credit and debit cards

[phil]

We all know how to take credit and debit cards through a website with companies such as Worldpay, Paypal etc. But at craft fairs when you do not have the luxury of a computer how can this be done. There used to be the old paper swipe machines, but i presume with the new pin and chip system they are no longer available.

Any suggestions how I can get around this, you do see people taking cards at some shows but never got around to asking.

Any help would be appreciated.

Many thanks

Phil

[Elizabeth Anne Norris]

Credit and debit cards

I have been to a craft fair recently and seen credit cards used with the old fashioned duplicate paper copy hand swipe machine. I also think if you have one of the new chip and pin machines all you need is to be plugged into a phone line at a craft fair.

[utopiapoppy]

Mobile Chip & pin Card Machines

I have heard that you can get a mobile chip and pin card machine from Barclays Bank.

I don't know exactly what it's called but it works similar to a mobile phone.

It has a sim card in it so that when you swipe the card, it logs on to the network and the transaction is instant (instead of downloading the info once you get home)

As far as I know it'll also work on batteries, so no mains needed.

All I can say is, ask Barclays about it. My boyfriend runs a market stall at the weekends and heard about it. He's applying for one next week.

[0103media]

Re: Mobile Chip & pin Card Machines

All I can say is, ask Barclays about it. My boyfriend runs a market stall at the weekends and heard about it. He's applying for one next week.

A market in the middle of ludlow shropshire has a shared credit card machine.

Each still pay X amount a day/week/month/year to have access to it and the cost is plit up between the stall....

Good idea for any of you craft organisiers...
e.g. 50 still each pay £3 for use of a credit card machine for the day...

just an idea!! :lol:

[craftlink]

Hello.

We have been looking in to this subject too so we can start selling at Trade shows. I popped in to Abbey National (our bank) and they too will rent hand held terminals for this purpose. Most bank do to business customers apparently. Contact yours for more info.

[shopjewels]

i think there is a potable solution to the chip and pin! you should be able to find this by looking through a search engine -






shop online: www.wooch.co.uk

[Fran]

Hi

I take credit cards via the old paper swipe machine method. This was only issued to us as a back up for when and if our website is down or we have a power cut etc. but needless to say it's great for events, so with that in mind about power cuts etc. then I don't think that they will completely do away with them.

You can get portable chip and pin terminals that work via mobile phone connection but that won't work well if you are in an area that doesn't have a strong signal.

As far as I know the hand held terminals that you can rent still need to be connected to a land phone line.

To me the old method is still the best option for events

Fran

[Tranquility80]

I'm sure you can pick something up like this on ebay.

[bigbird842]

Bank Charges for accepting credit cards

Hi
I sell at craft fairs and on the internet and have thought about doing this myself however teh costs are unbelievable. You have to set up an account with a bank for example HSBC quoted me £75 to set up, £20 per month and then 20% commission on all transactions.

I decided to stick to paypal online and cash/cheque at craft fairs.

Teresa

[hananyaa]

Credit and Debit Cards

Hi Phil
When I did fairs my customers wrote their details in a book and i put them all through on Worldpay later that evening.
I kept the book in a mini safe tucked securely behind my stall and made sure potential customers wrote it all in the book themselves and saw me store it away after.
Not as secure as chip and pin but so much cheaper, not everyone will do it but if you have an honest face why not try?

[0103media]

Hi Phil
When I did fairs my customers wrote their details in a book and i put them all through on Worldpay later that evening.
I kept the book in a mini safe tucked securely behind my stall and made sure potential customers wrote it all in the book themselves and saw me store it away after.
Not as secure as chip and pin but so much cheaper, not everyone will do it but if you have an honest face why not try?

You need to be very very careful... Not only saying something like that / doing in public "may" be illegal if you have a record of the 3 digit code..

I know that if you have a merchant account and a CC machine that if you found to be holding onto the 3 digit code that your account is closed down..

If you need i'll try and find some info on it..

Hope that helps..

[Su Poole]

We are members of the FSB (Federation of Small Businesses) and got our mobile credit card machine through them with a massive discount for the setup by virtue of our membership. It pretty much has paid for itself several times over in increased sales at bead fairs. The company that does the processing is Streamline and the machine is through 123-Send, and we have had excellent service with them all.

If you do fairs and have a number of people asking about your ability to take cards, you can check the FSB or the Market Trader's association as both of them have special deals for members.

It's definitely worth it.

-Su