Card Terminals are they worth it?

[warnie]

for a sweet and gift shop?

I can't help thinking that I may be holding the business back by not having a debit/credit card facility. Many of our customers know we're cash only and to be honest we get asked if we take cards perhaps once every other day. But I'm beginning to wonder if we're losing customers due to this.

We have a Spar store 3 doors down from us that also sell cards, gift wrap/bags etc. Now we know ours are better due to the fact the spar staff use us and also on occassions send customers that they know down to us, But they still sell far more.

My next door neighbour used to own what was a newsagents 2 doors down from us (spar brought him out 2 years ago when they wanted to start selling papers)he's retired now. He told me what turnover he used to do just on cards etc, and it was 7 times what we do despite us getting some of our cards from his old supplier.I believe it may also be reflecting on our sales of gifts as well.

The last time I had a quote for a machine was over a year ago. I think it was somewhere along the lines of £25 a month rental plus the percentage on each sale or £20 which ever was the highest:|. I knocked it back due to being uncertain about how much we would use it and the length of the contract involved.

Is there anyone else out there who owns a retail shop without a card machine or is it just me?:redface:

 

[Banned]

Wayne, here's some figures for you on our credit card sales, as you'll see it's minimal but at the same time would I loose those sales if I didn't take cards?

Week ending:-
8th Jan £78.67
1st Jan £12.50
25th Dec £278.33
18th Dec £181.76
11th Dec £78.27
4th Dec £68.22
27th Nov £42.81
20th Nov £102.30
13th Nov £63.34

 

[shadesofblue]

You'll definately be loosing business. It's repetative business as well because people will know you don't accept cards so pop to the shop up the road. If you have a stand alone terminal as new to cards you can get one for between £15.00 - £25.00 13p on debits and 1.1% on credits.

Elavon do a deal for costco members which seems very reasonable at 11p for debits. I've been out the industry for a while so you'll need to read the small print.

You can also make money back from purchases. people who make small purchases expect to be charged for using a debit/credit card so don't fear doing this.

Also look at offering things like cashback and mobile phone top ups which generate both money and footfall

 

[CardsaveAccountsExecutive]

Hi Warnie,

If its ok i can PM you a quote for a Static card terminal?

Have been doing some great deals for UKBF members.

Kind Regards

Scott Laughland
Cardsave Accounts Manager
01159487619

 

[Sparx]

Ahh Scott, beat me to it.. I should really move to Sales.. Haha

 

[CardsaveAccountsExecutive]

Sparx,

Got to be quick to keep up with DTS.

Ahh Scott, beat me to it.. I should really move to Sales.. Haha

 

[warnie]

Wayne, here's some figures for you on our credit card sales, as you'll see it's minimal but at the same time would I loose those sales if I didn't take cards?

Week ending:-
8th Jan £78.67
1st Jan £12.50
25th Dec £278.33
18th Dec £181.76
11th Dec £78.27
4th Dec £68.22
27th Nov £42.81
20th Nov £102.30
13th Nov £63.34

Thats great thanks

Do you know what figure you would need to take to cover the cost of the machine?

 

[warnie]

You'll definately be loosing business. It's repetative business as well because people will know you don't accept cards so pop to the shop up the road. If you have a stand alone terminal as new to cards you can get one for between £15.00 - £25.00 13p on debits and 1.1% on credits.

Elavon do a deal for costco members which seems very reasonable at 11p for debits. I've been out the industry for a while so you'll need to read the small print.

You can also make money back from purchases. people who make small purchases expect to be charged for using a debit/credit card so don't fear doing this.

Also look at offering things like cashback and mobile phone top ups which generate both money and footfall

Thanks, it was the costco deal mentioned in another thread which got me thinking a bit more. As for mobile phone top-ups I take it you can do them from a standard terminal? also any idea what sort of margin's in them?

 

[warnie]

Hi Warnie,

If its ok i can PM you a quote for a Static card terminal?

Have been doing some great deals for UKBF members.

Kind Regards

Scott Laughland
Cardsave Accounts Manager
01159487619

PM away! bear in mind though i'm just a poor sweet shop owner!

 

[shadesofblue]

Thanks, it was the costco deal mentioned in another thread which got me thinking a bit more. As for mobile phone top-ups I take it you can do them from a standard terminal? also any idea what sort of margin's in them?

Yes you do them from the standard terminal but I'm not sure if all companies offer the service. I'm sure paymentsense does and I have the figure of £0.50 for £10.00 in my head

 

[Cobby]

We have a barclaycard terminal (ict250/ml-30 combo) with a nice big, clear, high-contrast colour screen (helpful for oldies/poor sighted) and it supports those incredibly quick contactless payments. We negotiated a 2 year contract, 4 months free terminal rental, 3 months commission-free payments (no %ages or charges) and it costs us £15/month plus reasonable rates (that I cannot recall) for the cards. It is installed on our one and only phone line and is much faster than the Streamline unit we had previously.

Would we do without it? Not a chance. In fact these days you will likely be perceived as unprofessional if you don't offer a card facility. We don't offer cashback though as I'm uncomfortable keeping a surplus of cash to hand.

The only restriction we have is that card is only accepted for amounts of £5 or above. Nobody bats an eyelid and many people seem surprised the limit isn't £10. The number of times people 'make up' their purchases to £5 pays for the terminal.

Hope this helps.

 

[onestoppampershop]

This thread has convinced me to go for it too

 

[Prestige-SEO]

I would defiantly get one, I rarely carry cash with me and always like to pay on card, it allows me to track what I've paid for and stops me from wasting my "change" on rubbish which I dont need.

I often avoid shops if they don't accept cards. And I think in the near future every place of business will have card payments.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[amy9]

Without reading the entire thread I'll say it's definitely worth it.

I don't carry much cash around with me these days, as do a lot of people I know. We're likely to become increasingly less concerned with cash in the future.

Perhaps the reason you get so few inquiries about whether you take cards is that people in the area know you don't, so they simply don't bother coming into your shop. You could be losing a lot of sales this way.

 

[ubuntu1]

I get asked by customer perhaps 5 or 6 times a month for credit card facilities and this makes normal credit card handling contracts very expensive. If I was in the US I could use something like Square on my mobile phone and the only charge would be something like 3% of the transaction. No use = no charge.

Is anyone doing something similar in the UK? All I can find is the normal Merchant account/payment processors.

 

[scottishmovies]

I've been browsing the forum looking for answers about card machines as well. To say its all confusing is an understatement!

I want to take payments over the phone and at exhibitions and it seems that to get one of these machines is going to cost me a small fortune! And the costs don't stop there either!!

I noticed that a 3 day hire is at £24 per day with a 3 day min hire. I need one for 3x 2day events and a 1x1 day event but I would need to hire it for 12 days @ £24!
It would seem that a quick calculation indicates I'd be just as well getting an annual hire. Doesn;t make sense to me - unless someone can tell me I'm missing something obvious....

And if the guys that do the machines can convince me with a PM - please do!

 

[littlebiz]

We got rid of our in one shop, and no one batted an eyelid. These days I'd avoid anything that gives more money to banks. We're still battling to get a response from the barclaycard machine people about ending the contract in other shop, closed months ago. Even bank not responding. Just had to make official complaint to Barclays. I'd avoid if you can. Do you really want to pay a surcharge on small transactions? People used to take the piss by wanting to pay for a coffee and ciabatta with a card, when there are 3 cashpoints within a minute's walk.

 

[littlebiz]

Check the post about 'PCI DSs' charges too - that's in top of the charges you expect, I gather.

 

[emmylou74]

I think all shops should have a card machine. When I first opened I was still waiting for my card machine and as soon as I got it in the shop I got much larger transactions.

I know I very rarely carry cash and prefer to use my card. Its easy enough to say to people that you need to spend at least £10 before they can use the card machine. Most people are aware there i normally a limit.

 

[amy9]

People used to take the piss by wanting to pay for a coffee and ciabatta with a card, when there are 3 cashpoints within a minute's walk.

What's wrong with this? I'm not sure what type of premises you are, but if you're a regular coffee shop then a coffee and a ciabatta would come to at least a fiver.

And it's not always a lack of cash points that causes people to want to use cards, it's the fact that if you take a tenner out to pay for a few pounds worth of stuff, you end up spending the rest of the tenner on crap.

Plus, paying on card allows you to track your spending much more easily.

 

[mhall]

I think you certainly need one, but make sure you put a minimum transaction on it, say £5 as the last thing you want is to pay the charges on a debit transaction for a couple of quid.

I know that most Mr Simms don't accept credit cards, but I suspect that is more to make sure that there is no audit trail of sales than anything else.

 

[warnie]

Thanks Guys for all the reply's

It looks as though we maybe getting one if it all go's through ok. Cardsave have offered us what I think is a good deal, definatley a lot cheaper than the quote we recieved over a year ago from Evalon.

The clincher for us was the no minimum charge and only a 12 month contract.

So Thankyou Scott for your help so far

 

[CardsaveAccountsExecutive]

Hi Wayne,

No problems at all, Paperwork should be with you this morning.

Any problems just give me a call.

Thanks Scott

 

[John_Orcus]

All of our customers who went to accepting card payments from cash only saw an increase in the number of transactions and also the average transaction value.

I think a lot of retailers who do take cards could do better at advertising the fact as well, some of them even keep the pin entry device hidden away under the counter.

As a minimum it's worth putting the 'we take Visa/Mastercard' etc stickers on the door and at the counter.

 

[CardsaveAccountsExecutive]

Hi John morning,

Totally agree, We also supply our merchants with decals/stickers with every terminal provided (Big and Small).

John, hows your client coming along?

Scott

 

[John_Orcus]

Hi Scott, I've passed on your contact details so if there's no joy with his current choice then he'll no doubt be in touch.

 

[CardsaveAccountsExecutive]

Fantastic,

Have you had any more thoughts on the partnership?

PM your email and ill get one of the partnership team to email you some information across.

Thanks Scott

 

[Sparx]

Thanks Guys for all the reply's

It looks as though we maybe getting one if it all go's through ok. Cardsave have offered us what I think is a good deal, definatley a lot cheaper than the quote we recieved over a year ago from Evalon.

The clincher for us was the no minimum charge and only a 12 month contract.

So Thankyou Scott for your help so far

Hi Wayne,

No problems at all, Paperwork should be with you this morning.

Any problems just give me a call.

Thanks Scott

I'll keep my eyes peeled for this one.

You may end up speaking with me Warnie if you call in needing help installing your card terminal.

 

[jeducg]

Hi Warnie,

before you make any decision please give me a chance to look at your offer
I work for Paymentsense and believe that we offer the fastest turn around on card machine sign ups.

If we have all the correct paperwork we can have your machine up and running in 3/4 working days

we also offer capped rates and 24/7 365 days Tec support

have a look at our website.

if you want me to quote PM me please

 

[CardsaveAccountsExecutive]

Hi Jeducg,

Welcome to the thread, Was wondering how long it would take before a payment sense commission only sales rep would start hijacking threads again.(must be a new starter)

If warnie is happy please do provide him with a quote, It will only make my costing's stronger.

And please do inform us how long your capped rate contract is?

Kind regards

Scott Laughland
Cardsave Accounts Manager
01159487619
[email protected]

Hi Warnie,

before you make any decision please give me a chance to look at your offer
I work for Paymentsense and believe that we offer the fastest turn around on card machine sign ups.

If we have all the correct paperwork we can have your machine up and running in 3/4 working days

we also offer capped rates and 24/7 365 days Tec support

have a look at our website.

if you want me to quote PM me please

 

[IGM_Computers]

Has anyone else seen those Square iPhone plug ins? They're supposed to be really good

 

[jeducg]

Hi Scott,

In reply to your comments:-

No not a new starter.
Self employed - yes so are many of our clients so whats wrong with that? we have to adhere to the the same regulations set by the banks.
Hijacking threads - thought this was a forum for information not just one company to sell but for people to gleam as much info as possible.

Answer to your question of how long are caped rate contract well that is the choice of the merchant, but if you can cap your rates take it as long as you can I say, know your costs and know that they will not go up for a fixed term good for any business unless I AM MISSING SOMETHING.

We are transparent with our charges we do not add Charges to our headline prices what you sign for is what you pay.

As the fastest growing merchant acquirer in the UK we must be doing something right.

hope that answers your questions

 

[ubuntu1]

To answer IGm computers, square and a number of competitors operate in the US but not in Europe. I believe it is because we need chip and pin in Europe which they don't really have in the US. There are a few people testing chip and pin machines that connect to your mobile but no one seems to have the pay as you go US model like Square.

 

[julidee]

Hi, we are starting to exhibit at events, some are small and some are big like The Great Yorkshire Show. Discussed on another thread about mobile cc terminals as the smaller fairs wouldnt really need them, but at the big ones, not near a cash machine and would probably lose alot of custom if we didnt.
As we have only just started trading, ecommerce set up last week, not alot of cash flow for expensive long term contracts, we just need them for the weekend or so.
A kind person told me about Adelante. Looked it up, surprised this is moving to mobile phones instead of terminals.
Any thoughts or comments on my post would be welcomed as always...
Julia
Pollycandle.

 

[warnie]

Our card machine is now up and running, really simple to install just had to put an extended 20 meter phone socket in at a cost of £9.99 from argos

So thankyou Scott at Cardsave, and everyone else that contributed to this thread.

 

[sanorman]

I'm too looking at accepting credit cards in my business. I'm a Costco member and their deal with Elavon does look good. I'll need a mobile terminal to use at exhibitions though most of my transactions will be in one place.

Can anyone advise of the current best deals - without any hidden fees etc.

Thanks

steve

 

[deniser]

I haven't read the thread but we don't have one. We only open to the public on occasional Saturdays and we only take cash. Average spend per customer is £120 and it isn't an issue because they want to buy what we sell. We have two cash machines within 50 metres so if they don't have it, they go and get it.

We never lost a sale because we don't take cards.

We took cards for years but the price for hiring the machine, running the extra phone line etc. was silly for a shop which isn't permanently open.

When people ask if you take cards and you say no, does anyone go away?

Also we noticed a large upturn in numbers of people using cash after Lehman anyway.

A friend who runs a newsagent doesn't take them because his profit margin is so small that he would be making a loss on each transaction if he took cards. In a sweet shop I would imagine your average spend is quite small?

Anyway, do the maths. Count how many transactions you get in each price bracket. Calculate how much the card fees are taking into account also the monthly rental fees divided by number of transactions likely to make use of card facility. Estimate how many people (from those who ask at the moment, what proportion are they?) would use a card. See how much it would cost v. your profit on the transaction. Ignore any uplift in sales for the time being. How much does it cost? Is it viable?

 

[Deleted member 36037]

An honest question of all the experts here, in the hope of an honest answer..
How does the FSB offer compare when you have checked through all of the small print, I keep being told it is better than certain of the names mentioned on here, is that true ?
Yes I am involved with FSB no I do not use a terminal because it is not suited to my own business..

 

[Indivijewelistic]

Before I opened I estimated 50% of my sales would be credit card sales, but a year on it is more like 75-80% particularly towards the middle/end of the month and I guess that is people buying on credit card and paying it off when they get paid. On-line it was less and I am re-thinking that now, but as I am a bricks and mortar shop I am not so sure I should be so focused on the online sales. The one thing I have done is say there is a £5.00 limit or we charge 50p for the transaction - because there is a clause in the Barclaycard terms and conditions. The paper shop next door to us has a 50p charge on every transaction he does by card and I have seen lots of people pay by card in his shop.

 

[deniser]

Before I opened I estimated 50% of my sales would be credit card sales, but a year on it is more like 75-80% particularly towards the middle/end of the month and I guess that is people buying on credit card and paying it off when they get paid. On-line it was less and I am re-thinking that now, but as I am a bricks and mortar shop I am not so sure I should be so focused on the online sales. The one thing I have done is say there is a £5.00 limit or we charge 50p for the transaction - because there is a clause in the Barclaycard terms and conditions. The paper shop next door to us has a 50p charge on every transaction he does by card and I have seen lots of people pay by card in his shop.

Does the charge not create a lot of ill feeling though? I've seen people stomp out of shops in annoyance when told there is a charge to use a card. And aren't they going to make it illegal to impose a blanket fee for card use anyway?

Best is to just accept credit cards on small amounts; it's the debit card fee which is a killer on small transactions.