Pay Pal Card reader

I badly need a card reader to do Craft Fairs,but I am a bit scared to take the plunge . I see Pay Pal has them on offer untill May 31st for about £60. It would link up with my Pay Pal account I suppose. Do you need a smart phone to use one as I have looked at the video on the advert and there is mention of one. I am a bit old to start ventures like this and would be grateful for any tips ,reassurances or warnings etc.
Thanks
Paul

Not used the paypal one - I have iZettle and love it. I have the wireless version which costs about £50-£60 but I think you can get a free version which attaches to your phone by a wire but yes I think you need a smart phone to use it although the wireless one connects by bluetooth and will work with an iPad and I suspect would connect with a laptop - think you would still need internet access for it to work though.

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Hi,
The paypal card reader would need a smart phone (or wifi enabled device) to go with it and would link to your paypal account. I don’t have the Paypal reader, I opted for iZettle (fee structure was very similar) and it was one of my better decisions as I now take a lot of payments by card. I needed to get a smart phone as well and they provided a list of phones that their reader had been tested with so I could choose one of those rather than risking getting one it hadn’t been tested with (I can’t find a similar list on Paypal). iZettle deposit the money into my bank account after 24hours (in case of needing to process a refund) rather than into a paypal account. iZettle currently have an offer of the basic model for free (and if you follow this link you could get £10 off your transaction fees if you take a payment within 30 days of signing up https://www.izettle.com/d/ULP2FL)
Folksy currently (I think) have a deal with sumup for their card reader, you can access the deal through your dashboard - I used to have a sumup card reader but their customer service wasn’t brilliant however you may wish to see what the deal is. This card reader would also require a smart phone.

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Folksy do have an offer on a card reader which might be worth taking a look at:

It’s listed as £39 and looks like payments go direct to your bank account rather than PayPal.

Paul,
Hi, I too have the izettle - the free one which links via a smart phone or tablet. It is very easy to use and has certainly boosted sales for me at events, wouldn’t be without it.
Ruth

Thanks everyone, it looks like izettle is favourite ,it means I have to get a smartphone now after resisting all these years. Trouble is I don’t use mobiles normally.
Paul

I have the paypal one and it is brilliant, I bought it and an iphone to go with it and they paid for themselves at the first fair I used them at.
With any of these things though you need to be able to pick up wifi or 3G signal where you are selling - a tall order here in Devon sometimes.

I don’t use mine as a phone either - it is great for checking emails and looking at Folksy from my bed first thing in the morning though :slight_smile:

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Thanks Deborah, I was thinking of getting a tablet a while ago, I am now thinking would a tablet do with a reader what a phone would do, if so it will help fill in a lot of boring time with more to do than a phone.

Paul.

If you go for a tablet you need to either be in venues with wifi for it to connect to or you need to sort out a ‘3G data dongle’ or mobile wifi. A tablet without access to wifi or 3G won’t be able to process the payment.
(for an example of a 3G data dongle have a look at https://www.vodafone.co.uk/shop/tablets-and-dongles/dongles-and-mobile-wi-fi most of the mobile service providers do them but you would need to compare costs to that of a pay as you go smart phone)

Many of the card reader companies now have a new version that does contactless cards too. Just check if you see a cheap special offer that it might be the older version.

Thanks Sasha, it really is all a minefield to me, I have looked at izettle and their free offer is not for individuals but ok for sole traders, which now begs the question, what is the difference? I realise I am being a bit thick but why would an individual who don’t sell anything want a card reader ? I shouldn’t think the WiFI is very good here in deepest Norfolk, so it is looking towards a smartphone instead of a tablet.

Paul

Thankyou for that.

Perhaps an individual hasn’t registered with HMRC and is making undeclared money on the side whilst a sole trader has registered with HMRC and is running their business properly? I’m not sure of that one either but I am an (individual) sole trader and iZettle happily let me buy and use one of their card readers.
Wifi availability really is down to the venue so can be very patchy and even if it is there it can be slow, I wouldn’t want to be reliant on it for a lot of my fairs. If you suspect that your mobile phone signal coverage is going to be poor in your area then most of the providers have coverage maps so you can check and see what the signal strength is like where you are. This link will take you to a coverage map for EE’s network http://store.virginmedia.com/virgin-media-mobile/coverage-checker.html (there are some dead spots round thetford forest but the rest of norfolk looks fine, might get the odd dead spot within a building but they can’t map for that). Virgin, EE, orange and T-mobile all use the same network so would have the same coverage but may not have the same phone trariffs.
And yes it is a minefield, one I very carefully tiptoed through, but we are all happy to help you dodge the potential pitfalls.

Oh my goodness, I am thinking of getting a card reader, I like the idea of the free izettle one, I have checked the sum it one, that is compatible with my phone, and I quite like the idea of the paypal one, keeps more of my business money in the same place! Even if you do have to pay an extra 20p on every transaction, I have a tablet too.
Are they worth it? I’m only doing 4 fairs this year, and I know WiFi will be available at all, does it help people make more expensive purchases?

Thankyou once again Sasha ,your knowledge and sharing your experiences is invaluable to someone like me who really has been left behind by technology, and to everybody who helps on these forums, it is greatly appreciated.
Although I am registered with HMRC and pay what I owe each year , I am not registered as a business, thats the reason I queried the Individual/sole trader thing.
Sue, I also thought Pay Pal would be the easier option as I already had the account, but still not sure which to have.

Paul

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Definately! I’ve found that people spend more and spend more readily if they can pay by card. Since there are no monthly fees with any of the card readers you have mentioned, you already have the tablet and availability of wifi then what have you got to loose if you get one of the free card readers? It costs you nothing to have it sitting in a draw inbetween fairs and if it gets you extra sales at fairs then woohoo.

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It’s seems stupid not to try it now I’ve thought about it, thank you for your comments, and I’ll think I’ll try and save some money by going for the free option. I think they will all be free soon, the others will have to follow suit, I mean, they will make enough money out of the % fee, I rarely carry cash around with me these days either!

Paul @norfolkwoodcrafts - if you have got to buy a smartphone why not try and get one that is unlocked (ie. not tied to any particular network) then you could use a sim card from whatever provider has the best service in the particular area you are going to be.

Sue @SueTrevor - definitely worth it, several people who I have used mine with have bought extra bits when they realise they can pay by card so not only do you pick up people who don’t have cash but those that would have bought anyway often spend more - win, win!

I just wanted to chime in and say a thank you for this interesting thread. Read it this morning, had a think, and my izettle is already winging it’s way to me! Can’t wait to be able to offer this option and feel really professional :slight_smile:

Thanks Roz, I’ll bear that in mind ,I’m still drawn towards a tablet ,I really can’t make up my mind.

Paul