Accepting Credit Cards

[Polly]

Stephanie,

I got some information from our accountant:

I have no knowledge of the Omni 3200 credit card machine.  We use the ARTEMA unit which has a cell phone type technology.  When we are able to get a connection (not always possible in some buildings) we get instant approval on the cards we take and can see right on the spot whether the card is good or not.  Of course having the ability to accept credit cards at a show is a definite plus and has to enhance sales, since an additional form of payment is possible for the customer.

He also says to talk to your personal banker about taking credit cards at shows, and if they can't or don't want to help you, then move onto other banks or reps.
You might be able to just rent the equipment for one show, rather than buying it or spending a lot of money on a year-long contract.

--Polly

[Polly]

Joan,

Thanks for the very practical advice, and good contact information.

By the way, I just visited your website, and love the ceramic pieces on it, especially (surprise, surprise) the dragonfly wall plaque!  The fish on your home page are great, too.

--Polly

[Luann Udell]

I'm sorry I delayed responding to this post, because it was a year out of date.  But this forum is still so manageable, I realized the info I can offer might still help out others.  :^)

Number one main point--yes, taking credit cards can greatly--GREATLY--increase your sales.  Sometimes 90% of my sales are credit cards!  I hear all the time from craftspeople that they don't find it necessary to take cards and I am baffled.  I don't know many people who could have written a check for that Ū,000 sale I made at my last show!  :^)

Getting set up with point-of-purchase credit card processing can be expensive (cell phones, terminals, printers, phone lines at shows etc.)  Even then, you still may not have great reception.  It can still cost in the hundreds, if not thousands, of dollars for such systems.

An easier and much, much less expensive way to get started taking credit cards is buy a manual imprinter (known affectionately as a "knuckle-buster") for around ำ and set yourself up with a merchant service account.  It's no mystery--check around with local banks first for the simplest start-up.  Usually such local banks will not be too fussy about how big-time your craft business is.  Application fees run anywhere from ๛-贶 one-time fee.  You may pay a monthly service charge (my first account was ů.50/month) and a rather high percentage on your sales (my first account I paid around 4.5% on each sale.)  Part of the reason for such a high fee is you are dealing with a local bank and you are not swiping the credit cards through a terminal or getting an authorization at the show, with the customer's card in hand.  You will run their card through your manual imprinter, capturing their cc number on a paper slip, and enter the sales transaction by telephone once you get back to a hotel room or home in the evening.  

After a year, I moved to Discover/Novus business services.  I now pay no monthly fee except a terminal rental (ű/month) and my percentage is around 3 something%.  I do not pay per transaction or pay any other fees.  At different times, Novus offers different incentive programs--for example, lately they have not offered this terminal rental program--so it's good to check in periodically to see what they have to offer.  You can talk to my agent, Robert Schoen at 1-800-239-7696 and ask him any questions you might have.  He is deeply supportive of artists and craftspeople (he has a son who is an artist) and he is extremely patient and nice.  Also honest!  Novus rates right up there in customer satisfaction, and the rates are comparable to Guy MacDonald's company.  I also hear good things about Guy's company, but they don't currently offer the program I was able to get with Novus so it isn't worth switching for me.

Hope this encourages even people just starting out to seriously consider expanding their income potential!
Luann

[DangerousCurvesCJD]

I'm going to be participating in my first craft fair in Dec and I was thinking that it looks like an opportunity to gain more sales if I was able to process credit cards.  

I've made contact with one company that can provide the services and the card swiping machines.  The rep at the company I spoke with disccused the card swipe machine Omni3200, which I remember seeing a post about a few weeks back.

I guess what I'm curious about is what do other people use for this service?

Do you use a card swipe machine for instant results or do you call it in on your cell phone and authorize the transaction later?

Have other folks seen a great impact by not accepting credit cards?
 
My biggest concern is that this is 1 craft fair, and I'm concerned over making a large investment in equipment and service fees when this is may not be something that I'm doing every month.  I was hoping to gauge this fair as to how well the crowds respond to my product and the money that could be made.

Any opinions will be greatly appreciated.

Thanks
Stephanie

[JoanM]

I wouldn't worry about taking credit cards at your first show.  It is way to soon to invest in processing equipment, especially expensive pos terminal.  Take cash and checks.  If you feel you must go ahead with a merchant acct., there are a few processors that specialize in artist/craftspeople.  Try Jim Compton at Data Capture, 1-800-476-5022 or Guy Mc Donald
Arts & Crafts Business Solutions  800-873-1192 .  

[Alexander]

I echo Joan's sentiment.  We've done 4 craft shows so far and have not lost sales due to no credit card processing.

Not to say that's not a goal - I am integrating credit card processing into the new version of our database code/shopping cart, so I will have to look at this soon.  (Yep, I'm writing our database from the ground up!)

I don't know what we will do for credit card processing at craft shows, however... the machine fees on those things are sky high!

--Alexander

[Russ Nobbs]

Thanks, Luann, for adding your comments.  It's good to bring this topic back to the top because it's a common question for beginning crafters.

Some (many?) banks are not very supportive of small crafters wanting to take bank cards. The banks seem to like store front locations much better. In every issue of Crafts Report  are a number of firms advertising credit card operations for crafts people.  If you can't use Luann's suggested resource you should check Crafts Report.

The rate you pay on sales depends on your particular experience. The average sale, how many charge backs you have are major influences. The rate is lower when you actually swipe the card and have phone line or wireless authorization on the card. "Card-not-present" sales including phone order, mail order and internet earn a higher discount because there is more risk for you and for the banks.