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Market Gardener

question about accepting credit cards

16 years ago

Do any of you have the mobile equipment to process credit cards or have experience with this? I've been thinking about it because I get so many customers that just don't carry checks/cash anymore. Heck, I don't even carry it myself. Looking for any tips you can pass on to me.

Sincerely,

Sandy @ Northern Tropics

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Comments (6)

kydaylilylady
16 years ago
It seems that the people at our market just know to come to the market supplied with cash or to bring their checkbook. Others that have debit cards go to the ATM's for cash withdrawls before coming. Though this may be something for us in the future so far it hasn't been a problem though I have been considering going the credit card route for my daylily website.

Janet
moonblooms
16 years ago
If you've been thinking about accepting credit cards, you may want to check in to the fees and upfront costs of doing so. You will of course have to pay for the machine and the monthly maintenance on it. Then there is the discount fee that the bank will charge you for each transaction. This fee is based on your annual sales volume (the higher your sales, the lower your fee will be). You may even have to use a "middle man" to process your transactions (more fees). It can take several days for your money to reach your account. I just want to mention this, because these fees and costs can really eat in to your bottom line.

Also, if you agree to accept credit cards, then you must do so for every transaction (meaning you can't say, well I'll just accept credit cards for the lower dollar transactions and not have to pay the discount fees on the higher ones). There are several rules and regulations you have to follow.

Janet is right, most people come to the markets with cash. It's still very old school. We even barter with other vendors sometimes at our market.
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barrie2m_(6a, central PA)
16 years ago
Alot depends on your product and type of market. Last year after having had a few requests to accept cards, I took a local bank promo deal and opted for a carbon copied hand written form which I could take home and enter data thru a software package on the computer(this was the cheapest option).

We were turned off by rules that you could not accept min. purchase or only accept during certain times. Since we were incredably busy thru most of the market hours I just never accepted the first transaction. I'm seriously considering droping the service.

If you have the volume of business the portable directconnect swipe machines are the best but also the most costly. I do think you can draw a few extra people to purchase from you but you need to commit to it and expect some transactions will not be worth the extra effort or loss of sales to other, less patient cash buyers. Even without the card feature we have many people just laying money on the table and leaving. Sometimes I wish they would all just help themselves and put a fair price in a jar.
moonblooms
16 years ago
This weekend, I got to thinking about people that don't carry cash or checks when visiting the farmer's market. This could just be a polite way of them telling you they don't want to buy your product. It's an easy excuse that won't hurt your feelings.
sandy0225
Original Author
16 years ago
Thanks for all your thoughts/advice on this subject. I'm going to check with my bank and see what hoops they want me to jump through to do this. Then decide how worthwhile it is.
I know one small local liquor store charges an extra fee to accept your credit card. I actually thought about doing something like that, it's working for them.
country_blooms
16 years ago
We take credit cards for our other business, and found the best deal through the Retailers Federation in our state. The fees can still take a chunk out of our profit, and have had to adjust our prices to compensate for it. According to our merchant agreement, it isn't legal to charge an extra fee to customers for paying with a credit card. We have given a discount for cash, and that has worked out well for us. Hope this helps.

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