A few months ago, I was working a craft market when very nice gentleman came to our table with his two daughters. They bought about $50 worth of bath salts, soaps and bath oils for the kids' mother. He paid with a credit card, so I whipped out my imprinter, ran his card, wrote down his zip code to process it later via an online credit card processing Web site.
Later that evening, after the market was over, I pulled out my two dozen credit card slips andstarted entering numbers, expiration dates and zip codes - only to have his and two other credit cards decline. It dawned on me that I had no recourse for couping payment on what was more than $200 in product.
I put the question of what to do to my fellow soapmakers on The Dish forum and they told me about Square - a device that would allow me to process credit cards on site from my iPhone. I went online, signed up and my Square card reader arrived a few days later.
It is the perfect synergy. I can process credit card payments on site. Square deposits the funds directly into my business account the next day. The iPad app for Square is a virtual cash register. I upload photos of my products..and a tap on them moves an item onto the checkout form. It calculates the sales tax and how much change I need to give back. It could not be easier.
It also allows me to text or e-mail a receipt to the customer.
Square gets five stars from this Craft Entrepreneur.
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