Card Readers

[Loody]

I would like to share my experience with Paypal here. The Card Reader gadget looks robust and professional and, on the face of it the app is very easy to use. The reader connects to the phone via Bluetooth. The item is added in the app which then tells you to put the card in, you check the amount and ask the customer to enter the pin number. After this the phone connects to authorise the payment. This is fine if you have a good, robust signal.
However where I was yesterday the signal went from good to 1 bar. I tried to process several transactions, most of which failed. A couple of times, I got the message that it had failed so I put it through again which worked. Another time I got a cheque from the customer. When I checked my account later I discovered that transactions that had appeared to fail hadn't so I had duplicates and ones where I had cheques as well. It appears that the app could not cope with an intermittent signal and was giving incorrect status about the transactions. This was highly embarrassing for us as a business and I have had to spend today sorting out the issues.
Going forward I have written to Paypal and will be returning the reader and I intend to get the WorldPay option for when we go to our next show.
So, my advice is NOT to use the Paypal reader if the connection is not reliable.

I was going to get the Paypal Here reader this month....I've now looked at WorldPay and have signed up with them - their reader is cheaper and the reviews I've seen are good....Just hoping they accept me now xx

[Caroleecrafts]

I use iZettle on the ipad but you have to have wifi access, luckily the place I go to has free wifi and a good strong signal

[WorldPay Zinc]

I hadn't realised the customer had to have a smart phone. Is that the case for Worldpay too? Marion

I don't think so Marion - Worldpay give you a proper card machine, iZettle is a gizmo that fits onto your smart phone.

Hi Marion, Daesul,

Your customer doesn't need to have a smartphone to make a payment.
The keypad works just like any other card reader you would use in a restaurant or high street shop.

Cheers,
Emma

[HelenHistoriana]

I'm looking into getting a reader, this thread is very useful; but unfortunately, WorldPay now charge £235+vat one-off fee for the reader/account! Or alternatively, £24.50 per month on an 18-month contract. And then 2.75% on each transaction, for either deal.
That's a LOT more than the 50-odd-quid mentioned in this thread. I need to do some more research. If anyone has more up-to-date information or recommendations, please let me know!
cheers
Helen

[AnnieAnna]

I had a Chip and Pin machine and the card reader was fantastic. It never failed. The charge lasted for days. I worked out that with all the charges that get sneaked in that they don't tell you about up front it was costing me £400 a year. I gave it back (that was a nightmare experience!) and bought a PayPal card reader. a one off payment of £50 and then a smallish charge on each transaction. The idea is brilliant and the experience of using it makes me give up the will to live. The battery life if short. You need both the mobile and the reader charged up. Fine for the first day, but the second of a weekend fair? I bought a battery charger. You have to press a lot of buttons to get it set up then it disconnects after a bit of sitting idle. If you can't get a telephone signal you are stuck. The worst thing is you go to use it. It doesn't work. You take so long to work out what it is that is wrong the customer walks away.
I've decided to wait until we can do that African thing and exchange money via phones.
Meantime I let the customer take the goods and I send them a PayPal request from my computer when I get home. This requires trust but my customers are a bit special and it's worked beautifully so far.

[MornieG Jewellery]

Helen we have a paypal reader and an iZettle one. The izettle is ore reliable and has better after sales service. Same price and % as paypal, easy to use and money in your account very quickly too. Regarding the charge most people have electricity supply option at events. I f you don't get one of the little chargers, costs £10 or less that you charge up before you go then you can run the credit card handset off it if it runs out.

Mo.XX

Mo.XX

[AnnieAnna]

Yesterday on the tele they highlighted the Square (SquareUp). I looked it up and it seems to cost a one off payment £39 plus VAT then a charge on each transaction. It takes contactless and I saw something about card not present (I need to read the fine print properly). It plugs into your phone. They've been using it in America for a while and it's being introduced over here (I need to check the dates of the review). The money quickly goes into your bank account. It seems to fuse the good points of Chip and Pin and PayPal Here.It has a very bad side. Poor customer support and something where it blocks you if your transactions go over a certain amount. The amount seemed to be in the thousands so I don't think it would affect me. For anything over £100 I like to be paid by cheque or BACs. At fairs my customers are paying from £1 to £50. I'm wondering if it's worth a punt? I'm finding all my young customers want to pay by contactless.

[Brenda555]

Of course, taking payments by card is very convenient, especially today, when a lot of people are for the cashless society. I'm going to buy a netspend card reader. Having addressed the [MOD EDIT-LINK REMOVED]I found out that there is a ProPay JAK card reader available.