Accepting Credit Cards at Shows ????

B . Buxton

B . Buxton

Joined
Jul 8, 2001
Messages
3,623
Could you guys that have accounts to accept credit cards at shows, share some info on what is needed to do to acquire this capability.
Do you use pay pal virtual terminal and if so could you tell me how that works. What is needed to report the customers account for payment, etc. Is it done through a phone line, do they furnish a card swiper, if so what is needed for it to work.

If someone wants to contact me personally about this please e-mail me at camper@yhti.net.

Thank you very much,

Bill
 
I have a Merchants Account at my local bank and can take Visa and Mastercard at the show. I went the cheapest route and only use a slide type imprinter like the old days but thats not needed actually. After you have the merchants account set up you can take cards there and call them in at the time of the sale or save the reciepts until that night and call them in all at once. For a big sale I would call while they are standing there. Check with your bank to set up the account.

Im no help with paypal as Ive never done that at a show, just on-line.
 
It's not easy without a big comittment. Most banks and processors want to sell or lease you the terminals and take a healthy cut of the sale. Then you also need a phone line or pay extra for cell phone data connectivity.

If you are like me and just need it occasionally, I found a pretty good deal with http://www.propay.com/. The nice thing is that you can process cards over a cell phone just by entering the credit card numbers with the phone's keypad.

If you are more trusting, you can also process the cards from your computer when you get back home.

They do have some limitations but it works for me.
 
Like Bruce, we have a merchants account for the past 30 years or so. However banks are requiring a retail address anymore. I know there are services available for show circuits but generally are on the spendy side so require a pretty good volume of sales to offset the cost. I am really surprised that the clubs that sponsor these shows don't provide a service for a 5 - 10 percent fee.

I would suppose a computer with a wireless connect could be useful for the PayPal customers. This computer is wireless and I don't have many problems hooking up in the metropolitan areas.

Just some thoughts,

Jim
 
I'm like MRSAT. I've used Propay for about 4 years with no problem. I do the charges with my computer at night, but an online connection at the Show would be better. That way you can do paypal also.
 
Bill, I got myself a merchant account so I could do credit cards. To tell you the truth it was a bigger pain in the ass than what it was worth. Not to mention you get charged a monthly fee even if this service is not used. There's got to be a better way. I dropped this service after the first year. That was several years ago and my fee was $40.00 a month.
 
If you're set up to take any sort of online payments you can take payments at a show. We did this at BLADE this year through a friends' merchant account, a laptop and a cellular air-card. If your customers agreed to it, you could simply pay with pay-pal, you don't need anything more than a regular pay-pal account and a laptop with internet access.
 
WE went through a lot or research - with some banks wanting 8 - 10% for a small business merchant account. We went with Elavon through COSTCO and they are great. The machine is about $25 a month and transaction fees are between 1.9 - 2.9% depending on risk.

We use the "knuckle buster" at shows and at the storefront we have the machine for debit or credit. We can also process C/C telephone or email orders.

I can't say enough good about these guys. Hindsight is 20/20 - and in hindsight, we chose right.

Rob!
 
Rob! said:
WE went through a lot or research - with some banks wanting 8 - 10% for a small business merchant account. We went with Elavon through COSTCO and they are great. The machine is about $25 a month and transaction fees are between 1.9 - 2.9% depending on risk.

We use the "knuckle buster" at shows and at the storefront we have the machine for debit or credit. We can also process C/C telephone or email orders.

I can't say enough good about these guys. Hindsight is 20/20 - and in hindsight, we chose right.

Rob!
Click to expand...

Rob, I see you also have a storefront. Is this a requirement to get that low fee from COSTCO?
 
I have a merchants account with my local bank. I am only charged when I use the service and it is only 3% of the sale.
 
We've used Paypal as a means of payment while at a show (non-knife related). The hotel had wireless throughout the lobby and trade floor so it was convenient. If someone just had a credit card it was harder, only one person was willing to jump through the hoops of using a credit card through Paypal.

I've been eyeing Propay for when I start selling knives at shows. The convenience of the quick transaction may bring in more sales that are sitting on the fence.
 
jim moyer said:
Rob, I see you also have a storefront. Is this a requirement to get that low fee from COSTCO?
Click to expand...

Hi Jim

No, you don't nee a storefront. As a matter of fact, at the time we opened the merchant account with ELAVON, they didn't do ecommerce. They do now, but our storefront runs entirely on PayPal for C/C use. They do handle on-line transactions now, but we haven't changed over since PayPal is working so well there.

We cringed at the monthly cost, but it was more than worth it.

Rob!
 
Bill, After I stopped accepting credit cards and a person had no other means to purchase a knife I would tell them to find a money machine and get some cash from it. Most shows that I have done will normally have a machine close by.
 
I have a machine that works like a cell phone( no phone line needed) and is powered by either batteries or plugging it into the wall.
Typically the card folks visa,mc. etc charge 1 to 2 % of the transaction with AMEX being the highest at around 3% i also paid a card service around $30.00 a month.

This was very convenient for my charterboat biz and would seem to be good for someone going to shows as well.
 
I accept CC at shows. There are a couple of different options you have.

You can buy a hand held CC swiper that is wireless and prints a receipt, cost is about $600-900.

You can get an account set up and basically make a phone call that takes you through an automated system and asks you to punch in the CC # and other info.

I have a third option. I have a CC swiper that plugs into my cell phone. I have a java based program that I run and it prompts me to enter the amount, swipe the CC and it gives me an authorization #. I just write that down, knuckle bust the receipt over the CC and have the customer sign it, and off they go with their knife. The swiper was $250.

Here's the part that will help you decide. If you get a machine that lets you swipe the card you pay 1.7% in fees for the transaction. If you have to manually punch in the CC# like with a phone account you pay 3% for the transaction.

I only accept visa and mastercard and the account costs me $5 a month for the service not including transactions.

You have to have a business checking or savings account for the money to be transferred into. I have a business savings because the business checking had a monthly fee of $10 a month.

The unit can pay for itself after the first sale and it's great having it because many people are impulse buyers. They can also put it on their CC and pay it off at their own leisure or keep their wives from knowing they bought it.

It's easier than running around at a show looking for someone to run a card for you.

This is the company I went through http://www.onlinecreditcard.com/
 
This is off topic as far as shows go, but I just told Evalon to shove it. I looked over my my last years reciepts and found out I was charged more in fees than I accepted in reciepts. I signed up for paypal just over a year ago and that seems to have taken over most of the former cc business. I take checks and PP, Oh and cash of course. At shows I take cash and checks and it seems not to turn any away.
Thanks,
Del
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top