What Credit card reader and all that, do you all use?

[Porthos]

I offered an opportunity(PM) to accept a phone call to discuss my experiences as a one man tech who works from home. *crickets*

 

[GTP]

What do you mean by that?

Do you mean that a) you charge a cc fee on top of your normal price or b) they don't care that it costs you 3%?

I mean they don't care that I add 2.2% on top of their bill for using a CC.

 

[GTP]

Just price all products and services as if they are using a card. If they happen to use cash or check more profit for you. Keeps you from worrying about loss from CC fees.

I like that idea!

 

[Diggs]

A question we haven't discussed along these lines is if you are going to charge tax? I don't charge taxes. I quote $150 on something, that is what the customer pays. Not $158.25 (5.5% says tax here). I work onsite almost exclusively and get paid in cash frequently. No tax makes things so much easier. Don't get me wrong - I pay all my taxes to the state of Wisconsin it's that I just price everything with taxes included to make it easier, quicker and cleaner for me and my customers.

 

[River Valley Computer]

@Logan: Please don't let me be the one to dampen your enthusiasm but I've noticed that a lot of the questions you're asking have been dealt with here before, often several times. May I suggest that you spend some time in reading over the old threads here before asking "new" questions? There's an excellent search facility if you need specific information but you would do well just to browse all the available forums to see what people have already discussed to death - that's part of the reasoning behind the probationary period before you get access to the rest of the forums, you see.

We're happy to help but many of us have busy lives and time taken to answer a question that's already been answered is time we can't spend on making money or playing with kittens.

Thanks!

While I understand what you are saying in general, I think we ought to be considerate to people wanting to start a business. I think we were all there at one time or another. I for one have enjoyed reading Logans question from a newbie aspect - some of the questions have made us rethink some of our business practices.

These types of questions are not the same as the ones that sneak in asking how to repair their computer.

Also as far as the 'search' function on Technibble it is good in general, but as we all know things change exponentially and what was good last year might not be appropriate in today's market.

I don't know about the rest of you but our business is very slow this month and answering a few questions won't affect us - in fact it might keep us awake.

 

[Porthos]

Also as far as the 'search' function on Technibble it is good in general, but as we all know things change exponentially and what was good last year might not be appropriate in today's market.

So true.

 

[fencepost]

Even my boss irl uses it, though she has to swipe cards like 10 times to get it to go through, but i think that's her wifi

More likely it's an old card reader if she's swiping. She should probably get a new one that she simply sockets the chip section of the card into.

I pay my bank $50 / month or $600 / year for the privilege of doing their teller's job and scanning the checks at home with a commercial grade check scanner that they provide.

If you've been doing that for a few years you might check whether A) your bank has a mobile app, B) whether you can access your business account from it and C) whether it has a mobile deposit option that lets you simply take pictures of the front and back of the check. Of course, depending on the volume of checks it might still be faster and easier to use the dedicated check scanner.

While I understand what you are saying in general, I think we ought to be considerate to people wanting to start a business. I think we were all there at one time or another. I for one have enjoyed reading Logans question from a newbie aspect - some of the questions have made us rethink some of our business practices.

Agreed - there's a huge amount of information available, but if you're still working on the framework and background knowledge then threads like the "what's your software stack" one might not be so useful.

 

[timeshifter]

If you've been doing that for a few years you might check whether A) your bank has a mobile app, B) whether you can access your business account from it and C) whether it has a mobile deposit option that lets you simply take pictures of the front and back of the check. Of course, depending on the volume of checks it might still be faster and easier to use the dedicated check scanner.

Thanks for posting this. Yes, they have a mobile app and I can make deposits from it. But last time I used it there was a $2,500 limit on daily deposits, but that's now been raised to $25,000 per day and $100,000 per month.

Pros and cons of current remote deposit service:
+ drop a stack of checks in the Panini scanner and it zips through them in a few seconds
+ print a hard copy of deposit receipt from bank website
+ consistent workflow and record keeping with how I've done it for years
- $600 per year
- clunky scanner that sits on my desk 24/7 but only used once a week
- finicky browser plug-in that gets broken with some updates (recent Safari on Mac update made it unusable, had to switch to Chrome on Windows)

I'll have to try the mobile again next time I make a deposit.

 

[nerd2u]

I used to do the whole mobile deposit thing.

Until one day I found a stack of cheques in a drawer, thinking I had hit it rich in forgotten to cash cheques only to find out I had already deposited them all with my phone.

Now I just go to the bank.

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[Porthos]

I stopped accepting checks years ago. After seversland a couple of big ones the hassel and the waiting for the DA here to recover the money made it not worth it. It is not so bad when only labor is involved but when there is expensive equiment that hurts big time.

Knock on wood never gotten a chargeback on a CC purchase. I just buldthe fee in every service or part as if they are going to use a CC.

 

[nerd2u]

Some customers I work with cheque is the only way your getting paid. Usually government is cheque only. I wish they would do direct deposit as it has to be cheaper for them then sending it out to be printed and mailing me a cheque but they just aren't setup to do it and don't want to change

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[Your PCMD]

In my case I use QuickBooks Online and their GoPayment

The problem with GoPayment versus Square (which I use and have for 7 years with no issues at all) is that it takes days to get your money and Square deposits to my bank the very next day - except for major holidays.

On that note, I will say that I use Quickbooks and absolutely love it. I have some SMB's on a NET10 and they pay through the Quickbooks invoice thats emailed to them.

Also, if you don't "need" your money the next day, then GoPayment is great in that unlike Square, their reader does both card slider and chip cards in one reader. With Square, you have to have both.

I mean they don't care that I add 2.2% on top of their bill for using a CC.

Cannot do that here in Texas. Its illegal to charge a fee to use Credit/Debit cards - but - you can offer a discount for cash payments. Although I don't worry about that because I charge the same for every payment form. See @Porthos post.

 

[Porthos]

is that it takes days to get your money and Square deposits to my bank the very next day - except for major holidays.

I get instant access to money with Paypal.

their reader does both card slider and chip cards in one reader.

Same with Paypal.

 

[nerd2u]

The last PayPal transaction I had for $2500 they flagged it held it for 3 weeks then deemed it fraudulent even after I provided invoices quotes and signed contract.

They never even bothered to contact the buyer to see if it was a legit transaction.

I no longer offer payment via PayPal.

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[Porthos]

The last PayPal transaction I had for $2500 they flagged it held it for 3 weeks then deemed it fraudulent even after I provided invoices quotes and signed contract.

They never even bothered to contact the buyer to see if it was a legit transaction.

I no longer offer payment via PayPal.

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I am a small home break /fix operation. $2500 is a good month for me not a single client at one time.

 

[Your PCMD]

I get instant access to money with Paypal.

Yes, but AFAIK you have to log in and transfer it over, unless they changed it in the past year or so. Still, too many people here where I am that are weary of PayPal and no offense, the local Pizza Techs that used to be here - yeah we ran them out - used PayPal to rip people off with throw away accounts.

I am a small home break /fix operation. $2500 is a good month for me not a single client at one time.

I hear ya buddy.

I have a friend that got burned for over 6 grand. He runs a shuttle business and had a client that ran up a tab over a 3 month period. It was all legit with a signed contract, yet PayPal kept it all and closed his account, even after the client called PayPal and told them it was legit.

 

[Porthos]

Yes, but AFAIK you have to log in and transfer it over

Yes and no. I use my Paypal debit card to pay for items i need(parts and expenses) and get 1% cash back on each purchase. If I want to transfer some to a regular bank account yes you have to transfer it from the paypal web site takes 2 days.

I collect money for refurbs in advance and as soon as I get the payment I can pay for the computer online. I have been fortunate to never have a chargeback or dispute. Of course I pay more(fees) if they pay online than with a card swipe.

 

[GTP]

With Square, you have to have both.

My Square Reader has both card insert and swipe in the one reader? Is that what you meant?

 

[Your PCMD]

My Square Reader has both card insert and swipe in the one reader? Is that what you meant?

https://squareup.com/us/en/hardware/reader

 

[fencepost]

Until one day I found a stack of cheques in a drawer, thinking I had hit it rich in forgotten to cash cheques only to find out I had already deposited them all with my phone.

I have started to see some checks with a lightly printed checkbox in the endorsement area with instructions to check it after doing a mobile deposit. Might be worth just making that a practice.

I also never endorse checks unless I'm either at the bank or doing a mobile deposit right there, so if I have an endorsed check around it's been deposited.