# Square Reader - Tricks & Tips



## Lin19687 (Jun 8, 2018)

Thought we should have a thread JUST for the Square Readers and how they work.
Trick and Tips.

Like I just learned ( from @amd  ) that you put the reader in AFTER to tally up the totals.

Item List - Yes do this, I was wondering how hard it was going to be for me to calculate a big order.  I even put in a Buy 5 for 4.  still tweeking but it is nice that you can Edit.

What other things did you learn on your way to using the Square ?

I want to post a clip from @amd about Etsy and Square that I didn't know.
"
So that prompted me to make the decision to keep my Etsy store, and takes some work off my plate because maintaining Square and Etsy was a PIA but I'm not ready to cut ties with Etsy yet. There is a sync function between Square and Etsy that they rolled out a month or two ago, but it screwed up the listings on the Square store, so I had to go back and reload pictures and make listings available again every time I added a new listing... It was an hours time suck. So now when the new website goes live there will be a button click to take you to the Etsy store for shopping, and then I'll add in all the other nonsense during the next weeks. "


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## Misschief (Jun 9, 2018)

So, I have the Contactless & Chip reader but I can't get it to pair with my tablet. I did check compatibility and it is compatible. I figured I'd better get familiar with it before next weekend, right? Any tips?

HA! Finally got it. For anyone else, I turned the reader on so the orange lights were flashing, then opened the app and into settings to pair them.


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## amd (Jun 10, 2018)

@Misschief  So glad you figured it out! This is the one thing my friend struggles with at every show. (She has even called me if she knows I am not at a show, to help her mid-sale, lol)

Because Lin quoted me above regarding the Etsy to Square sync, I'm going to clarify just a bit in case you don't know. You can get a "free" website with Square - if I remember right it ends up being something like yourstorename.mkt.com or something like that. You can also buy your own domain and transfer the mkt store to your domain. I did the mkt for a year, and have done my own domain for almost two years. If you want a basic functioning online store, this works very well.
https://squareup.com/online-store

I've had an Etsy store for a year and a half-ish (my mind set is to sell in as many places as possible). As mentioned, Etsy and Square teamed up this spring so you can sync listings. This is more of a benefit to Etsy users who were trying to use Etsy's in person sale tool (which sucked). The sync was really not made for users like me who may have both Etsy and Square stores already. So if you have an Etsy store and want to have a Square store too, be prepared for tons of maintenance as quoted by Lin above. 

Honorable mention: I have made the decision to sell only using Etsy. My website directs my customers to my Etsy store. I've indicated to my regulars that they can use Etsy to review what I have and in what quantities (Square online store does not show available qty), and then personal message me. Which is what 99% of my customers do anyways. I still use Square for in-person sales at shows (which is synced with my Etsy account) and invoicing. I wish they had done a better job of integrating the two sales channels, but I'm a small fish in a big pond.


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## cerelife (Jun 11, 2018)

Another thing I like about the Square app is that you can program in discounts! I have a 'co-worker' discount of 15% for anyone who works in the same healthcare system as me. And an 'arts appreciation' discount of 20% for actors, artists, and musicians. My nephew is a professional actor and so I know those guys work hard for often minimal pay!


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## Misschief (Jun 11, 2018)

cerelife said:


> Another thing I like about the Square app is that you can program in discounts! I have a 'co-worker' discount of 15% for anyone who works in the same healthcare system as me. And an 'arts appreciation' discount of 20% for actors, artists, and musicians. My nephew is a professional actor and so I know those guys work hard for often minimal pay!



I found that option and have programmed in a 10% off your entire purchase discount.


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## Lin19687 (Jun 11, 2018)

TY @amd I am not looking forward to trying to figure out how my Website will work with Sq or Etsy .  I don't have Etsy yet but want to try it out.
I really wanted my Website to just do the Sq payment, not go to their store website.  But, Le Sigh, I better figure out how to make a Button to send people to Sq store.
I have to get a separate bank account for Biz/Sq/Etsy/paypal just to make things easier .

The free Sq reader is so tiny.  I was thinking of putting Velcro on it and then on the back of my phone so I don't lose it at a show 
Maybe I need to velcro it to myself


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## amd (Jun 13, 2018)

@Lin19687 depending on who you have a website with and the level of the website subscription, I think most have an option to integrate with Square. Tipsy Sherry went with WordPress in a spur of the moment decision, but Sober Sherry discovered the level needed for a cart plug-in is the top level - which at this time my online sales can't support. I have this morning off work, so if I get caught up on the forum I am going to checkout a few other platforms. If I find something affordable that integrates well with Square, I will probably kill my WordPress site and make a clean switch. I have 30 days to get my money back from WordPress.


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## Lin19687 (Jun 13, 2018)

I have 1&1, and it tells you how to have SQ as your store.
I didn't fully read it and just did the #'s in the DNS, but it got a bit wonky and I didn't want to leave it like that and then forget.

I need to find out if I can just have a "Button" at the 'CART" that sends over to SQ to just pay or if I need to just have the "Buy Products" button and it shoots over to the SQ store.
I just have not played with it lately.  Not focused I guess

@amd https://www.1and1.com/website-builder-packages
Shows the packages, for $12 the 1st year I paid for a year, then it goes to $10 a month.  When I get close to that I will figure out what I want to do.
I had previously bought my Domain of RusticLifeFarm.com before I decided to just get the website because it was so cheap.  Had I known that they had this "deal" for a long time I may have waited.
Aslo I spent a full week googling reviews on 1&1 and they seemed good, a few issues but nothing that the others didn't have.

https://squareup.com/i/RUSTIFARM1
I think this is a referral link for anyone that wants to use it ?
"Invite friends and merchants to use Square. When they activate a Square account through your referral link, they‘ll receive free processing on up to $1,000 in sales"

Bummer wish I had asked someone for this when I joined


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## Misschief (Jun 27, 2018)

Here's a question for those of you who use Square. I will be offering my scoops for purchase at my next market. Right now, I have three varieties... BRV, Lavender, Champaka... and they're all in there as variations. I'll be pricing them at $2.00 (they cost about .60 to make) but would like to offer 6 for $10. I'm not sure how to set that up. How do you set up your scoops in the Square app? Individual variations or just as Bubble Scoops, with price variations?


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## shunt2011 (Jun 27, 2018)

Misschief said:


> Here's a question for those of you who use Square. I will be offering my scoops for purchase at my next market. Right now, I have three varieties... BRV, Lavender, Champaka... and they're all in there as variations. I'll be pricing them at $2.00 (they cost about .60 to make) but would like to offer 6 for $10. I'm not sure how to set that up. How do you set up your scoops in the Square app? Individual variations or just as Bubble Scoops, with price variations?



What I do so it tracks everything by scent is just enter it and list it as variable.  Then just key in the amount when you click on it.  So, just enter say Vanilla  and 1.66 then Peppermint 1.66 etc..... or if full price just enter 2.00  that's how I do my soap.   Or you can make two entries one for full price and one for 1.66.  Either way works


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## Misschief (Jun 27, 2018)

Thanks Shari! That makes sense and I do like tracking by variety so I can see which is more popular.


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## amd (Jun 27, 2018)

Misschief said:


> Here's a question for those of you who use Square. I will be offering my scoops for purchase at my next market. Right now, I have three varieties... BRV, Lavender, Champaka... and they're all in there as variations. I'll be pricing them at $2.00 (they cost about .60 to make) but would like to offer 6 for $10. I'm not sure how to set that up. How do you set up your scoops in the Square app? Individual variations or just as Bubble Scoops, with price variations?



Are you keeping track of inventory? If so I would do it like this (which is how I do it):
Create your library items with the inventory count. 
Create a discount library (mine needs to be cleaned up as I don't use most of those codes). When you create a discount library you can do a % discount, a set dollar amount, or leave it blank to enter at the time of sale. The only downfall of the discount library is that you can only apply 1 discount per transaction, so if someone were to buy two sets of 6 and you wanted to give them the $2 discount for each set, you would be better off to have it as a variable amount rather than set at $2.
When making sales and bundling items (what I call it when I give a discount for buying a set number of multiples, not sure it's an industry term, lol) I use the library to add up the amount so that my inventory is correct, then use the discount library to punch in the amount of the discount. Let me see if I can screen shot what I do...


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## Misschief (Jun 27, 2018)

Unfortunately, I have to run but I'll reread your post when I get home tonight, AMD. I haven't even explored discounts yet.


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## Lin19687 (Jun 27, 2018)

I like the variable discount . That would work on all sales if you wanted to do that.

I won't be having SQ keep my inventory of all I have in stock, only what I bring to the show.  After the show I will adjust inventory once I get SM3.  So knowing about this "discount' is great for keeping track of that inventory from the show !
TY AMD !


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## amd (Jun 27, 2018)

I didn't like SM3 functions for sales and record keeping in general. I use it for storing recipes, keeping track of supplies inventory and cure dates, and exporting for ingredient labels. I use Square for tracking all of my sales and product inventory. I found it much easier to separate the two - one for production and one for sales. I tried all of 2017 to maintain both and it just didn't work.


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## shunt2011 (Jun 27, 2018)

I don’t I use SM3 for sales or record keeping either.  I use square for stock and sales.


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## Lin19687 (Jun 27, 2018)

Hmmm, TY both of you.  I had not bought SM3 yet and inventory would have been the Main reason for it.

I'm kinda a more pen/paper ledger kinda Gal.  maybe I should just stick with that for now.


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## amd (Jul 3, 2018)

Lin19687 said:


> Hmmm, TY both of you.  I had not bought SM3 yet and inventory would have been the Main reason for it.
> 
> I'm kinda a more pen/paper ledger kinda Gal.  maybe I should just stick with that for now.



I didn't mean to discourage you from buying SM3 - I have found it to be an amazing tool for soapmaking (just for ingredient labels alone, but also for everything else related to the process of making soap). I don't think it works well for tracking inventory and sales, although that could be how I use it too. I found it cumbersome.

@Misschief did you get a chance to try out discounting on Square?


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## Lin19687 (Jul 3, 2018)

No, it didn't discourage me, I am SO glad you all said something.  That would have been the Main reason for buying it. 
I started to put each scent in the SQ but found that to be a bit slow when trying to check someone out.  I think I will just update it after the FM.
I also put in a Discount, but not on a sale, in the Items list.  I left the amount blank so I could add it in if I wanted.


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## amd (Jul 5, 2018)

Lin19687 said:


> No, it didn't discourage me, I am SO glad you all said something.  That would have been the Main reason for buying it.
> I started to put each scent in the SQ but found that to be a bit slow when trying to check someone out.  I think I will just update it after the FM.
> I also put in a Discount, but not on a sale, in the Items list.  I left the amount blank so I could add it in if I wanted.



First... I'm not sure I understand what you mean by putting the discount in the Items? Do you mean you have an item with a variable amount to be entered at time of sale? Like, say someone buys 4 bars and you want to discount from $24 to $20, instead of using each item and subtracting the discount, you use the variable item and enter $20? If so, I can see that would work for someone who isn't using Square to track inventory. 

The advantage to using the discount method I mentioned in post 12 is that when square does your sales report for the day, it totals up the amount of discounts given. I've been told that this can be written off in taxes, although I haven't researched that to see if it is true and do it on my own taxes. Anyways, I really like to see all the numbers laid out as they really are in the reports so I know where money is and isn't coming in. If I'm discounting too much, this is easier to see with a clear number on the report.

Second: For entering each item at the sale, I discovered that it doesn't take as much time as it seems while doing it. I know for us it feels inconvenient to have the customer standing there, but most of the time they don't notice it. The only problem I have is when they are trying to talk to me while I'm doing it, because I don't multi-task very well, especially if they are asking me very specific questions. If your DD is with you, take advantage of her and have her ring up the sale while you're bagging and chatting. I did that at my last show with my son and it worked so slick.


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## Lin19687 (Jul 5, 2018)

Yes the discount I am talking about is the way you described it in #12 post 

I think putting in each scent is ok for a couple bars, but if they buy 10 bars it may be too much for me.  I too can't multitask if they are talking to me. I want to give them full attention.  
Course I may just make DD do it like you said.  She helped when one woman bought 4 things and I was talking to her husband.  I think she was annoyed as we were talking 'shop' (medical/first responder stuff and clearly she knows the drill with that hahahaha) so she seemed in a hurry to go.


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## Lin19687 (Jul 31, 2018)

@Misschief  Saw the other post about inventory.
Since my state has sales Tax and I only add it if they use a CC, here is my trick.

I have notebook and paper.  DD usually is the one that writes it down.
I have a Cash sale so I sell as normal, write down what soaps they bought and how much.
When there is down time or that night, I switch off the Tax button under settings, add the sale of each scent and then switch the button back on.

This has made it SO easy for me.  While I still have to figure out a system for inventory , this is helping trmendously.

Hope that helps


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## SoaperForLife (Aug 1, 2018)

Has anyone had the square chip reader stop working with their phone half way through a show?  I had that happen recently.... I figure it's the phone since it drops blue tooth after a certain amount of time but just asking....?


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## shunt2011 (Aug 1, 2018)

I have but it was quite old.  Fortunately, I order a new one yearly (free) and have quite a few as backup.  I mostly use the chip reader though.


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## Lin19687 (Aug 1, 2018)

I have the plug in to the phone one. No issue other then making sure it is pushed all the way in.  I don't want to play with BT yet.


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## SoaperForLife (Aug 2, 2018)

Yeah, I have the phone plug in too and switched to that at the show.


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## Lin19687 (Sep 16, 2018)

If anyone is looking to do the Sq reader you can use this code "   squareup.com/i/RUSTIFARM1   "  And it will give you FREE processing for up to $1000 ( I get that too, so it's a win win).

Anyway,  New tip.  Put all your stock in the Sq.  I know it is a pain when you have to scroll through to pick the scents and things but it is nice to have it all on the phone at a glance.

Before I was putting Cash sales in because I was trying no to do Tax on the cash part, just easier not to deal with the change.  I just decided to no do the Tax and eat the tax charge myself.  This way I don't have to do any Change at all. It seemed at the time that putting in the cash charges later that night was easier but if you miss writing one down because it was easy ..... well..

Put in your Discount under Discounts.  I have 2, one I left Variable in case I give someone a special deal.  The other is my 4/$ amount.  That way I can still pick the soaps they bought and add in the -$ with the discount button.

Most people don't mind waiting a few seconds while I put in things and I am usually trying to chat simple things.  If the discussion is something that needs true thought I stop the Sq as I don't want to make a mistake.  I have done that 2 times already and short changed myself. 

All in all it is working great !  Love the Sq for Markets 

Also ....  If you get a phone call while you have the Sq plugged in, unplug it.  Yeah I SHOULD have thought of that at first but I was in a sketchy cell spot and just thought the phone call was not going through... duh moment hahaha


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## Misschief (Sep 16, 2018)

I've used it a couple of times now and it's worked great. I use it on my tablet. Last week, I had a woman who wanted to pay with a debit card. I have the contactless chip/card reader but there's no wifi at that location. She tried to set up a hot spot for her phone but that didn't work either. She ended up going to the grocery store next to the market, where they have a cash machine, and came back with cash.


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## shunt2011 (Sep 16, 2018)

You can do an offline charge. Then once you have service it goes through. A couple of my 2 day shows have hot and miss service.  It’s worked like a charm.


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## cmzaha (Sep 16, 2018)

I use my Square for CC purchase only, without entering what the charge is for. All other sales are written in my notebook. Why do I want such a paper trail /digital trail......  
I also do not worry about inventory, it is pretty easy to see what I have for soap


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## Misschief (Sep 16, 2018)

cmzaha said:


> I use my Square for CC purchase only, without entering what the charge is for. All other sales are written in my notebook. Why do I want such a paper trail /digital trail......
> I also do not worry about inventory, it is pretty easy to see what I have for soap


I use the Square for CC purchases but it seems the contactless chip won't work without wifi.


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## Lin19687 (Sep 16, 2018)

@cmzaha   It is way easier to look to see what sold the most at an easy glance with the Sq. that way I can see what sold the fastest and keep more in inventory.

Some of my inventory is in boxes so not easy to see.

Also I pay taxes so I NEED a trail


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## SoaperForLife (Sep 17, 2018)

Misschief said:


> I've used it a couple of times now and it's worked great. I use it on my tablet. Last week, I had a woman who wanted to pay with a debit card. I have the contactless chip/card reader but there's no wifi at that location. She tried to set up a hot spot for her phone but that didn't work either. She ended up going to the grocery store next to the market, where they have a cash machine, and came back with cash.


Doesn't matter if it's a debit or cc card as long as there's a chip in it.  I love my contactless but at one of my recent shows it up and quit working about half way through the show (I think my phone was the culprit) so I had to go back to the plug in reader from Square.


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## shunt2011 (Sep 17, 2018)

I always have both with me just in case.  You never know where they may be a glitch in service or something up and quits.


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## amd (Sep 17, 2018)

I don't have have the chip reader yet - I _know_ I need to get it. It will be in next year's upgrades. Does the chip reader not work offline? I know the swipe reader will as at certain shows I have had to put my phone into airplane mode to conserve battery (some places just want to suck the life right out of my battery). This would be a concern for me, although I still do more cash sales than cc - it is a nice option to have when people find they want to buy more than they have cash for.

I am an inventory tracker as well - more so because I'm anal than to really keep track of what sells. Usually my brain remembers if there was a hot item at specific shows, usually because it's a soap that might not move at other shows. (Mint Patchouli and Lime Basil, I'm looking at you.) My husband mentioned at the last show, that while I'm ringing up the sale on my phone, it actually looks like I'm playing on my phone. I suspect this is more because I can't talk and do something at the same time. He suggested that I just use an inventory sheet to write down the sales and mark it in the phone later. Now that my website is up and not connected to square, I'm thinking about putting in generic price holders in inventory and using a sheet to track inventory. I'll still need to do inventory after every show and update website/etsy, but I plan to do less shows in the future. So my question is for those who don't track inventory through square, do you use a sheet during shows and how does it work?


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## shunt2011 (Sep 17, 2018)

I tried tracking on paper at shows and it was near impossible.  Took me more time to write everything down than to enter into my square.  I tried a ledger that had everything listed alphabetically and just tick off that particular item and writing every order down.   That's just my experience.   If  I'm super busy and it's a cash transaction, I'll write it down and enter later.  I just seem to get more stressed writing things down.  Someone else might be fine with it.  I haven't had customers leave or get impatient entering them into square.


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## amd (Sep 17, 2018)

Thanks, Shari! I told my husband that he probably thinks that way because he sees me "playing" on my phone so much - I read alot, which I don't think he realizes I'm using my phone for, lol. I only have two more shows for the year, and then probably won't do any until next June, unless I decide to do the January/February show (considering that I can't remember what month the show is, I've probably already decided that due to lack of interest I won't be going) so I have many months to think about this yet.  I won't be making any changes this year.


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## cmzaha (Sep 17, 2018)

Lin19687 said:


> @cmzaha   It is way easier to look to see what sold the most at an easy glance with the Sq. that way I can see what sold the fastest and keep more in inventory.
> 
> Some of my inventory is in boxes so not easy to see.
> 
> Also I pay taxes so I NEED a trail


Me too, but I still do not like paper trails and that is my choice. In my years of selling I have not run out of stock without knowing I am going to


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## bathgeek (Sep 28, 2018)

amd said:


> The advantage to using the discount method I mentioned in post 12 is that when square does your sales report for the day, it totals up the amount of discounts given. I've been told that this can be written off in taxes, although I haven't researched that to see if it is true and do it on my own taxes.



Not in the way you may be thinking...?  I mean, yeah, you can probably have a line item expense that says "discounts given", but you can also just net the discounts against your revenue and report that as gross.  Saves time.


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