Square vs PayPal

[Former_Member]

So....with starting craft shows in mind, I went ahead & got the PayPal card slider, since I already have a PayPal account. Now that I've been poking around the craft show teams and forums I noticed that lots of folks use Square. Does anyone know of an advantage to either? I believe the sliders and apps are free for both and both take a small percent of sales with no monthly fee. Just curious if Square is any better before I get started...

[Former_Member]

Hi. I'm not going to be any help since I'm just starting out and used my Square last night for the first time. What I can say is that I ended up with Square as I didn't realize till later that Paypal had one.

I have an IPhone and it worked great. The fee is 2.75% and also proves you opportunity to take photo of sold item, write in a description and email or text a receipt. You also can enter in cash transactions to keep track of those type of sales at a show.

Hopefully someone can give you info on the PayPal one.

[Former_Member]

I signed up for both as Paypal says they aren't sure that theirs will work with my phone. Paypal is 2.7% and Square is 2.75%. Paypal goes to your Paypal account then you transfer to checking. Square goes straight to your checking.

I am hoping the Paypal one works as I would rather transfer one big amount then have a bunch of small amounts going in. But I'm also using mine outside of shows.

Go here and click "compare to other solutions." It helped me. https://www.paypal.com/webapps/mpp/credit-card-reader

[Former_Member]

I used to have square then I switched to intuit payment.I personally found Intuit is a more user friendly app and the deposits are super quick to my bank account. When I am at shows I like the option of being able to handle the transactions from my phone or from my laptop. This way me and my assistant can handle customers at the same time. I like these two options over paypal just for the simple fact it gets deposited directly into my business account for the 2.75%. Paypal will charge an additional fee to transfer from your paypal account to your bank account. At least for every other transaction they charge a fee I can not imagine this would be any different.

[Former_Member]

Hi Carol, i have never been charged a fee from paypal to move funds to my checking account. they do charge for most everything else tho :-)


very nice thread by the way, thanks to all that posted in it

[Former_Member]

Thanks Jerry I better go take a look at my statement I just assumed they charged for that because every other transaction has a fee. I really don't mind that they charge because it is a great service and they need to make their money as well. I jsut like to find the cheapest route. Pennies add up real fast don't they?

[Former_Member]

Yes, thanks Guys! Great info! :-) Sounds like the PayPal will work fine for me too. I prefer having one bigger amount to transfer than lots of little ones. Seems like it would easier to track. Thanks so much for your time, Everyone!

[TheEnchantedWren]

I love my Square! I like that the payments go right into the bank. And, I do recommend one or the other as I've gotten sales I would not have if I didn't take credit cards.

[Former_Member]

I picked up the Square, just haven't had the chance to get out and use it yet. I figured I didn't want to tie up too much with Paypal. I still don't fully trust them with some of the things that have been done by them in the past.

Thankfully they never got me, not that they didn't try LOL.

[Former_Member]

I use Intuit GoPayment, and have Square as well. More people use Square because it was the first reader out there, followed by GoPayment - Paypal's been a bit late to the game as far as this goes. The main reason I don't use Paypal is that I've been using Paypal for business for over 15 years, and they've played too many games on me in the past couple years - locking my account because they want to "verify" my information (hello, 15 year business relationship!! I think they ought to know who I am by now!), then doing it again 3 months later! So I'm starting to diversify how I'm accepting payments. I've been really happy with GoPayment - as someone else points out, it just shows up in my business checking very quickly, no problems.

[ClaybyStacia]

I've tried both Paypal and Square, and I definitely recommend square! I bought the phone I have now specifically so it would work with Paypal's card reader...and it didn't work! It made my phone freeze most of the time. I think I only managed to get one successful sale with it, and it took forever! I've never had a problem with square, and it only deposits in your bank account once a day, so that's not too many little deposits.

[Former_Member]

I just ordered a PayPal card reader and was wondering the same thing. Thanks for posting!

[Former_Member]

I absolutely LOVE my square! I carry it with me everywhere I go in case someone wants to make a quick purchase. I just plug it into my phone and I'm all set! I definitely love the description and picture feature so I can look back at what I sold and replentish my inventory. My customers love the receipt feature. All this for just a 2.75% fee and the funds are direct deposited into my bank account? I'm a happy camper!! :)

[Former_Member]

I personally think that Square is the best. I have used it since shortly after it came out (almost 3 years) and their service has only gotten better and more efficient. Here are the advantages I think they have:
**The money goes straight into my bank account - all in one lump sum (per day) and for shows that I do on a Saturday the funds are in my account on Monday afternoon. And if I do a show that is Saturday and Sunday - there are two deposits - money from Saturday, money from Sunday and both are available by Monday afternoon.
**I don't have to mess with transferring money from a Paypal account over to my regular account so that I can use it.
** When I noticed that my card reader was not working, I went online to order a new one - it came in the mail within 3 days - no charge.

But always have a back up to technology - in the three years of doing shows I have had two experiences where I was unable to use square - no wifi and no 3G access - I was in a large building and there was no signal. So I STONGLY recommend that you also have the "old fashioned" knuckle buster card machine to process credit cards. If I had not had the old style machine - I would have lost several hundred dollars worth of sales. And you can order a knuckle buster online for about $20-25 - which comes with the custom imprint plate (has my business name and info) and 100 carbon copy receipts for the machine. It is always a good idea to be prepared for the times when technology does not work!!

[Former_Member]

Sorry, a bit more info...And in the case where I used the knuckle buster - I just explained to the customer that I was unable to access Square, that I was going to process the card the old fashioned way, then when I got home I got into my square account, processed the sales and then emailed the customer a receipt. Just be aware of what information you will need if you are going to be keying in the card number instead of swipeing - you will need card number, expiration date, 3 digit code on back of card, customer's zip code and an email if they want to receive a receipt.

[KingMtnTreasures]

I have an iPhone 4 and the Intuit reader would not sit firmly in my phone. I had to hold the reader in place while holding the phone, then slide the reader. It was not easy. I thought it was my case but it did the same thing without the case. I contacted them and they sent me a new one but it did the same thing. I recently closed my account because of changes in the fees and charges.

I recently got the Paypal Here. It works great with my phone. My Paypal account is in my business name, so I do not have to open a seperate checking account for my business. Paypal has given me a debit card so I can use the funds asap. I can transfer funds to my personal checking account and they do not charge to do this. It does take a few days to transfer though. I love that I can keep my business funds separate from my personal accounts. They also make it easy to print off different reports for record keeping and tax time.

[KingMtnTreasures]

I also forgot to say the features on my phone with Paypal are wonderful. I can enter each item, just add to cart, and it totals the order. I can choose to add tax or not. If I have a custom order, I can add a custom price with the customers name easily.

Haven't tried the Square because I'm really happy with Paypal.

[Former_Member]

We've been using the square for two years and love it! You capture sales you would never get at events. I know the Square is great. PayPal just came out! I don't wanna mess with success.

[Former_Member]

Question though, about Paypal. I love PayPal for my shop but doesn't the person have to have a PayPal account to make purchases? Not everyone you do business with has PayPal....Any Info????

[TheSpokesMan]

I love my square reader. I wish I could have my items on my phone ready, kind of like a register. I've seen it on the tablets but not on the phone.

[Former_Member]

>>>>Question though, about Paypal. I love PayPal for my shop but doesn't the person have to have a PayPal account to make purchases? Not everyone you do business with has PayPal....Any Info???? <<<<

Nope. They do not need a Paypal account. It is a card reader just like Square.

[Former_Member]

I got Square, but could not for the life of me get it to function. So I got Paypal Here, and again can not get it to work for the life of me. I've tried everything.

I got my card to work once using Square, out of about a million swipes, and now can't do it again.

Pulling hair out! I don't want to have to pay more by entering every card manually!

[Former_Member]

i have the paypal one too - but i havent had the chance to use it :( I'm really interested in the fact that the square lets you take pictures of your items! I REALLY REALLY LIKE THAT!! i know paypal lets you take pictures of checks too if people want to pay with a check, you have to sign it, take a picture and it deposits it. kind of like that chase app.

[JustPlainJane]

Great post! Thanks for all the info

[ElyAndIvy]

I prefer my Square reader at shows and would use Square on Etsy if I could.

The simple decision is that it takes 2-3 days to transfer funds from Paypal to my bank accout. Square goes in immediately. If you have a weekend show, it goes in on Monday. If you have a weekday show, the money transfers for use the next day.

Also, though Paypal offers the debit card, they will not give it to everyone. Square has no credit check. Its just a tool, after all. Plus, if you don't have a Square and need it immediately, you can walk into a number of places, including Starbucks, and buy one for $10. When you register it online the $10 goes back into your bank account, so its