Sell Your Art Using Square
It is possible to lose an art sale because you don't have diverse ways of accepting payment? Yes! Recently I had the experience of being at my art opening and someone wanted to buy some work. I could have made the sale on the spot but since I didn't have the ability to take credit card I had to take a risk. I marked the piece as sold and lucky for me the sale did happen at a later date. But there was a chance, as there always is, that the customer might have changed their mind, the sale lost and the piece mentally noted as unavailable by other interested parties (ie. other missed opportunities). I resolved to look into Square reader a device that allows you to process credit cards through your iphone or ipad. My hope was that this sweet little device would allow me to take credit card payment for my artwork.
From what I could see at first glance Square seemed like a simple enough idea and I love simple things! You start by placing an order for the tiny gizmo through the Square website . It's free and they cover shipping so there is no overhead cost. Then you download the register app to your iphone or ipad. When the device arrived I immediately charged myself some money to see how it would work. It was very intuitive to use so I got pretty excited - visions of selling my art using Square danced in my head! I only had trouble writing my signature (which is long) so I would recommend getting a stylus for customers to sign their names on your touch screen a little more easily. You will need to connect the app to your bank account so it can deposit the money in there. It takes 1 -2 business days for the money to appear in your bank account. You are charged per transaction so the deposit arrives in your bank account minus the Square reader's fee.
The current Square fee is 2.75% unless you enter the credit card information manually then it's 3.5% + 15 cents. I used the Square reader to take credit card payment for my artwork for the first time "in situ" at the studio recently. It was great! Instant gratification. Once the client has signed for their purchase the option to send a receipt pops up. This device can be used to process Visa, Mastercard, American Express and JCB. You can sell your art using Square where ever you go - even at outdoor events - that's freedom!
Image source [3]
Image source [4]