taking credit cards

[chewie]

I do not have a smart phone, mine isn't even clever! ok, that was bad.

anyhow, I know taking cc's is a help to boost sales. I dont' even like using a cc, but yet there have been times that it sealed a sale from me.

I do have a laptop. I plan to do some framing at home, I have wireless, and like tomorrow, a small show in the village nearby would go better if I could take payments of that sort.

I figure tomorrow is too late, but if there is a way to set this up at least for next time, or any ideas I can use for tomorrow, would love to hear of it!

[Diane Cutter]

Get set up with either www.propay.com or Paypal.com. You might even be able to do that for tomorrow (if you aren't swamped with all the other things you are doing to get ready).

Also, you can take personal checks. I have taken them and never had a problem with them bouncing. Somehow people who buy art seem to have a better grasp on their account balance... plus it is possible these will be friends or acquaintances or that they bank at your same bank.

Make sure you get all their information, including phone, email, address.

Diane

[Freesail]

Even with a laptop, I believe you would still need to set up a merchant account with someone to allow you to take or accept credit cards. You would also need a way to swipe the credit card. Manually entering credit card numbers usually will cost you a larger percentage of your sale. Right now rates can be as low as 1.68% to as high as 4.8%. It pays to shop around for better rates. Your personal credit score will impact the rates that you can get.

[chewie]

I am already a paypal user, have been for years. do I just bring the laptop, and offer them to use it for a paypal transaction? my brain's about fried, been trying to get one more painting done for tomorrow, not sure if its' going to work, but in any case, what I'm asking is a pretty step by step of what/how I'd do this. If I could offer it tomorrow, I'd be sooo happy.

[Bringer]

Hi,

I've been reading these sort of questions and I've just remembered something.
It's not very common, but don't people over there use virtual credit cards?
It's a credit card (virtual) that one can create for lets say 'transactions of the moment'

Nonetheless, I guess that Paypal permits to use a credit card, or even a debit one, from a person who's not a Paypal user.

José

[Diane Cutter]

Originally Posted by chewie

I am already a paypal user, have been for years. do I just bring the laptop, and offer them to use it for a paypal transaction? my brain's about fried, been trying to get one more painting done for tomorrow, not sure if its' going to work, but in any case, what I'm asking is a pretty step by step of what/how I'd do this. If I could offer it tomorrow, I'd be sooo happy.

Though I suggested PayPal, I've never used it that way. You'll have to check it out, Chewie... and good luck tomorrow.

Diane

[Freesail]

I could be mistaken but the trouble with paypal is that your customer must also be signed up with paypal also. If that is true, that may be asking a lot of them for you to make the transaction if they are not.

[chewie]

no, ppl do not have to have a ppal acct. to use it. I called and found out the scoop. for $30/month, I could have a credit card swiper thing, the most easiest and most convient of all. for $5/monthly, I can have a paypal checkout on my website.

I can also take my laptop, connect there, and when a purchase is made, I can send them an invoice via email. if they dont' have a smart phone or have one that is connected to their computer, they can simply use my laptop to log into their email acct., and make a payment just like you would if you bought something on ebay or amazon. then I can check and see if it went thru, give a receipt and done.

obviously this is something to do for larger purchases, but at least I can offer something already tomorrow that won't cost me a dime to get started with.

now, i asked why can't I just have them log into my webstie and click "buy with paypal" and he said that would wind me up in big trouble, as it would be from my site, to my site. that part is still a bit hazy to me, but I won't mess with it, esp since setting up the paypal link is doing a credit check and 48hr wait. dont' much care for paypal doign credit checks on me for a few transactions a year.

if at some point I am doing a pretty solid income, I'll get a swiper thingie, but for now, this is the scoop. hope someone else can use it too.

[Azure Wings]

You don't need to pay $30 a month for a credit card swiper thing, if you do have a smartphone.

Of course, you have to pay the monthly fees for the smartphone. If you live in a rural area, as I do, the less expensive plans may not give you the kind of coverage you need.

But if you use Square with a smartphone, you only pay a percentage of the sale. No monthly fees. No startup fees. They send you a swiper thing to attach to your phone for free.

It works well - but practice it first! You can watch videos of how to use it on YouTube. It's at http://www.squareup.com.

Wishing you good luck with it,
Karen

[chewie]

well, sadly it wasn't even an issue. I'll stick with the paypal thing I described for now. no smart phone, too $ for me, I rarely use a cell phone and get by very nicely with my tracphone.

in fact, that little show as such a bomb it's going on my not-again-ever list!

[Diane Cutter]

Sorry to hear that, Chewie... but, on the bright side, you are 'credit card' savvy for the next attempt or for any studio sales.

Diane

[chewie]

yup, and I also know which show to not worry about!

on the up side, I might have a shot at doing a large framing order for the bank, she seen me there and I am just starting to put the word out taht I will do framing. and another has now contacted me to meet next week to do a commission of grampa's farm. that's exactly the type of work I want!!

so the show day itself was a total bust, but it might, just maybe, wind up panning out in the long run. we'll see. so all was not lost!

[Azure Wings]

Sorry to hear it was a bust - but I hope it does lead to better things! You never know....
Karen