Submitted by: Amanda Bosiak, Member Services
Do you accept credit cards at craft markets?
If not, I strongly recommend that you reconsider. The many benefits to you and most importantly, for your customer, far outweigh the few negatives. Those negatives are: 1) credit card fees 2) initial investment in hardware to accept payments.
So let’s put credit card fees in perspective. Say you have a $500 item for sale and you have a very interested buyer. This person doesn’t have $500 cash on them, they don’t carry cheques, but are willing to pay by credit which you don’t accept. You take their contact info and discuss getting in touch after the market. They thank you and move on … and when you call them a week later they say, “Thanks for getting in touch with me but I found something else at the market and that person took credit. Sorry, I spent my money with them.”
If you accepted credit, you would have lost around 3% of the sale in credit card fees. But you don’t accept credit, so you lost the whole sale.
The other problem can be investment in hardware. The big news: unless you also want to accept debit cards, you don’t need to buy/lease a card machine from companies such as Moneris. However, if you already own a smart phone your start up cost is a whopping $0 as most credit card payment apps will provide you with the app and card reader for FREE.
If you don’t own a smart phone, it is worth looking into. You can phone, text, check email and do other business related tasks on a smart phone or tablet while you are on the road or at markets.
Worried about adding another thing to your already busy schedule? Never be afraid to learn something new every day. It will take much less time than you think.

Without further ado, here is handy chart comparing the various card reader apps for smart phones.
Time for Approval
Immediate
(Variable)
3-5 business days
3-5 business days
Time to rcv card reader
7-10 business days
7 business days
(after approval)
6-10 business days
5-7 business days
iPad/iPhone*
YES
YES
YES
YES
Android*
YES
YES
NO
NO
Blackberry*
NO
YES
NO
NO
Laptop/PC*
NO
NO
YES (Limited)
YES (Limited)
Contract
NO
NO
NO
NO
Setup Fee
NO
NO
NO
NO
Card Fees
          Flat
          Per swipe
          Manual entry
NO Annual/Flat fee
2.75% per swipe
3.5% + 15c manual
NO Monthly/Annual
2.75% per swipe
2.95% + 15c manual
OPTIONS:
Monthy Fees
$9.95/m + %/trans
Pay-as-you-go
2.7%  per swipe
3.3% manual
NO Flat Fee
2.7% per swipe
3.5% + 15c manual
Visa/MC
YES
YES
YES
YES
Amex/other
NO
NO
NO
Amex/PayPal
Debit/Interac
NO
NO
NO
NO
Accepts Chip cards
YES
YES
YES
YES
Deposit to Bank
2 Business Days
1-2 Business Days
YES
YES (goes to PayPal account first)
Accepts PIN/Signature
Signature
Signature
Signature
Signature (cards)
Password (PayPal)
Adds Tax
YES
NO
YES
NO
Customer Receipts
Text/Email/Print
Email
Email/Text
Email/Text
Tech support
Online
Online
Online
Online/Phone
Issues Refunds
Within 60 days
Limited
Yes
Yes
Special features
QuickBooks
Track sales history
CVS database files
Track cash transactions
Item Management
QuickBooks
TurboTax
Email Invoices
PayPal Business
*See card reader websites for complete lists of all compatible devices/OS versions
What you need in order to sign up:
          Smart Phone or other compatible mobile data device (ex. iPad or tablet)
          Email address
          Canadian based bank account
          Social Insurance Number
          GST number or other support material proving business status
Do you already use one of these methods of accepting payment? Please share your experience with us!