Craft shows-credit card processors

A Good place to get your answer is from other crafters by posting the question to snipped-for-privacy@yahoogroups.com .

John

Short answer - no. Less you sell, higher the percentage to the CC company. I still don't understand why people don't bring money to a show, unless it's to avoid overspending. Lot of small-timers out there, even at big shows. They tend to have better prices for the same quality, too.

On the plus side, though I'm in a fairly traditional-values area, I have collected one bad check in twenty years of selling.

We have our acct active from May-Dec. and deactivate our cc Acct. for a fee of 10.00/month while in winter mode. All sales are check or cash during that period. of Jan-April. Only had one sale lost in four years. Ask around we found a very large difference in fees and service. We bought our terminal instead of renting ( deductable)

Hi Kip,

I have used ACBS/Teamac for about 6-7 years now and still think they are a good (NO BS) company to deal with. I started off with a knuckle buster for shows with a dial up machine for the motel/home to upload the scripts - $5/month plus the purchase ($500? for the Tranz 330 and merchant account setup). Business was up at least 30% on a yearly basis once I started accepting CC.

Most shows I do now, 90+% of sales are CC. My work is artistic/semi functional -

WARNING WARNING WARNING - contacting merchant account vendors you find with internet searches can be risky and hazardous to your financial health. I first came across ACBS/Teamac in Wendy Rosen's "Crafting as a Business" book and compared to what I found in internet searches, they are a different breed.

Good luck with your business George

Kip, I started with credit cards over the internet way back in 1995. Most banks laughed at me, but oddly enough, as a last resort I checked my local bank where I already had an account. Not only did they give me the best rate, they did not have a problem with this new thing called the internet.

There is not going to be any such thing as free. But, it is worth the expense if you can find something reasonable. My sales went up significantly when I started taking credit cards. You have to weigh your expenses against your expected volume increase, and then reevaluate from time to time. I also take PayPal now, which gives me business I would not otherwise get. Some complain about their percentage, but part of some sales is better than all of no sale.

We (SWMBO and I) take a laptop and a cell phone to shows. We can print out an invoice on the spot, and call in the card to make sure it is good before the customer leaves the booth. People seem to appreciate the professional appearance.

Good luck with it.

Kip,

Go to Costco..they have one of the lowest price services around. You can get a terminal, or use a laptop. I've used them and had no problems.

Cliff