Accepting credit card payments

greatchimney

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We sometimes set up a mini shop in events and fairs where we install our photo booth, have a regular photographer and a caricature artist. We've only been accepting cash and PayPal so far but we have some customers who have been asking if they can pay using their credit cards.
Sometimes in fairs, I see other shops using their iPhones to accept credit card payments. They have this thing you attach to the phone and then you can swipe the credit card. What are these called and are these secure? Any advice on getting one?
 
I use one for my business. The company is called 'Square'.

www.squareup.com

They are great, much much cheaper than an account at a bank ... banks charge multiple fees ... it seems they even charge an additional fee for processing their fees. Square just charges one fee and it's done, fini. Square is huge and per my experience, they are bonafide and as secure as a bank.
 
While I have never been on the receiving end of Square, I've been a customer of many businesses that use it. You can pick it up from the Apple store, Best Buy, online, etc.

FWIW, here's a testimonial from a paying customer to cash-only businesses: I barely carry cash anymore. When places say, "cash only", I typically move along to the next business that has entered this century. Sorry to give you the harsh reality, at least from my perspective. Unless the business does a really good job at selling me, I will not take the time to go get cash from an ATM where I will be charged multiple fees just to access my own money.
 
While I have never been on the receiving end of Square, I've been a customer of many businesses that use it. You can pick it up from the Apple store, Best Buy, online, etc.

FWIW, here's a testimonial from a paying customer to cash-only businesses: I barely carry cash anymore. When places say, "cash only", I typically move along to the next business that has entered this century. Sorry to give you the harsh reality, at least from my perspective. Unless the business does a really good job at selling me, I will not take the time to go get cash from an ATM where I will be charged multiple fees just to access my own money.

This for sure! The only time I carry anything more than petty cash is if we're going to an estate sale or flea market.
 
we started with square, but then moved to paypal for credit/debit cards when paypal first put out their card readers for phones and tablets. it make it easier because we already had established paypal business accounts and could use our paypal debit cards at ATM machines.

square was great, but at the time it was taking them 2-3 business days to process payments where paypal transferred the funds instantly.
i dont know how fast the square transactions are nowdays.
 
... I will not take the time to go get cash from an ATM where I will be charged multiple fees just to access my own money.
If your bank is charging you fees to withdraw money, you should probably consider a different bank! Along those same lines, you're paying just as much in fees, if not more for the "privilege" of paying with plastic.
 
... I will not take the time to go get cash from an ATM where I will be charged multiple fees just to access my own money.
If your bank is charging you fees to withdraw money, you should probably consider a different bank! Along those same lines, you're paying just as much in fees, if not more for the "privilege" of paying with plastic.
If an ATM is not owned or operated with a particular bank, some banks will charge a fee, in addition to a fee from the owner of that ATM. So, you get hit twice. This is the reason that I tend to only withdraw money from my bank or my bank's ATM, so that I don't incur a fee. I haven't had any major issues with my bank thus far, so I'm ok with the current setup. I'm also not incurring fees by using my debit card as a credit card, so the "privilege of paying with plastic" is that I get to avoid having to carry cash with me.

Very few times has the situation been so serendipitous as to have my bank (or my bank's ATM) be located next to a cash-only store. Probably on the order of once, maybe twice. And, it only happened in major metropolitan areas. Never once at a local fair.

If cash-only businesses want to operate as such, that's their prerogative. The probability that they're going to lose my business is pretty high. Stinks for them; I get to keep my money and give a second thought to my purchase.
 
I'm also not incurring fees by using my debit card as a credit card, so the "privilege of paying with plastic" is that I get to avoid having to carry cash with me.
See that's just it... you are! You're paying them in a different manner, but you're paying them. In fact, we're all paying to some degree for the current fascination with plastic. Retailers know that the majority of customers want to use credit, and the banks charge a fee for that, which the store passes on to the consumer. Additionally, your bank is charging you, 'though probably not overtly.
 
That is why I like my Credit Union. Credit Unions now have Co-op. Same services as a bank, but I don't have to go to my credit union to get money or use the ATM, and no charges.

Call Me a dinosaur I suppose. I have seen places that don't take checks, places that don't take plastic or a certain brand of plastic, but I have yet to see any business that doesn't take cold hard cash. Depending where or what you are shopping for you sometimes even get a discount for purchasing with cash.
 
That is why I like my Credit Union. Credit Unions now have Co-op. Same services as a bank, but I don't have to go to my credit union to get money or use the ATM, and no charges.

Call Me a dinosaur I suppose. I have seen places that don't take checks, places that don't take plastic or a certain brand of plastic, but I have yet to see any business that doesn't take cold hard cash. Depending where or what you are shopping for you sometimes even get a discount for purchasing with cash.
Yep! I do 99% of my spending in cash.
 
Yep! I do 99% of my spending in cash.

I'm the exact opposite. I pay everything possible with a credit card including monthly bills like cell phone and utilities. I always pay the full balance before it's due so no interest charges. I earn hotel points or airline miles or cash back on almost every purchase I make. It takes some organization to make it pay off but it's well worth the time and effort. I haven't paid for a flight or a hotel in several years.
 
I'm the exact opposite

I'm with you!!! Very rarely carry more than $20 cash unless we're on the road in which case I might keep $200-$300 for emergency. Probably 99.5% of purchases in store are one of two cards (which offer cash back of anywhere from 1-5%), Online of course is by credit card. Balances paid in full at the end of every month. Monthly bills paid by uploading transactions to bank which prints the check and mails (free), plus guarantees to pay any late charge if the check doesn't make it in time. I use Quicken for personal and Quick Books for business. All credit cards and bank accounts are linked to either Quicken or Quick Books, transactions up and down go straight into the appropriate category so that at the end of the year everything is done and ready to print out for the accountant.
 
Not only do you get a reader when you sign up for PayPal Here, but it also enable you to manually enter in the cc info if the reader is on the fritz, or you want more than one device to process payments. :)
 

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