Accepting Credit Cards at Shows

My first show of the season is on Thursday this week. Fayetteville First Thursday is the name of the show and you guessed it, it happens the first Thursday of the month. I am considering accepting credit cards this year and have been doing some research on how to go about doing that.

Starting a merchant account through my bank is option number one. This is not the quickest or easiest way as my bank does not offer merchant services on their own so I would have to go through their third party person. While I am not opposed to this, the process takes a while. A handheld credit card reader is pretty expensive. Not all of the merchant account services offer a smartphone card reader.

Option number two is a company called ProPay. They are similar to PayPal but are slightly higher in pricing and there are a few hoops to jump through. They have a smartphone card reader available and that is a nice option. The fees are not too bad.

PayPal is my other option. I have had an account with them for a long time. They have low fees and they will be offering a smartphone card reader very soon. I know PayPal and have worked with them long enough to know that they can and will take care of me.

So, my question for all of you is who do you use and what has been your experience? I would really like to know what you think. Post a comment or email me at MarketMyShop@gmail.com