mradamh Posted January 23, 2009 Report Share Posted January 23, 2009 I'm participating in a small fishing expo at the end of March. I currently handle my business from the confines of my home, aside from the manual invoices I create for the stores that stock my baits...My question, who is using a credit card machine and how much of a hassle was it to set up. I don't want to miss out on sales by not accepting credit cards, but I don't want the added burden of monthly charges to carry a portable card reader that I won't use often enough to make it worth it. Any advice or suggestions would be greatly appreciated from those of you out there that participate in these Expo shows. Thanks, Adam Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GB GONE Posted January 23, 2009 Report Share Posted January 23, 2009 (edited) Adam: I struggled with the same issue. Finally decided to just sell baits to a company that attends the shows regularly in different areas around the country. They handle all the transactions and just send me my $$$. Win-win for me!! Seems the expense of the machine and the processing fees will eat into your profit, especially after springing for the booth space and electricity. Jim PS Could you just set a laptop up and use paypal right there to run the transactions? Or even contract with a company that will process the cards over the net from a laptop/PC. Might be more cost effective... Just thinking out loud! Edited January 23, 2009 by ghostbaits addition Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mradamh Posted January 23, 2009 Author Report Share Posted January 23, 2009 Adam:I struggled with the same issue. Finally decided to just sell baits to a company that attends the shows regularly in different areas around the country. They handle all the transactions and just send me my $$$. Win-win for me!! Seems the expense of the machine and the processing fees will eat into your profit, especially after springing for the booth space and electricity. Jim PS Could you just set a laptop up and use paypal right there to run the transactions? Or even contract with a company that will process the cards over the net from a laptop/PC. Might be more cost effective... Just thinking out loud! Jim, I've been running over that PayPal idea but was concerned that #1 not all will have PayPal accounts and #2 the length of time it would take a person to log-in to their account to make the transaction. -both are bummers- I'm not paying for booth space which is a total plus. It's a small fishing show that a Marina in my area holds every year, my first time as participant though. Right now I'm pretty much stuck accepting cash and checks, and I'm even worried about accepting checks to be quite honest. Knock on wood, I haven't had anyone bounce one on me, but you never know during these troubling economic times. I cannot justify getting that card reader for anything, I'm tring to figure out how I can, but the numbers don't add up. It doesn't seem worth it. If I were doing shows frequently, it would make sense, but I'm not so I don't really see the point. I do think people are more apt to use the debt card or credit card over carrying cash though, so to ease the customer by providing that service would be great. Questions, questions, questions... Anyone else have any ideas? Thanks for the input Jim. Adam Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GB GONE Posted January 23, 2009 Report Share Posted January 23, 2009 Maybe the show will have an ATM close by!!!! Good luck!!! Jim Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mradamh Posted January 23, 2009 Author Report Share Posted January 23, 2009 Great point! Thanks bud, just trying to get everything ready in time in case there's better ideas out there that I haven't thought of. It's always good to have other points of view. Have a good day! Adam Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GB GONE Posted January 23, 2009 Report Share Posted January 23, 2009 BTW... There are a lot of software programs out there that are less than $100 that you can use to process cc's. You still have to have a vendor number and a merchant account though and those are the costly pieces of the puzzle. Tip on the expo for your baits though.... My expo guys buy a small fish bowl and put one of my baits in it rigged with teh correct hook and a small bullet weight pegged. Then they throw in a Zoom or other salted bait for comparison. As the anglers see my baits float off the bottom and the others lying on the bottom, the sales are simple!! Just as thought for you that is simple and cheap but goes a looong way!!! Jim Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mradamh Posted January 23, 2009 Author Report Share Posted January 23, 2009 (edited) That's the part I was trying to avoid. I can do that through paypal, it's called Virtual Terminal, I would take their card info and log it in myself right there. The trouble is, I'm not really in need of it on a permanent basis. They charge a $30 a month fee to have that added to your business account. They still take the 2% + 30 cents on the transaction too. At this point, I'm thinking cash or check, with an additional fee for any returned checks (if it even happens). And like you said Jim, there's probably an ATM close anyway. I'm waiting to hear if I can sign up for the service and then cancel it after a month. For $30 it's probably worth it. Yep, already have the 5 gallon fish tank. I use it to test my baits at home when I'm making 'em. I couldn't pour worms without it. My wife got tired of me using the bathtub all the time! Edited January 23, 2009 by mradamh typo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MTfishingrods Posted January 23, 2009 Report Share Posted January 23, 2009 (edited) Look into the buisiness Paypal account a bit more. I dont believe that they need a paypal account to pay you with a credit card if you have that type of an account. I may be mistaken on the name of account, but there is a paypal account that will accept credit cart orders without the customer needing to have a paypal account and it has no monthly fees. It does have a 3% charge for the transaction fee. I have this type of an account so I will try to get hold of my wife and find out what it is and how it was set up. Also came with a Master Card debit card that pays us on our purchases and pays very well also. As far as speed of processing. If you have a web page have your site there and opened ready to accept the order and enter the credit card info and done. Edited January 23, 2009 by MTfishingrods Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mradamh Posted January 23, 2009 Author Report Share Posted January 23, 2009 You're correct, they don't necssarily have to have a paypal account to purchase. The problem lies with ease of transaction. With a standard paypal account I cannot manually enter a customers credit card info into the system. You can "request" payment form someone, or like on the website use the "shopping cart" feature. When purchasing items in person, I don't have a way to electronically make the transaction without that "add-on" I was telling Jim about called Virtual Terminal. With Virtual Terminal I can manually enter the card information into the PC on the spot and do the transaction. I'm not doing shows all the time, so I don't see the point in taking on the $30 a month charge for Virtual Terminal unless I can cancel it after one month. And I cannot find information telling me I can cancel that service. So I was just throwing it out there to everyone to hear what everyone else does for their shows. Chances are most have card readers, I'm trying to go the inexpensive route due to the low frequency of shows I will be doing. Thanks for the input... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vodkaman Posted January 23, 2009 Report Share Posted January 23, 2009 don't necssarily have to have a paypal account to purchase I'm sure how that is how I paid my TU membership. But I am a fiscal phoebic, so don't take my word for it. Dave Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bogbaits Posted January 23, 2009 Report Share Posted January 23, 2009 Ive done several shows here in wisconsin and From what Ive seen most people used cash,99 % of my sales were cash,I had some peolpe want to pay with card,not many,i gave them a buisiness card and they ordered when they got home,Wasnt an issue for me,Im curiuos,what state are you in and are people there really using that many cards? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mradamh Posted January 24, 2009 Author Report Share Posted January 24, 2009 I'm in Michigan. Most people I know carry cash too, I do, but my wife for example never carries cash and frequently uses the debt card to pay for everything. Not having done this before, I'm brainstorming ideas to hopefully cover all angles. I do know a friend of mine spent $300 at this show last year, even as small as it is. Assuming most people don't carry cash like that on them I'm thinking some booths might have a set-up equipped to accept credit/debit cards. It might not even be necessary, but I thought throwing the topic out here might spawn some insight. So far, it's given me plenty to think about. Thanks all. Adam Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bogbaits Posted January 24, 2009 Report Share Posted January 24, 2009 I know what you mean when you want to cover all angles,most of the vendors i know dont do the credit card thing because of the extra cost and the hassle,im thinking it isnt worth the extra,thats just me,I like the cash transactions,so do most,I do know the big chain representatives do the credit cards,they have the overhead,its not wirth it to me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richard Prager Posted January 24, 2009 Report Share Posted January 24, 2009 One possibility is to take the order and a small cash deposit. Have plenty of order forms ready. Then send a paypal invoice for the balance. It is not necessary to have a Paypal account to pay by credit card anymore. It is very user friendly now. Even though I have a Merchant account, I just switched two web businesses over to strictly Paypal and so far I'm happy with it. They take their cut immediately so there are not any surprises at the end of the billing cycle. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dsmblack Posted January 24, 2009 Report Share Posted January 24, 2009 I've done a couple shows and from my experience, here may have only been one every year that wants to pay with credit card. Most do carry cash. If they are serious about buying I will either go ahead and give them a couple packs and an invoice for the rest and they can go home and go onlinle and purchase the rest thru paypal. I don't really feel like I lost out on many sales. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
COBRA Posted January 24, 2009 Report Share Posted January 24, 2009 my credit card machine runs off satelite so i can sell on the road, water, shows, you name it. i bought it so i wouldnt have to pay for a line at shows. well, most people where on cash at the shows, go figure. but, it doesnt matter, cause if i am at a ramp, or even in the boat, i can make a sale. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
