"Square" and other mobile currency exchange. | Squat the Planet

"Square" and other mobile currency exchange.

Desperado Deluxe

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So was wondering if anybody knew anything about square and it's alternatives and what the best option is for mobile debit/credit transfers for selling goods in person. Also wondering if I can get a device from the apple store that works for Android. (I have a gift card.)
Thanks guys!
 

Matt Derrick

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Also wondering if I can get a device from the apple store that works for Android. (I have a gift card.)

You're going to have to clarify that a bit. Are you trying to transfer a gift card balance to your square account?

As for the best, depends on your usage. I prefer PayPal since i take donations here on StP with it. I also have a swiper for PP so I can take credit cards if I have to for physical goods like the book, bandana, etc (I can count on one hand how many times I've used it).

Square would be fine for most people probably, but it's not really even worth looking into unless you're planning on doing a lot of business that way.
 

Desperado Deluxe

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You're going to have to clarify that a bit. Are you trying to transfer a gift card balance to your square account?

As for the best, depends on your usage. I prefer PayPal since i take donations here on StP with it. I also have a swiper for PP so I can take credit cards if I have to for physical goods like the book, bandana, etc (I can count on one hand how many times I've used it).

Square would be fine for most people probably, but it's not really even worth looking into unless you're planning on doing a lot of business that way.
No I have a gift card for the apple store I was wondering if I could use it to buy the hardware.

I sell art and jewelry on the streets and I feel like a lot of the reason people aren't buying from me is because hardly anyone carries cash. Just trying to up my game really. Make my set up better etc.

Pretty much set up to sell anytime I'm not doing a regular gig. Or possibly even have someone selling for me.
 
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Matt Derrick

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No I have a gift card for the apple store I was wondering if I could use it to buy the hardware.

I'm not aware of any Apple product you could buy that would accomplish that for Android.

You could always try trading in your apple gift card for a different one (say, Amazon). There are a few websites that will do that for you.
 
D

Deleted member 26656

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No I have a gift card for the apple store I was wondering if I could use it to buy the hardware.

I sell art and jewelry on the streets and I feel like a lot of the reason people aren't buying from me is because hardly anyone carries cash. Just trying to up my game really. Make my set up better etc.

Pretty much set up to sell anytime I'm not doing a regular gig. Or possibly even have someone selling for me.
30% of the population do not carry cash.
 
D

Deleted member 25988

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So was wondering if anybody knew anything about square and it's alternatives and what the best option is for mobile debit/credit transfers for selling goods in person. Also wondering if I can get a device from the apple store that works for Android. (I have a gift card.)
Thanks guys!
As others have said, it's not feasible to get one piece of hardware that will work on a competitors phone. Trade that Apple giftcard for an amazon card; you can use it for a paypal reader.

Paypal reader.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B079NZ7WPK/

The regular PayPal Here credit card reader sells for $14.99 while you can also buy readers meant for contactless payments: There’s an EMV reader, an NFC reader, and a 3-in-1 reader which costs $25, $60, and $79 respectively. These come with Bluetooth support so you can send, as well as receive payments, via your phone.

It also comes with an app that you can easily download and install from the Google Play store.

Here's other payments method you could use:



Shopify.


Shopify is a mobile payment solution which targets those retailers that are more concerned with in-person sales. If U subscribe to Shopify’s mPOS basic service, it's $29 per month. Manual entry costs 2.7% while online rates are 2.9% + $0.30 for every transaction. something to think about.

Square is still king though.

Square POS: Point of Sale System for your Business | Square - https://squareup.com/us/en/point-of-sale

The Square Credit Card Reader will cost you 2.75% per credit card transactions and 3.5%+$0.15 per manual entered transactions with no hidden fees. Good luck!
 
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LuckyMinnie

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No I have a gift card for the apple store I was wondering if I could use it to buy the hardware.

I sell art and jewelry on the streets and I feel like a lot of the reason people aren't buying from me is because hardly anyone carries cash. Just trying to up my game really. Make my set up better etc.

Pretty much set up to sell anytime I'm not doing a regular gig. Or possibly even have someone selling for me.
I sell jewelry, too. I thought about doing Square one time, but they didn't like my address. I'm living in a motel, and get my mail there. They said they couldn't verify my address. smh. So I couldn't get the square. So pretty much I've given up on using any sort of device like this. They apparently don't like people with 'alternative' addresses. Anyway, I've been doing this a while and one thing I've noticed is that people really hate saying the word no, even though what they mean is no. They will say I just got done buying jrwelery. They will say they don't wear jewelry. (even while wearing two necklaces, a ring and a bracelet.) They will say they don't have $5 for some jewelry. (and don't realize that when they opened tbeir wallet to pretend to look to see if they had money, I saw the 20s they had.) The thing is, people lie a lot. They make up little lies because I believe they are rather passive and have a hard time simply saying no when you ask if they want to buy some jewelry. So when I had a hard time getting a Square device, I just said screw it. I'll just stick to the cash payers and learn to recognize when someone really just doesn't want to buy any jewelry. In my point of view, it's best not to waste time on people who aren't interested in your product and can't be decent enough to just be honest. If you get the Square, the people who make the no cash excuse will just come up with another excuse, because the bottom line is they aren't going to buy anything. On the bright side, there are people who will drive to the atm and come back with cash to purchase some jewelry. I've had that happen a lot. Honestly, I'll be happy when I'm not doing this anymore. In a little less than a year, my youngest daughter will be old enough to not need a babysitter. I will be so happy to be working for an hourly rate and have a reliable, steady source of income. That's also why I didn't look much into getting a credit card device. I will thankfully not be doing this much longer. If you're going to set up booths at craft fairs, you're going to need to take credit cards. But if you're just selling on the street, odds are you probably don't need to be able to take cards.
 

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