Square Reader - Tricks & Tips

[Lin19687]

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.

 

[Lin19687]

@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

 

[SoaperForLife]

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....?

 

[shunt2011]

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.

 

[Lin19687]

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.

 

[SoaperForLife]

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

 

[Lin19687]

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

 

[Misschief]

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.

 

[shunt2011]

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.

 

[cmzaha]

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

 

[Misschief]

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.

 

[Lin19687]

@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

 

[SoaperForLife]

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.

 

[shunt2011]

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.

 

[amd]

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?

 

[shunt2011]

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.

 

[amd]

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.

 

[cmzaha]

@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

 

[bathgeek]

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.