Blog

Comments

• 

  Virginia Dauth December 6, 2012 at 8:50am

  As usual you can buy a machine for swiping cards or rent one. Back when I started I took the least expensive way to process cards. The knuckle buster was free and then the 3 sheet carbon receipts were free. You should check with your bank and see what they are offering as far as their merchant services. They are all different. I forsee in the future that all banks will go to something similar to the square.
• 

  Jeanne Morningstar Kent December 5, 2012 at 10:20pm

  Does the bank have a device for swiping cards?  Do they allow manual entries. (I think you said they did.)
• 

  Virginia Dauth December 5, 2012 at 8:10pm

  I have been thinking About using the Square but I am by nature a skeptical person.I did all the research and printed all that was on line and read ever bit of it. I too, do not like that I can not talk to a live person.I Currently use a knuckle buster( don't know how much longer they will service this kind of system) and have for 15 years and works well for me as I go on faith that I am not accepting a bad card and after 15 years I am pleased to say not a bad card yet, Well, I am getting side tracked. Oh yeah, the skeptical part of me. I called my bank who holds my merchant account and started negotiating with them. I now have a lower rate then the square, a direct line to a supervisor if I should need help as well as NO statement fee.( I still like paper) It pays to call whoever you have service with and see what they will do for you. Fyi my business account is with this bank as well. Also My account has never been wrong in 15 years.
• 

  Jeanne Morningstar Kent December 5, 2012 at 12:40pm

  I just started using the square.  If you look under their "help" you can get several directions on how to use it.  I also am pleased to have received lots of information from this group.  I did go on ebay and purchased a knucker buster (manual card imprinter) and selected the two page short forms as that gives me enough room for the information I need.  I also made up a sample with the necessary information needed (wrote it in red) and keep it close at hand so I don't forget any of the information required.  When I got home and entered the sales, they went in with no problem.  I was surprised when I saw the amount they took because I thought it would be much higher.  It was lower then expected and makes using the Square well worth the effort.  When you go on ebay to select a manual reader, you will also find some of them connect you with a business that makes the business plates for $5.00.  Mine arrived in the same box as the reader so that was great.
• 

  Stewart Rein December 5, 2012 at 10:53am

  I am very happy with the Square. It often takes me 3-4 swipes before the transaction goes through but I can live with that. I asked Square to send me several additional readers as backup and now have 4 of them, all free for the asking. I have only had to input card information manually one time, but that worked flawlessly. My suggestion is to practice at home with one penny sales until you are truly comfortable with the process. It was a pleasure to meet you Don. I hope to see you again in the Dallas area.
• 

  Greg Little December 5, 2012 at 10:50am

  I use the Square and also use the Intuit card reader. Square is very good but virtually impossible to reach anyone that is breathing or to get a email response other than generic.

  Intuit, on the other hand, is easy to reach a living and breathing person to have a conversation with for customer support issues.
• 

  Ray Hartl December 5, 2012 at 10:49am

  Square help page: https://squareup.com/help/en-us/
• 

  Christine Heisler December 5, 2012 at 9:36am

  This is just an educated guess here because I haven't tried it on my Square reader, but I have had success with it with my PhoneSwipe card reader. When the scanner stopped reading cards suddenly, I was instructed to remove it and turn the volume on my Droid all the way down to zero.  I reinstalled the reader and put the volume back up to 100%.  This has worked great with PhoneSwipe, though why they didn't say that at the outset is a mystery to me.  I go between PhoneSwipe and Square so that I have a back-up if one conks out for some reason.  Both of them have similar ways to manually enter the card number, and you have to have the 3-digit number as well as the zip code for that type of transaction.  Remember the credit card companies charge a higher rate for manual input entries, so  try to get the card reader going before doing it.  Just FYI here... Square does NOT provide tech support other than generally useless emails, but with PhoneSwipe you can talk to a real person in the phone right away, and they charge a lower processing fee.  Both are free.
• 

  Colin Murray December 5, 2012 at 9:05am

  If you have trouble with swiping the card. Put the phone on a table, with the white square hanging over the edge of the table. This give the phone stability, then swipe smoothly. It usually works.
• 

  greta anthony December 4, 2012 at 9:45pm

  Hi Don, I just recently input a couple of internet sales with square, here's how to do it. Open the app put in the amount of the sale and description if you want. In the upper right hand corner is a dollar sign touch that, you should now have a choice of card or cash. Just enter the required information, you'll need the card #, expiry date, 3 digit code on the back of the card and billing zipcode. When the signature window comes up I write internet or phone order. Then send the receipt to your customer's email. Very easy.