Credit Card/Merchant Account

[Donna Banfield]

I have been using Propay for several years now, and need to change my merchant acct to process credit cards. Reason for dropping Propay is the dollar limit per transaction is $500/$3000 per month limit. I have a 9 day show coming up in August, and will exceed both of those, as I discovered last year. I have also eliminated Square Up because of their policy of holding larger transactions for 30 days before letting you have your money. Square Up would be fine if you're doing many smaller dollar transactions, not the case in my situation.

Has anyone signed up with the Merchant Acct. that the AAW has arranged for us? I spoke with them a few weeks ago, and it sounds good, but I'm simply conducting my due diligence before I make a decision. If you have or are currently using them, would you be kind enough to share your experience. Offline is perfect, and may be preferable. If anyone has other merchant accounts that they use and can offer some suggestions, your input would be appreciated! Thanks.

 

[Steve Worcester]

... I have also eliminated Square Up because of their policy of holding larger transactions for 30 days before letting you have your money. Square Up would be fine if you're doing many smaller dollar transactions, not the case in my situation.

I think this is only for manually keyed transaction totaling a certain amount, not swiped. Also, it is pretty easy to get that limit raised.

 

[MartyL]

Square

I have been using square for over a year, they have never held any swiped sales more than the usual 48 hrs to appear in my account and i have done many sales over $800.00 Also you can not beat the simplicity of the gadget that goes on the phone or in my case my IPAD!
Marty

 

[Donna Banfield]

Marty, is that a single sale for $800, or the total sales for say, a one day show?

According to the information I read, the larger single sale transactions (for example, one $500 piece), if there is a charge back, it will be harder (their words) for the merchant to return the $500 until the issue is resolved between the customer and the merchant. Their experience (again, their words) is the likelihood of a charge back occurs more often with the larger ticket items, hence the reason for the hold.

 

[Steve Worcester]

( I have only had two charge backs in 10+ years, but I don't do a lot of high dollar art shows)

Here is Squares deposit policy and the limit you are talking about is hand keyed transactions, not swiped.
I am not a huge Square fan just because of the higher % fees vs my online merchant account, but the convenience factor in taking cards "in the field" is nice.

https://squareup.com/help/en-us/article/3809-square-s-deposit-limits#deposit_timeline

 

[Donna Banfield]

Thanks, Steve. That policy has changed a little since I considered them in the past. But I still do some cards over the phone and ship. Still not the best option for me.

 

[Steve Worcester]

Understood. I have 2 merchant accounts. One if I take the card over the web (Payquake.com) and for when the card is present, I can use the Payquake app, where I have to input all the info manually, or Square. Square costs more (1%) , but is faster because of the card swiper, so I use it. Just want to show you what I do, not steer you in any direction. Most companies want charge you with monthly fees for each. That's why Square wins in local transaction, because ther is no per transaction fee and no monthlies (which is what I have with payquake). Eventually Payquake will catch up with a card swiper and I won't use Square anymore.

 

[KurtB]

Steve, it's already here! You can download the free app from Paypal and they will provide a free card swiper that fits in your cell phone. Works great and it's quick. Customers have the option of having a receipt sent to their email or mobile phone in seconds after the transaction.

 

[Steve Worcester]

Payquake, not PayPal. But I understand

 

[MartyL]

Marty, is that a single sale for $800, or the total sales for say, a one day show?

According to the information I read, the larger single sale transactions (for example, one $500 piece), if there is a charge back, it will be harder (their words) for the merchant to return the $500 until the issue is resolved between the customer and the merchant. Their experience (again, their words) is the likelihood of a charge back occurs more often with the larger ticket items, hence the reason for the hold.

Donna sorry to take so long to reply . . . total sales for the day were well over $2000.00 and two days over 4500.00. so no limits that i have encountered!

 

[egsiegel]

Payquake, not PayPal. But I understand

Actually Kurt was correct in referring to PayPal.
Download the app and they send you the free card reader.

Mine is on the way.

 

[Steve Worcester]

Actually Kurt was correct in referring to PayPal.
Download the app and they send you the free card reader.

Mine is on the way.

He is correct, but my online merchant account is with Payquake, which has an online app, but does not support a swiper.

Like most "casual" merchant services, Paypal and Square (the low end Quicken plan) do get a premium, but are awfully easy to use and convenient.

If I take a card through Payquake, it is 1% cheaper but I pay a monthly fee for the internet gateway. Taking cards over the web is a different ball game than taking cards in a store or in the field.

 

[Donna Banfield]

Thanks, Marty!