I'm trying to find out about taking credit cards. I know I can contact my bank, and Sam's Club has it available as well, but I wanted to find out about it first so I'd know what I was getting into. I think I need to accept them if I'm going to be open daily to sell cupcakes/cookies/beverages/etc because it just seems like no one carries cash anymore- me included. I was planning on just using Paypal when I was going to be "by appointment only" but I can't really do that if they are coming in to by a cupcake!

Any thoughts/suggestions/lessons you had to learn the hard way/advice?

TIA!!

You are smart to research this! Be sure to call several banks in your area, you'd be amazed at how much rates and fees can vary. You will need to be able to tell them what you think your average sale will be, your weekly sales, and what you think would be on the high end of your range for a sale. For example, my 'average' credit card sale is someone paying for an 8" round birthday cake, and usually a cookie or bottle of soda. That puts the total around $35. I projected my weekly average to be $350 (10 cakes). My high end would be someone paying for a wedding cake, so I said $400.

Make sure to ask about the costs related to:
* Purchasing equipment outright
* Purchasing used equipment not through them
* Swiped transactions vs. phone transactions
* Deposit/download fees per transaction or per batch
* Debit card fees vs. credit card fees

Also, ask about:
* Length of commitment/contract
* Whether or not you can renegotiate your fees once you're established
* Software upgrade availability
* Availability of technical support if you have problems

That's all I can think of at the moment, I hope it helps! Just be sure to BE CAREFUL! If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is. Read the fine print.

HTH!
Beth

Thanks for the advice. I guess my topic should have read- if you take credit cards, not through paypal. Didn't mean to leave the by appt. only people out, lol!

Keep 'em coming!

I agree with everything momsandraven pointed out. Deciding which merchants services to use is not a decision to be taken lightly...you can really get screwed in the fine detail. I do want to mention that you might not want to accept cc payments for any order under $10...by the time you pay the fees it's just not worth it.

momsandraven had some great advice. The only things I can add is don't bother with amex..their fees are way too much to make it worth it.
I just bought my shop form another woman who did not accept credit cards and all this summer while I was training with her I can not tell you how many times I saw people come in try to buy a bunch of stuff only to put things back becasue she did not take credit cards and they did not have enough cash. Today it really is imperative because no one carries cash any more, most everyone uses their debit cards. Also I have found a lot of brides like to use their credit cards becasue they want to save what little cash they have for other things that have to be paid in cash. If you are looking to bolster business taking credit cards is a very good move. But like momsandraven said do your homework and be careful!

A few more thoughts for you . You can also lease the credit card equipment, and you should also ask them how they work with the actual companies on thier chargeback policy. Chargebacks are hard to follow through on when they do occur. And most of the time it is the store that will take the loss. Because it is hard for you to follow up with a customer that walks in off of the street to purchase a cake from your display case vs a customer that uses a credit card to pay for a wedding cake ( at least you have thier info. HTH.

Tbanks for the info. The only experience I have with credit cards (other than using them to spend money, lol) is doing cash advances at the banks I've worked at. This is all new to me, so I appreciate it.