Does anybody use squareup to accept credit cards from their iPhone/pad?

5350 Views 83 Replies 19 Participants Last post by GoldStarElectrical, Oct 21, 2013

electrician1

Discussion Starter · Oct 19, 2013

I got my squareup in the mail yesterday so I can start accepting credit cards using my iPhone. I did a little research on the company and came across a few sites that had the worst of the worst reviews on this company's customer service. Apparently their customer service is almost non existent as they don't have a phone number to reach them at. You can only email them with inquiries.

Also, their are stories of them holding onto funds from transactions and abruptly closing people's accounts.

I am hesitant to use the squareup device now. Does anybody here use the squareup? Possibly anything good to say about it?

1 - 20 of 84 Posts

HackWork

· #2 · Oct 19, 2013

I use them and never had a problem.

Check the dates on any complaints you read, there were issues in the past but I believe they are mostly cleared up.

Now they deposit the full amount within 2 days.

Reactions: 2

Southeast Power

· #3 · Oct 19, 2013 (Edited)

Best thing ever.
Android phone and IPad.

I have paid way too much to cc processors for nothing during months when I used and didn't use the service. When I did, they took almost 8%.
Can't say enough about square. You only pay a small % when you use it. No monthly fees.

Reactions: 1

480sparky

· #4 · Oct 19, 2013

I use it, but only 2 times a year. No issues.

Reactions: 1

HackWork

· #5 · Oct 19, 2013

A tip to use with Square, which charges a 2.75% fee. When adding the fee onto the customer's bill (because you aren't going to pay that

) you divide the total by .9725

For example, the job total is $800. You do the following:

800 / .9725 = 822.62

That is the total that you charge on Square.

Now to prove our math, $822.62 is what Square will charge the persons credit card, then they will take their 2.75% from that:

822.62 X .0275 = 22.62

After they take that $22.62, you are left with your $800.

If you had just added 2.75% of $800 onto it, you would have gotten $22. Losing that 62 cents might not seem like a big deal, but for accounting reasons it's better to keep it accurate. You are going to need to keep track of those fees so they could be written off at the end of the year and you don't want them digging into your gross.

So remember, divide by .9725
I actually wrote that right on the Square card read so I don't forget.

See less See more

Reactions: 5

electrician1

Discussion Starter · #6 · Oct 20, 2013

That's a bit reassuring. I don't plan on using it often, but its nice to be able to process a credit card if I had to.

Hopefully as long as their terms are followed their wont be any issues. I believe you have a limit on the amount of transactions you can process each week and if you plan on exceeding that amount you have to request an increase. I believe it's $2000.00 a week.

It seems a lot of the negative reviews have a lot to do with exceeding the transaction limit per week.

480sparky

· #7 · Oct 20, 2013

electrician1 said:
.........It seems a lot of the negative reviews have a lot to do with exceeding the transaction limit per week.

The limit can be raised if you just contact them.

Southeast Power

· #8 · Oct 20, 2013

electrician1 said:
That's a bit reassuring. I don't plan on using it often, but its nice to be able to process a credit card if I had to.

Hopefully as long as their terms are followed their wont be any issues. I believe you have a limit on the amount of transactions you can process each week and if you plan on exceeding that amount you have to request an increase. I believe it's $2000.00 a week.

It seems a lot of the negative reviews have a lot to do with exceeding the transaction limit per week.

I just did $2800 on mine and it was in my account the second day.
They have some kind of verification that allows for higher limits, I must have done it, and it must have been free.

A Little Short

· #9 · Oct 20, 2013

HackWork said:
A tip to use with Square, which charges a 2.75% fee. When adding the fee onto the customer's bill (because you aren't going to pay that ) you divide the total by .9725

For example, the job total is $800. You do the following:

800 / .9725 = 822.62

That is the total that you charge on Square.

Now to prove our math, $822.62 is what Square will charge the persons credit card, then they will take their 2.75% from that:

822.62 X .0275 = 22.62

After they take that $22.62, you are left with your $800.

If you had just added 2.75% of $800 onto it, you would have gotten $22. Losing that 62 cents might not seem like a big deal, but for accounting reasons it's better to keep it accurate. You are going to need to keep track of those fees so they could be written off at the end of the year and you don't want them digging into your gross.

So remember, divide by .9725
I actually wrote that right on the Square card read so I don't forget.

How did you come up with the .9725?
I don't use Square but what I use charges 2.9% plus a .30 transaction fee.

HackWork

· #10 · Oct 20, 2013 (Edited)

Little-Lectric said:
How did you come up with the .9725?
I don't use Square but what I use charges 2.9% plus a .30 transaction fee.

I came up with it the same way as if doing a profit margin of 20% you would divide by .8 instead of multiplying times .2

I got the number .9725 by subtracting the fee percentage of 2.75 from 1 (the same way we get the .8 above from 20%).

1 - .0275 = .9725

For your situation you would do the following:

1 - .029 = .971

So to find the total to charge your customer, you would divide the job total by .971 (and then add the 30 cent fee).

Reactions: 2

FrunkSlammer

· #11 · Oct 20, 2013

I just add my rough cost of using Square into my pricing (it's not much). I would feel like a goof having to come back and charge a customer another 2.75% on top of the old bill because they want to pay with a credit card.

Not that many customers pay with credit card, I'm definitely making money by over-estimating that cost. But that's okay, I'm probably under-estimating in other areas.

Southeast Power

· #12 · Oct 20, 2013

HackWork said:
I came up with it the same way as if doing a profit margin of 20% you would divide by .8 instead of multiplying times .2

I got the number .9725 by subtracting the fee percentage of 2.75 from 1 (the same way we get the .8 above from 20%).

1 - .0275 = .9725

For your situation you would do the following:

1 - .029 = .971

So to find the total to charge your customer, you would divide the job total by .971 (and then add the 30 cent fee).

I agree. 30% margin is $1/.7= 1.43 NOT $1.30.

Do the reverse math if you disagree.

FrunkSlammer

· #13 · Oct 20, 2013

Pretty sure 2.75% fee on $100 comes out to $2.75, not $2.83.

But whutevz.

Switched

· #14 · Oct 20, 2013

We only have to pay 1.7% with Intuit on swiped transactions. We do a large volume and pay them the $12.95 per month. Over the year, we come out way ahead on using Intuit vs. Square, despite the paid portion.

robnj772

· #15 · Oct 20, 2013

Switched said:
We only have to pay 1.7% with Intuit on swiped transactions. We do a large volume and pay them the $12.95 per month. Over the year, we come out way ahead on using Intuit vs. Square, despite the paid portion.

Yes Inuit is much better then square.

I also use Inuits other payment option.

When I email an invoice they can click a link and pay us right online out of their account, it only cost fifty cents per transaction.

480sparky

· #16 · Oct 20, 2013

robnj772 said:
Yes Inuit is much better then square.

I also use Inuits other payment option.

When I email an invoice they can click a link and pay us right online out of their account, it only cost fifty cents per transaction.

1.7% sounds great if you do volume. But not everyone does 5-digits worth every year via CCs.

Paying $155 plus 1.7% annually is a better deal for just a couple hundred $ of transactions per year is a waste.

robnj772

· #17 · Oct 20, 2013

480sparky said:
1.7% sounds great if you do volume. But not everyone does 5-digits worth every year via CCs. Paying $155 plus 1.7% annually is a better deal for just a couple hundred $ of transactions per year is a waste.

Well I only pay 9 bucks a month.

The Inuit app is much more advanced then square but then again, instead of taking it all in you are just negative as always.

It's ok I wasn't expecting anything different.

480sparky

· #18 · Oct 20, 2013

robnj772 said:
Well I only pay 9 bucks a month.

The Inuit app is much more advanced then square but then again, instead of taking it all in you are just negative as always.

It's ok I wasn't expecting anything different.

I could comment, but it would be wasted. Carry on.

wirenut1110

· #19 · Oct 20, 2013

Be careful about charging fees for credit card use, in some states, it's illegal or it may be listed in your merchant account rules.

Most people, like myself, get by this by charging a convenience fee or administrative fee.

Be careful:thumbsup:

HackWork

· #20 · Oct 20, 2013

FrunkSlammer said:
Pretty sure 2.75% fee on $100 comes out to $2.75, not $2.83.

But whutevz.

Square isn't taking their percentage off of the $100. They are taking their percentage off of the total that you charge. So if you charge $102.75, they are going to take 2.75% from that. 2.75% of $102.75 is $2.83. $102.75 minus $2.83 is $99.92.

Small difference, but when you are charging for a service change or a generator installation is becomes more money. And even more important is the accounting aspect.

In the end, it makes more sense to me to do it the right way.

1 - 20 of 84 Posts

This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.