Credit debt cards.

[tooln]

Does anyone here take mobile payments from credit/debt cards? Sitting at a show today and I had a guy asked if I took credit or debt card payments. I've been asked about th
is before but never gave it to much thought. Currently I take cash or paypal. I need to learn more as I'd hate to lose a sale. Fortunately this guy saw his buddy across the room and borrowed the cash from him.

 

[Doublewide]

When I had my retail business my mainline credit card server would periodically go down, I would use Square as a back up, They supply you with a reader that simply plugs into your phone. It didn't have any monthly or set up costs. The charge for using their service was 2.6% plus ten cents for every transaction. It was simple to set up and I would sometimes go a year and not use it but it was convenient to have and use.

 

[Buckly]

I think you just need an account and a reader. You have to pay the fee of course. To decide if it’s worthwhile you would need to assume how much the average guy going to the shows you are at would bring. My FIL used to do shows but, the stuff he was selling was in the 20-60 dollar range. Most people at that time probably took a hundred with them so cash no problem. If your items are 200 plus then a guy that’s interested might not have on them at the show so it would be worth it to make the sale. A guy brings 100 to a show with the intent to buy stuff, anything really and use up 100 but he all of a sudden sees an item for 300. If he can use a card, cha-Ching you just might make a sale

 

[Turkey Creek]

Square is what we use for 2 of our business' for in person transactions, it will also allow you to create an invoice and email that for payment as well. The invoice is generated by Square and the you don't have to handle the numbers. Cash is King, but fewer and fewer people actually carry it as fewer places actually take cash.

 

[tooln]

I'm really torn on making a decision. Cash is king and I like it. It also keeps me below the radar even though My account/tax man has set me up with an EIN, and we are working on setting up the rest to to keep my a$$ covered. Doing a card transaction shows a record, cash doesn't. Also most places that I show at have an ATM or one is very close. So if someone really wanted to make a purchase and doesn't have enough cash in hand the ATM is an answer. Not wanting to turn this into a full blown business I have to be careful. Some show are a bust and others are unreal. Right now I have orders and my inventory is about 0 after the past 2 days.

 

[bigboreblr]

I'm really torn on making a decision. Cash is king and I like it. It also keeps me below the radar even though My account/tax man has set me up with an EIN, and we are working on setting up the rest to to keep my a$$ covered. Doing a card transaction shows a record, cash doesn't. Also most places that I show at have an ATM or one is very close. So if someone really wanted to make a purchase and doesn't have enough cash in hand the ATM is an answer. Not wanting to turn this into a full blown business I have to be careful. Some show are a bust and others are unreal. Right now I have orders and my inventory is about 0 after the past 2 days.

The more paper trail you have, the more deductions you need.

Friend at camp got more on the books with his contracting business. He is glad he did, employees and lots of goodies come to camp, dump trailer, tractor implements, jobsite material leftovers.

 

[tooln]

The more paper trail you have, the more deductions you need.

Friend at camp got more on the books with his contracting business. He is glad he did, employees and lots of goodies come to cin amp, dump trailer, tractor implements, jobsite material leftovers.

 

[tooln]

In talking with my tax guy, I can start to depreciate my tools. I've got about 6k invested in them. Nothing wrong with a good tax write off.

 

[Turkey Creek]

The other up side to having profits on paper (obviously offset by every deduction that you can legally dream of!) is that when (if you chose to do so) sell your business or idea its worth a hell of a lot more money! I know a local business that was profitable, but sat on the market for close to 2 years because they had done such a great job of making the business seem unprofitable (by what showed on the income taxes) that they couldn't get a buyer at the price they wanted. We know the people that ended up buying the business and they are doing well with it. They knew there was far more money coming in the door every year than what the bottom line showed. Farmers and their CPAs are well known for finding every deduction imaginable.

 

[Bill]

We used square also when we were renting rooms at the beach. Pretty easy to deal with.

 

[4wanderingeyes]

I also use Square. Pretty simple, even a dummy like me can figure it out. Usually by the next day the money is in my account. But I do add 3% if using CC. Or should I say, a 3% deduction if paid with cash.

 

[Foggy47]

I think telling folks where there is an ATM makes great sense for your biz. When we did shows, the public carried allot of cash.....so I suppose it is different today. In those times we would tell folks that we will pay the tax if you have the cash.....and that always worked. 99% of folks had the cash with our offer. Also we would round down on a sale of multiple items.....So a price of 32.75 was $32 cash. Always want to be easy to buy from.....and retail sales were big for us......as most of our sales were at Dealer or Wholesale prices during normal business days.

That ATM provides enough cash to cover the price of a knife.....and keeps you in a cash biz. I'd slow walk the Credit Card game.....but maybe it would help you? Dunno.....I suppose times have changed.

 

[tooln]

I appreciate everyone's input. I'm going to stick to the cash and point anyone with a card to the ATM. If they are not willing to ho to an ATM or carrying enough cash I see it as there loss. It's not like I'm trying to make a living here. Just a sideline retirement gig.

 

[Wind Gypsy]

Does Zelle work for this type of thing?
Venmo is another easy one.