Hi all!
As we prepare for summer shows and MAKING SALES, we will utilize the new Tap to Pay feature on our iPhones to take credit card payments. To do so, we need to use a payment service provider, such as Stripe or Square. Does anyone have any feedback on which is best for outdoor fine art fair purchases? Please provide the name of the services and any pros and cons. Thank you!
Replies
I have used Square for art shows for a number of years. I also have a Stripe account, as Stripe is the payment processor for a third-party vendor site I use for some online sales. I found Square to be more intuitive to set up initially, albeit that was a number of years ago when their system offered fewer features and thus was simpler overall.
The inventory management functions that are included free with Square accounts are pretty slick and really useful (though they've gotten a bit more complicated in just the past few years, due to feature bloat). I use this to manage inventory across both art shows and online sales, and it's invaluable. Stripe probably has something similar, as well, though I've not used theirs.
I can say that both processors seem very reliable, payments flow through to my bank account equally quickly, and reports are pretty straightforward to run with both. I've not experienced any payment hiccups with either one.
So overall, I'd say they're really comparable. If one has some features you prefer over the other, or you like the interface, go with that one as they're both solid.