accepting debit/credit cards

[Vance]

I have a couple of fairs and a farmers market who want me to sell at them. They both have asked if i am set up to take debit/credit cards. I am not and never have been. My question is do any of you and if you do what are the pitfalls to avoid. Is it worth it?

[alpha6]

I don't and the reason is because most of my sells are not large amounts at farmers markets. In order to get set up you will have to buy a card reader and wireless, which last time I checked, ran about 800 bucks. You then also have to pay for the service plus 3% or a bit more on every sale. If you were selling jewelry or other items that ran up or close to a hundred bucks or so then it may be worth it. But for 5-10 buck sales it is going to take awhile to re-coop your initial outlay. Maybe someone who actually does use a reader will respond and list the benefits of having it. I personally have lost maybe 5 sales last year out of thousands. Most people have cash in smaller amounts or at least can write a check.

[michael-bees]

Many years ago I took cards. Not anymore. Another charge they forget to inform you of is if you dont use the thing during a month they still charge a fee just for having it. The initial cost of setup is down now to around 300 or so if you shop and the amount they take is usually less than 2% per sale but it also depends on the average sale dollar amount. There are some companies out there that lease the equipment but charge like 50 bucks a month. I was recently told that fewer people are using cards lately. I would rather lose an occasional sale but I found that when a person asks if you take credit cards and you say no they then pay in cash anyway.

[mark c]

We accept credit cards mainly for a different business, it costs us $35 per month plus about 2% plus I think $.20 per transaction. We still use a knuckle buster and hand enter the numbers after the show this means that we can't check to see if the card is good at the time of the sale. If you decide to sell on line or mail order I would go with the CC if you are only doing farmers markets and such I think that you will be money ahead to not get into the credit card stuff. If you do decide to take cards shop around the difference in how much you will pay is huge.

[wolfpenfarm]

well simple solution would be to accept paypal. If you have a cell phone with internet access and web browsing, you can enter cc numbers and pay through paypal

[fish_stix]

Cash!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Chef Isaac]

paypal will not work for farmers markets.

We have been taking credit cards for over a year now and we have increased our sales by about 200%. It is a FACT that people buy more when using a card and we have seen it first hand many times. People say "oh, I wish I had cash". We say we accept credit cards and there is the sale. AND it is easier to up sell them.

The cheapest and best place is merchant made easy. Call them and talk with a guy named Tony. Tell him sweet as can bee honey farm sent you. He will help you out.

Machine is very reasonable and yes, it will pay off in more ways then one!

[alpha6]

Hey Chef,

Is that 200% increase at farmers markets or total sales. I know you also sell over the internet and a CC is required for that but am curious if it that increase was from your farmers market sales.

Thanks

[manfre]

If you have a smart phone, you could look in to https://squareup.com/.

[My-smokepole]

I have seen some add on for cell phone like square up. Can't remember where I saw it maybee the paper but it sound cheaper than the $800 #
David

[kbenz]

if you have internet on your phone could you just use paypal?

[Cactii]

Internet connection & Paypal is the way to go here... Even if you have to bring a laptop and a USB cellular data connection it'd be worth your while.

Only problem I see is people accepting whether what you're doing is legitimate or not.

[Vance]

Thanks for all the help. I do have internet access on my cell phone, and i do have a pay-pal account that might make the most sense. Would be a lot less hasstle. I"ll check into it, thanks again.

Vance

[Cacklewack]

I would give PayPal's Virtual Terminal a shot:

https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/websc...vt_hub-outside

Cheers,
Matt

[Chef Isaac]

Alpha: That is 200% more at the MARKET level and craft shows. Here is an example....

We were at a market in November where we pull in about 800... no visa cards. Last year we pulled in $900 in cash and about $1500 in credit card sales.

It is totally worth it.

Brining a laptop to a market is out of the question. It would be way to hard to even deal with it while you have a line of customers.

[Chef Isaac]

here is what I pay at merchant made easy.

$375 for machine.... wireless, you own it. They give you all supplies needed. Need more paper.... you call them and send it free.
1.11% debit .19 per tran
1.64% credit cards and .19 per tran
$7.95 statement fee
$15 a month for wireless fee.