If you run a business at flea markets, you might not know that you can still take credit cards from your customers. It's no secret that shoppers spend more money when they use a credit card, so you should definitely give your flea market customers a way to swipe their cards to boost your sales.
If you're just starting out or have a small business that occasionally rents booths at flea markets, it might not be in your best interest to sign up for a merchant account with a bank and then buy the expensive equipment that would let you swipe a card at your flea market booth. On the other hand, if you run a successful flea market business, you might be able to do just that and use a satellite internet connection to send the credit card information to the processor.
Taking credit card payments from customers over the phone
Most small and medium-sized businesses that have booths at flea markets or vendor fairs can't afford the equipment needed for a merchant account. Luckily, that doesn't mean there's no way to accept credit cards on-site! Using a phone-in method is one of the easiest ways to accept credit cards from customers at a flea market.
Some merchant accounts let you call a toll-free number, enter your personal account number to verify your business, and then enter the credit card information using the keypad on your cell phone. You can go ahead with the sale if the automated system tells you that the credit card has enough money for the purchase. This is better than writing the customer's card information on an order form, because you don't know if the credit card will go through until you get home or to the office and enter the information—long after the customer has already gotten the goods from your flea market booth.
The fees for accepting credit cards by phone are often much lower than those for a traditional merchant account. You don't have to buy any equipment to process the card, and your monthly fees are usually lower as well. To join the programme, you'll pay a one-time fee of around $100 and a small monthly fee of around $5. When you take credit cards over the phone, you'll get a discount based on the discount rate (typically around 3-4 percent of the transaction price).
Taking credit card payments with your laptop and an Internet connection
You could also use a credit card processing system that lets you accept credit cards through a web form if you have a laptop with a wireless connection that works pretty much everywhere you go for flea markets or vendor fairs.
For each customer, you would type in their name, address, card type and number, expiration date, and even the three or four-digit security code on the back of the card. The web form would send the information to a secure server, which would tell you if the card is valid or not. At that point, you could either continue with the sale for the customer or tell them the card was declined.
Small and medium-sized businesses that have booths at vendor fairs and flea markets can increase their sales by taking credit cards as payment by using these alternative credit card processing methods.
