Credit Card Payments

[MSL]

Any full or part-time locksmiths out there who use something like PayPal credit card reader or some other contraption for a smartphone? Or do you guys just use a credit card slip to record numbers?

The paypal one seems cheap, but I don't know how merchant services work and if its cheaper to go somewhere else, especially if I were only to do a few transactions. I certainly wouldn't want monthly service charges that cost more than my income starting out.

[billdeserthills]

I don't have a smart phone (or want one) but I do hand key each transaction into my dumb phone instead. The rates really suck ass I pay somewhere between 6.5% and 10% and it is impossible for me to figure out exactly just how much they will charge me every month. In order to save money I do a lot of "open account" service work which means I basically tell the guy to mail me a check. Surprisingly, most folks do actually get me paid. I had to drive back to a non-payer a couple weeks ago, he didn't cause any trouble & immediately got his checkbook and took care of the $80 bill I had been waiting 6 weeks for.
My Dad taught me a lil' trick to thank folks who didn't pay him in a timely manner. He would make a note on his bill about which keyway each client used and if the bill came up late enough I would find him picking around in the brass bin, trying to find a key with an intact shoulder. He would put that key in the steel key machine & use the slotter (for cutting safe deposit keys) to cut almost all the way through the key at about the 4th pin's position. Then he would make a late-night visit and carefully break off his special key into his intended's locked entry door. In the morning he would often have a job, drilling whatever lock his key (with an intact shoulder) could not be fished out of. Of course he would let the client know that he had yet to be paid for the former work & that he would need to bring enough Cash to cover both jobs...
I can't say I condone his practice, but it did seem to work out for him.

If you are an executive member at sam's club or costco you can get credit card processing at reduced rates thru your smart phone

[MSL]

The sams club one looks good. 1.29 + 15 cents. Cheapest one I've seen. Might have to call someone up and see if they want to split a sams club card.

[MSL]

And if you're paying up to 10% that's just ridiculous. Maybe you should check out Paypal Here. Supposedly if you don't want to use the swipe thing on a smartphone you can key it in. Maybe you can do it online, and its just 3.5% + 15 cents. They do invoicing free. Should save you some money. The samsclub one has a computer input program and they've got much lower rates than what you're paying.

[is0]

For the sake of simplicity (and comfort), I just use Square. The majority of business I get pays in cash so the 2.75% I lose off the top doesn't kill me. Not usually at least...

[bmc1284]

I've been using Square for 6 months now with no issues!

[MSL]

Does square have a monthly fee?

[Squelchtone]

Does square have a monthly fee?

No.

I have had Square for a year now and I pay only a small % of each transaction, they sign right on the screen, the receipt can be emailed or texted to the customer. You can pre-add an inventory of items you commonly sell which can include photos as well as part or labor descriptions. Really easy to use.

free to get in the mail as well =)

I can't say enough good things about Square, it frickin rocks,
Squelchtone

[MSL]

Sweet, a googling I will go.

[MikeTheLocksmith]

For the last year I have been using square. With the exception of some issues when reception was bad, square has been wonderful. I have been debating if I should have a 2.75% charge for using it. Or maybe a rounded 3% to make up for the manually entered prices. What do you guys think about this?

[globallockytoo]

I also use a swear by Square. But adding an extra 3% or whatever to your bottom line before charging just means that you are gonna give more money to Squareup. Do you really want to give them more money?

[Dan82]

We use square. no monthly fees, no miniums, flat rate fees, simple and easy to use.

[MikeTheLocksmith]

I also use a swear by Square. But adding an extra 3% or whatever to your bottom line before charging just means that you are gonna give more money to Squareup. Do you really want to give them more money?

Fair point. I was thinking it would help offset the money loss, but you are absolutely correct. More will just end up going to square. I have not practiced this because it isn't much per CC use. The only reason I thought about it was because a gas station charged me 5% to use my card. This happened in a very small town though. Anyway, I use square and will continue to use square. Easiest CC system ever! Lol

[hjlocks]

I've been using Paypal Here for the last 6 months and I've never run into a problem with it. It all goes into a paypal account instead of where you probably want your money, but they give you a check card that gets 1% cash back on most credit purchases so we just use that to cover fuel and equipment costs and it ends up being about 1% cheaper than square would be.

@billdeserthills - You may want to look into republic wireless. I have a 3G smartphone with unlimited data for $25 a month. You need to shell out $150 for the phone, but in the long run it's way cheaper than most of the major carriers even for a "dumb" phone. Just make sure sprint has good coverage in your area. I've had to punch in the information because someone was parked in a dead zone a few times.

[MSL]

Adding extra charges to offset credit card fees is illegal in some states, I'd check it out before you bump up the price.