• Responding to email notices you receive.
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    In short, DON'T! Email notices are to ONLY alert you of a reply to your private message or your ad on this site. Replying to the email just wastes your time as it goes NOWHERE, and probably pisses off the person you thought you replied to when they think you just ignored them. So instead of complaining to me about your messages not being replied to from this site via email, please READ that email notice that plainly states what you need to do in order to reply to who you are trying to converse with.

  • IMPORTANT! PLEASE READ!! About the Google Adsense ads being displayed

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    Posted 08/15/2025
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    Yeah, I know. They are a pain in the butt. But they pay the bills to keep my server running. Just a fact of life, I am afraid.

    Want to get rid of them? Simple. Just become a Contributor level member or above and they will be gone. -> Please click HERE."

    Is that too much for me to ask of you to keep this site running? Well, sorry about that. I too wish I could get everything for free. But alas.....

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    Addendum: 01/10/2026
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    Google Adsense ad revenue for December, 2025 was just $30 over the cost of the lease for the server running this site. So, in effect, the money providing the incentive for me to continue running this site is coming SOLELY from the paid memberships and sponsorships here. Which honestly ain't much....

anyone using square at shows for cc's?

I use square at all my shows and I love it. In my opinion it is the best tool for taking credit card payments for shows instead of a credit card machine you have to pay for monthly. You are charged a small fee per transaction and your money is deposited into your account the next business day. Every transaction is secure and you can even take a picture of item and customer and include it in the receipt that is emailed to customer with gps location of where purchase is made. I only use it for shows and it works perfect for me.
 
You can do both swipe or enter manually. I think they might charge you a little more for manual entry would have to check but I know for a fact you can do both. You can even setup a product list so you can just choose an item and it comes up with a set price instead of entering the same thing over and over... Hope this helps
 
There is also a limit on the amount you can manually enter. If you want it raised from the 2000 dollar a month limit just email them. I LOVE using it
 
I have only used mine for one show so far. I will be using it this weekend in Myrtle Beach, though. Hope it helps my sales a little.
 
I prefer the Intuit service. Same concept, different fee charge (it's cheaper through them). I compared several companies and came back to Intuit company being the best with the cheapest fees.
 
I use to use Intuit for shows but lately the phone ap has been quirky so I switched to square. I have not had any kind of problem with square though the fee is .05% higher than intuit.

Square also deposits money in my account a little faster than intuit. Intuit is very well organized don't get me wrong. I would still use it if the ap didn't mess up on me so often.

Paypal has come out with their own card reader. I got it but have not been able to get it to work...
 
Do you have to have a small business license for these or can a private individual utilize one to facilitate transactions?
What about disputes? I have heard that credit card companies are quite good at siding with the card holder.
Scenario:
You use the device to accept payment from a customer at a show. This customer later contacts the CC company to say there was some sort of fraud. Do you lose the funds?
Lets face it, there are some dishonest folks out there and I have been slow to accept CC payments or Paypal due to the worry associated with their use.
 
You don't need a business license or anything to get one, setup is super simple.
I'm less sure on the disputes though. I think the credit company would probably just refund their costumer, the way Square, etc are setup, I believe it is much harder for them to just take the funds back from you? PayPal can freeze or return money still in the PayPal account when a dispute is started if they choose to but can't do a great deal if the seller has already taken that money out somehow, spent it, moved it to their own bank account, etc.
Square deposits it straight into your checking account and once it's in your account, I believe it is illegal for an entity, even one that is setup to deposit or remove funds from your account on a scheduled basis, to do it without your authorization. That's how I understand it, anyway. Could be wrong about some of that and I'm really unsure what a credit card company could do for recourse as I've only had Square a little while and have never had a dispute against me in five years of using PayPal.
 
I have been using square from the begining as it was the first out at the time. I have never had a problem using it and it makes it pretty safe for the seller. I cant speak for the other card readers but square allows you to take a picture with the sales receit. I always take a picture of animal and buyers license. Square also has gps location where sale took place. It would be pretty hard for buyer to back out and screw over the seller.
 
Another option is Pay Anywhere, all they charge is a swipe fee of 2.69%, or 3.49% + 0.19 for a keyed entry. It's good for people who run CC's intermittently since there are no monthly service fees.
 
Well,
After reading terms, conditions, and pages upon pages of horror stories regarding Square, I guess I'm still stuck in the stone ages of Postal M.O. and cash.
The Paypal version looked promising, but my understanding is you have to be a business. Maybe just plain old Paypal, using a smartphone is an option for me, but I still worry about being scammed.
 
I just dumped my merchant processor for my small biz last week and have been looking into other payment options other than cash, USPS MO, etc. I just found this one: Chase QuickPay

Pros - no fees, person-to-person transfers of funs are available, and there are extra services available for small businesses if desired.

Cons - the payer or payee (not both) must have a Chase checking or savings account and be enrolled in the program. So, you would have to open an account and enroll to ensure that buyers can pay you. The payer and payee accounts do have to be based in the US; no international fund transfers.

Also, I didn't see anything about buyer protection like PayPal or credit cards offer, which may make some purchasers balk if they're concerned about getting ripped off.
 
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