Craft shows and credit cards

[C Edward Moore]

For some time I have been considering doing some craft shows. I went to a wine festival on Saturday and tried to observe as much as possible about displaying goods and about the habits of the public.

To be honest, I really don't want to get involved with credit cards. So, my simple question is: For a vendor, how important are credit cards to the success of a craft show?

And, while we are here, let's extend the question to websites. My second question becomes: Are credit cards essential to the operation of a craft-oriented website?

Can either operation be successful on a cash and check basis?

I appreciate any and all responses,

 

[dkulze]

Hi, Ed.

I've found that, at craft shows, about 40-60% of sales go to credit cards. This is primarilly items over $20 so if you want to sell the bigger pieces, it becomes pretty important. At a recent art show, I made $450 and $300 of it was credit card.

The good news is that there are a variety of credit card services you can access. I'll check with some friend of mine for the details but, basically, you purchase an account and pay a percentage. Not really that expensive too. If you plan to make any steady income from your turning, it's a good idea.

IMHO
Dietrich

 

[Gynia]

Hi Ed

It all depends on what you consider "successful". For me successful is to sell enough objects that there is room in my home for the objects I am likely to make the next year. So no the credit card isn't necessary. Yet I do take credit cards and about 1/4 of my sales are with credit cards. I tend towards low end shows (I call them "Painted Cow" shows as the sorts of things I see for sale remind me of cows being painted on a flower pot...) Perhaps if I was in middle scale craft shows the taking of credit cards would be required more often.

The cost for taking credit cards is all over the place. Some companies charge a minimum every month even when you only use the service a couple of times a year. The fees and percentages are all over the place as well. Check with your bank or credit union to see what sort of deals they can point you to.

Websites? I think they are terrific for showing your work and giving people an idea of the cost of your work. I haven't sold anything directly off my web site. I have sold a few pieces because they were seen on my website.

Good Luck

 

[waltben]

Credit cards (Merchant Accounts) and Web Sites

My wife and I have been selling both her handmade hats and my bowls at over twenty art/craft shows and just MC & Visa make up about 65% of our sales. We got a minimal account with a mechanical swiper and have to call in transactions on a cell phone (coverage sometimes can be a problem). We've never had a turn-down, but did have one bounced check over a year ago.

Where our website comes in is to get return customers. A lot of crafters will have mailing lists, and mail out schedules two or more times a year. I just keep ours on the web site along with news, photos, etc., and we typically get 10-20% of our business in returning folks. Websites themselves aren't all that terribly expensive unless you contract out the maintenance. Ours is at http://www.abhats.com

 

[Dave Daniel]

For any show where you are selling items for $10-15, I have found credit card capabilities is a must. If you know of another show participant that will process charges for you, that would help, but be careful of his merchant agreement and make sure you aren't getting him in trouble (by processing your charges).
For a website, the simple way to go is setup a paypal account, and then have links on the site to take the buyer to paypal for processing payment. The only problem there is if you have two people buying at the same time - you might get two payments for one item, and then have to backpeddle to clear one of them.
If you are selling a lot of items, then you might consider an online store (such as Andale). These are relatively inexpensive (if you sell a lot), and have cc capabilities.

 

[Mark Mandell]

Ed,

Cash is (of course) KING.

I've spoken to a couple of artists who did direct sales at shows and such. Both told me that, other than hard currency, they only take local personal checks with proper ID. One gal said she tried the card route (got a number, etc.) but quit because she had no facility to submit the card to the issuer in real time for verification, got burned on a couple of those paper charge slips, and couldn't hang on a cell phone waiting in the call-que to get a verbal authorization on the charges.

No first hand experience, here; jast passing on others comments.

Mark

 

[Joe Herrmann]

I found that my sales went up considerably once I got the CC system. When I finally quit doing shows, over 70% of my sales were via CC. People rationalized it as a "layaway" program. If you are going to do any sort of high end shows, the ability to take CC is expected.

Most state crafts organizations have some kind of member program to get hooked up with a swipe machine, usually at a much cheaper rate than the bank. For example, my own bank wanted in excess of 5%, but I finally ended up with 1.8-2.2% fee, depending on the type of sale.

Be aware, the application process is tedious. I had to provide photos of my house, shop, product, references, etc. and finally a guy had to come out and see if I was telling the truth. Although, I guess in this day that level of security is necessary.

Jor

 

[Anthony Yakonick]

I fought using cards then a few years ago I gave in. On my first show with cards a lady was buying a $12.00 bottle stopper, and then she stopped and said Oh, you take credit cards and then walked out with a total bill of $70. My average cc sale is $90.

 

[hockenbery]

services are hard to compare

Hi Ed,

Taking credit cards really expands the customer base and a given customer will often buy additonal items.

When shopping for a credit card service, comparisons of different companies are hard to do unless you know your bussiness activity and have a PHD in math.

Many have start up fees that include equipment recording and reporting transactions. Most have a monthy statement fee. They all charge a percentage of sales which may be related to the equipment you use to report the transactions. Some have formula that invloves a minimum monthly fee and interest rates that vary with sales volume.

I suggest you begin the seeach for a service with your bussiness account bank. You'll need and want a bussiness account to use a credit card service.

We got our creidt card service through BB&T where we have no fee bussiness acount.
We sell mostly through galleries but do some shows in November and December.
Our account works like this: we pay a $5 fee in any month we have a transaction and a 3.7% fees on sales. We can use a touch tone phone or internet to report transactions. Our account is credited the next bussiness day for full ammount charged. All Fees are deducted at the end of the month. We can also do a transaction approval by phone.

This works well for us. A couple of years ago they offered to drop our transaction fee to a bit over 2% if we bought a $500 machine to report transactions.

Happy Turning,
Al

 

[Steve Worcester]

A couple of years ago they offered to drop our transaction fee to a bit over 2% if we bought a $500 machine to report transactions.

Ask them if they will program a machine that you already have (they may have a small prgramming fee). There are lots of machines for sale on Ebay, but they would need to be programmed for your particular merchant service.

 

[Doghouse]

I keep my inventory and other things on my computer, so I have it with me during the show. I have set up with paypal, and put a donate button on my web page. It allows me to real time process the credit cards with my cell phone as the modem. I let the customer know there is an extra charge of X % for use of a credit card. If they have a problem, I just let them know that I also take cash or checks.

 

[Steve Worcester]

You take the credit card through Paypal?

The reason I ask is that if you have a true merchant account with a CC company, I think it is against your contract to charge more for a CC purchase. Then again, a minimum purchase amount is against the contract, but I see it all the time.

 

[Doghouse]

I did not notice that in the contract, I will have to check. If that is true, then I guess I will just have to stop including the 7% sales tax. Gee, that means I still get another 3.5% on the top. I do not want to take credit cards if it is at all possible. This is a side business and not my primary income. If credit cards become a hassle, they will be gone! Filling out the tax forms are enough of a pita.

 

[Anthony Yakonick]

You take the credit card through Paypal?

The reason I ask is that if you have a true merchant account with a CC company, I think it is against your contract to charge more for a CC purchase. Then again, a minimum purchase amount is against the contract, but I see it all the time.

You can't "charge" more for credit cards but you can offer a discount for cash, so you start with the higher price and work down.

 

[ralphjramirez]

Credit Card Usage

Hello, I have started using an online CC card processing company by the name of PROPAY. It is very convenient. They charge $35.00 per year membership fee, 3.5% of the sale, plus .65 per transaction. Data is input via your computer. There are limitations on the sales amount that can be charged for a given month and a single sale. You can raise the limits by depositing a reserve that is refundable. My sales of higher priced bowls has risen tremendously and all were primarily due to ease of using the CC. You can also use email invoicing where online sales from your website can be handled easily. The buyer is directed to a secure site where he/she provides the CC information, CC#, name, address, etc. For each entry you will receive a confirmation number.

Sorry that this message is so long but I hadn't seen any other references to this way of CC processing.

You can check it out for yourselft at this link:

https://epay.propay.com/index.html

Good luck and I can guarantee you your sales will increase by using CC which will negate the CC processing fees that you are charged.......Ralph

 

[WeeWilly]

My wife and I have been selling both her handmade hats and my bowls at over twenty art/craft shows and just MC & Visa make up about 65% of our sales. We got a minimal account with a mechanical swiper and have to call in transactions on a cell phone (coverage sometimes can be a problem). We've never had a turn-down, but did have one bounced check over a year ago.

Only one bounced check in 20 years, I got 2 or 3 per show until i quit taking checks.

 

[WeeWilly]

You take the credit card through Paypal?

I did this at a couple of venue too. I set up with my laptop and either my cell phone or wireless card if it was available.