Hello,
I'm a new member on this site.
After years in the corporate world (which I never liked at all) I'm finally getting back to art, which is what I always meant to do in the first place, and what I went to University for... I just got sidetracked trying to be practical for the past decade...
Anyway, I'm just now getting my business started, and doing it legitimately. I'm new at doing craft fairs so I'd appreciate advice.
I'm starting off slow, trying to take it easy and do it one step at a time.
My website's under construction, and I'll just do a few small shows this spring & summer to get started.
That said, I'd like to be able to accept credit cards, & or debit cards.
Please, if you have experience, your advice would be appreciated on what is the best way to go about getting this capability, and which are the best providers I could go through. I'd like a credit card merchant with integrity and reasonable rates.
Also, is there anything I should beware of? Are there "strings" I need to be prepared for?
Thanks again!
Eva
Replies
Hi, Eva. I have been doing art fairs for a while and started with the knuckle buster device, then the Nurit ( very reliable) and am now moving to the iphone/credit card reader. I have worked with a card processing rep by the name of Arthur Wedge ( phone 702-750-2008). He has always provided great support as I encountered issues or had a steep learning curve. The rates he offered where slightly better than some of the more advertised ones, too.
I like the idea of the phone/card reader as it lowers my monthly expenses for the seasonal quality of the fairs. I will start this year using one. For reliability ( and a monthly fee) the Nurit was extremely reliable.
Arthur can provide either service. No contract, no fees, great rate for the card reader/phone deviceI have been happy with the support and the service.
Karen
I'm also a newbie here, and have appreciated reading all of the advice of others. I have a related question, regarding the use of Square, or any of the methods that plug into your smart phone. Have you ever been at a show where the cell phone signal wasn't good? If so, how did you handle this?
Thanks,
Cricket
Cricket- I have Verizon as my service so I can almost always get a signal. The very few places I can't, I do a paper receipt with all the info, plus phone # (in case I forgot something) and have the customer sign that. Then I hand key it in (like a phone order) when I'm where I can get a signal. The rate is higher and I did have one guy give me a bad card once, but I'm a trusting fool and continue to do it. :) I've also given work to people and had them mail me a check, if they don't have one with them.(see trusting fool above!) I've never had a problem with those people.
Thank you, Janet! I live in a rural area, and even though my AT&T signal is usually good, we can sometimes find "dead zones,", lol. It's good to know what the "work arounds" for those situations!
We've had this as a frequent issue which is why we went with Roam Pay - search the forums on Roam Pay or Roam Data, I know I posted on this topic last fall, they have a store and forward function that is very helpful when cell connectivity is limited.
Thank you, Ruth! I'll do a search on that, and see what it turns up!
There is a new system out there for your phone along the lines of GoPayment and Square. It is called PhoneSwipe. I just found it yesterday. I use gopayment and love it and the live customer service. You can find info on the phoneSwipe at www.phoneswipe.com
Just another avenue to check out.
I love my Square but if you decide to go with a standard provider here is what to watch out for.
Minimum sales requirements - I once looked into a provider that offered a "free" terminal with only a $10 monthly fee. While talking to them I found out they also had a minimum sales requirement of $20, which ended up being a monthly fee of at least $30 whether I had any sales or not.
Lengthy contracts with early termination fees - There are companies out there that offer month to month contracts. In fact most of them do if you ask. But make sure that that is written into the contract clearly. Some have said they would do month to month and then sent a contract with a yearly term and a termination fee. Then they claim "oops we sent the wrong contract".
If you go with a knuckle buster be aware that you are not getting approval of the transaction. It helps to have a phone number you can call to authorize large transactions. But be sure you try it out. I got stuck with a broken terminal at a show and when I tried to call in a charge I was told the company had not signed me up for phone authorization.
If you go with a store and forward option be sure to get phone numbers or email addresses from everyone. I had a store and forward terminal die in the middle of a show and there was no way to get back over $800 in charges. I did have an email address for each transaction and was able to re run the charges but they would have been gone if I hadn't had a way to contact the customer.
I moved to Square in November. I love it. And customers get a kick out of it too.
We got a "Squared Up" unit and love it. We had a few people that flinched at using their card through a cell phone (it does look a little scary when you think about it) so instead we bought a tablet that will link to our cell phone. Generally the customer doesnt realize that we are using the phones internet.... they have a much bigger space to sign their name (signatures look more real) and then when the tablet is not in use it goes on a stand that shows a slide presentation of our pictures. We also have a hot sauce business (lots of things going on in our house!) and when we go to trade shows the tablet is linked to our site and allows us to quickly add peoples names to an email database. I highly recomend the tablet.
Also (getting back to the Squared Up) when you participate in a transaction with Squared Up as a customer you have the option of getting your receipt by email or text message. Squared Up retains that info so the text time you purchase something through a Squared Up terminal the sale goes even quicker.
No monthly fee. You can use it to transfer funds for all sorts of transactions (long distance payments etc) and at 2.7% you really cant go wrong.
The only thing I would like for them to be able to do is set up scheduled payments. So a deposit today with the final payment going through at the delivery of the service. We have a Santa business as well (told you we were busy!) and the parents visit us ahead of time to set up the details of the visit. They issue a deposit to hold the time slot with the balance to be charged at completion of the visit. Squared up doesnt have software that can facilitate a schedule of payments.
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