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Till, CC Machine, and EPOS System

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Deleted member 68993

Hi everyone,

I'm opening a book shop in Edinburgh later this year, and I'm looking to have a till with an EPOS system installed so I can keep track of what's selling well.

Does anyone have any advice regarding these systems, and good providers for them as well as credit card machines?


Cheers,

edin_guy
 
Sorry, I should have added that I've already contacted FSB about the credit card terminals they offer. Does anyone know if those would hook up to any kind of till?
 
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(Disclaimer, I am not putting down your business idea just curious as to how you arrived at it) I haven't got any advice regarding an EPOS system as we use a bespoke one, but I'd love to hear your reasons for opening a book shop when all the market intelligence would suggest it is a shrinking market. Are you going to be carrying standard fayre stock like WH Smith and Waterstones or are you going to be stocking more niche interest books?
 
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Hi LicensedToTrade,

We'll be a speciality bookshop offering a new take on the traditional (read: geeky) comic shop, aiming for the slightly older 20+ market. With the average comic reader being around 25, but shops decked out to aim at the early teenage market, I think there's a niche in the retail book industry for a shop like ours.

Also, I recently left a job in publishing where I ran a magazine which was quite successful. I figure if I had a keen nose for what people wanted to read in our publication then I should be able to figure out what they'll buy in a magazine or book.
 
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edin_guy said:
Hi LicensedToTrade,

We'll be a speciality bookshop offering a new take on the traditional (read: geeky) comic shop, aiming for the slightly older 20+ market. With the average comic reader being around 25, but shops decked out to aim at the early teenage market, I think there's a niche in the retail book industry for a shop like ours.
Click to expand...

Well that makes a lot more sense. I see people opening up normal bookshops that work on the same model as waterstones and I scratch my head. I've been working with a guy for the last 12 months to see how we can make a bricks and mortar business that draws business from the online MMO gaming industry (world of warcraft, guildwars etc) but it is proving difficult to identify how this business would work at this stage. I'm confident there is money to be made...somehow.

Best of luck with the shop and keep us informed.
 
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Not sure you will be ok with a used EPOS terminal ? eBay would probably be the best place to start with.

Depending upon your merchant account you can get your own chip n pin terminal which saves on monthly rental. Again eBay to start with.
 
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I would advise against buying used epos stuff on ebay, unless you know what you are buying. You could end up spending so much more in maintenance, setup and training to get it working. We regularly get customers who have bought stuff, dont know how to set it up and we end up sorting it out for them for a fee. The amount we charge them + what they paid usually works out more than a system from us!

You are outside our area, but I would suggest a system comprising pc based touchscreen (Aures Galeo would be good for you, or for the new sharp upx5500). Should come with drawer and thermal printer. Laser scanner, single line metrolgoic voyagers are good, or the orbit (which is quite a bit more expensive).

Software wise have a look at GPoS linked to Total Control/Stock software by Fidelity systems. If you want to pm me, I will pass your details on to them to get in touch. This gives you a good retail system that can expand with you. You can have integrated chip and pin, dont need a seperate terminal, the pin pad is connected to the POS. You do need a merchant account and this the sysetms will connect using broadband.
 
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Starting up, you will want to keep costs low. I have recently helped a client with their Epos solution and it was free.

It is only the software, but what I did was scoured the net and got a PC deal, got a barcode scanner, PC and monitor for about £250 or £300 can't quite remember, and that is their working Epos system now.

They don't take CC, but there is a way you can integrate, not sure how, or you can just do it manually.

Look up the company Averasell.

You can programme it to your own spec and it will track your stock also.

My client uses A4 invoices so simply networked it to their printer, but you could buy an actual receipt printer which may be more use to you, it would increase costs.

The system also has the ability to be controlled by touchscreen, again increasing costs by buying a touch screen monitor, but it just shows it is adaptable, and a very good entry level EPOS system.

Good Luck
 
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Well, we will always disagree on this, because im in the business of selling epos! To me free software is worth what you pay for it. There are some very good pieces of software (i use openoffice a lot) but im not sure i would want a business critical system like epos to be run on a free piece of american software.

It may be right for some people, but with each support incident costing $199, not sure I would want to go down that route. And I very much doubt you could get this system working for integrated chip and pin in the uk - it is american remember. Unlikely to be approved for integration in the uk.

I think there are two types of users for these systems - those who have the time and knowledge to setup their system from scratch and those who need hand-holding. If you are the former, go with call assitants idea. If you are the latter and want proper support and help, go with mine.:)
 
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I agree with Bovine 100% that whats right for one person, might not be right for the other, I think that applies to everything in life and not just business, you should always have an opened mind on these types of things.
 
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Merlin Software Ltd offer Epos systems to cater for most retailers including book shops. maybe take a look at their site and see if its of any interest to you! Google Search Merlin Software Ltd or go to merlinsoft co uk.
 
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Have you got a system yet? If not I can price one very quickly which does it all with support and training. It will not cost the earth. Remember the system is at the heart of everything and while you do not want to spend alot you should also not be too frugal.
 
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Sadly I've not found one yet.

The Merlin site offers no info on pricing, or anything indepth for that matter, so I'll avoid them. I think in the meantime I'll stick to an Excel spreadsheet and weekly stock counts to keep an eye on levels.

For something like a small bookshop, even £750 is way over budget for what we need.

Cheers.
 
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Get yourself to Makro mate. Splash out the £200 on a bog standard Casio till that lets you input the price, input the tender, and calculates the change.

Once you've proved the viability of the business over a period, then look at investing in a stock control system that'll generate reports.

Failing that advice:
I played with SalesStream for a while a few years ago: http://www.jsanet.co.uk/
There's a 30 day free trial available.

Get yourself a computer and monitor off a reputable recycling firm like Pure IT Recycling ( http://www.pureitrecycling.co.uk/ ) and bob's yer uncle.
 
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stugster said:
P.S. if you're really desperate, I have an old thermal printer kicking about that you could use. You'd need a machine that has a 16Volt USB connector though, and the rest of the kit.
Click to expand...

If the OP isn't interested you should get that printer onto freecycle. There must be a dozen or more local businesses that would love to have that printer.
 
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If you werent in Edinburgh I would have liked it. Although I don't think my motives would have been worthy enough. I just wanted to take it apart to see how it works :D
 
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