Credit Card Processing??/

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lioness

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Joined
May 17, 2010
Messages
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Location
British Columbia, Canada
Does everyone have credit card and debit processing doing the farmers markets and fairs? I have only done three markets but I am finding that alot of other vendors have them and about every 4th or 5th customer asks me if I do....should I get it? I don't know that my customers would feel comfortable using my iphone for processing because I have looked into that as well. How important is it as its kinda pricy through my bank
 
Do something by the month, online like paypal or pro pay. DO NOT get a machine and an account. They will lie, forge your name, hook you into 4-6 years, steal money from your bank account & all around screw you over & those are the reputable credit card prcessing companies. I mean it!
 
Wow sounds crazy...I looked into Pro Pay and they won't do it unless I am selling something like Mary Kay or something that they already are working with. They want nothing to do with a small business on their own. They said it was like that only in Canada...weird because their website says differently very misleading...I already have Paypal but at the fairs they are wanting a terminal....I was looking into Moneris Solutions is that one of the bad ones? I am going to be doing some really large fairs this Christmas where you can make a 1000 a day at and I want to be prepared....They do say that you can turn in your machine during the down seasons but have to pay 75 dollars to reactivate it....it would be free for deposits and debits through my current business account through RBC but if you damage their unit your renting you have to pay for it and they cost thousands apparently. All very disappointing the options there are for Canadian Small businesses... :cry:
 
I LOVE the Square! No monthly fee, and simple to use, if you have an iPhone or Droid-type phone. It just plugs in. Just 2.75% per transaction, if you swipe the card, and a bit higher if you manually key in the #.

The Square itself is free. :eek:)
 
Do you find LisaNY that your customers feel comfortable enough on it....being thats its your phone? Do some decline to use it or has it been welcomed ....?
 
lioness said:
Do you find LisaNY that your customers feel comfortable enough on it....being thats its your phone? Do some decline to use it or has it been welcomed ....?

I have had no problems so far. I show the customer my phone while processing the transaction, so they know exactly what is going on. They all think it is so cool - especially when they have to sign their name with their finger. :eek:) It also give them the option of an emailed receipt.
 
Go with Square. I have it too for my other business and it's amazing!! The square is free but there's a fee per transaction. it's worth it.
 
I too have Square Up - After reading in another thread about it, I went ahead. It is very simple and customers think its pretty cool too
 
I use Intuit and love it. Low rate and I have an app on my iphone. Customers love that they sign my phone and can get their receipt via text or email.
 
lioness said:
Do you find LisaNY that your customers feel comfortable enough on it....being thats its your phone? Do some decline to use it or has it been welcomed ....?

I have a swipe attachment for my iPhone through PayNet and I have found that customers don't mind it at all. I show them that it does NOT store their credit card # (only the last couple digits). They are amazed by it...particularly because it is very quick AND emails them a receipt. Great for me because I have their name and email address. I would never spam them but I think I am going to start asking if they want to be signed up for a newsletter.

:)
 
Mobile credit and debit card processing

There is a great company that works like Paypal but they will give you a little card reader that works with Iphone and Android phones for free when you enroll which is free. Works exactly like Paypal. No monthly fees.

squareup.comhttp://www.squareup.com
 
Well since this got bumped, I'll post this. I think I'm going to go with PAYD for markets since hubby got me an iphone (used to be a blackberry only fangirl... but I love my iphone).

https://getpayd.com/About/

No contracts, it's not the cheapest processing but it's better than cash only, and the payments go straight to your checking (errr, chequing, still getting used to Canadian spelling) account.

Square/SquareUp isn't available in Canada, PAYD is :)
 
I use Intuit in my salon and absolutely love it. No fees and easy to use...my clients sign with their finger and get receipt via text or email. They all love it!!!
 
we recently purchased products from vendor who was using payware thru his Iphone. We were amazing at how easy and quick the process was (we choose Email Receipt). He said he had been using Payware for years.
 
I wanted to do this but when I tried to sign up online they wanted my social and I didn't feel comfortable.
 
I have the square and the intuit. I prefer the intuit because its not as flimsy as the square and I never have swipe issues like I do with the square. I keep them both in case the service is down since they are both free.
 
I have the PayPal PayHere swiper and its awesome...if you have a smart phone (or iPad) and get the app, you can take pictures of the card if the swiper doesn't work because the magnetic stripe is scratched or bent ...it's very cool. There is a flat 2.57% fee but no separate transaction fee. It deposits directly into your PayPal account and the customer can choose to receive their receipt either via text or email.
 
My first year I did not take credit cards and I have to tell you, it didn't seem to be a problem for most people. I was just upfront and told them while I've been making soap for a long time I am new to the business side and only accept cash. Do to the smaller price point it didn't seem to create a problem. Since I've added more products to my line I did get a credit card reader the second year. I started with Intuit and switched to Phone Swipe because of lower per swipe fees (2.69%) and 24 hour customer service (real people). The card reader was free and there are no monthly fees or contracts. I have the option to email a receipt to the customer also. You will find doing a Google search there are more and more merchant services jumping on board with these type of credit card services as this is another revenue stream for them with not a whole lot of maintenance. Interestingly, even though I can now accept credit cards--and I do accept AMEX as personally it's my favorite card to use (sometimes cost more to accept that one)--and clearly display this in my booth, I still get more cash than credit cards. But, it's nice to have it for those folks who don't have the cash!
 
I wanted to do this but when I tried to sign up online they wanted my social and I didn't feel comfortable.

Yes that's correct. I understand how you feel about not feeling comfortable with giving your SSN. However, they need this for tax purposes. If it's legit, it's safe to do this. :)
 

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