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[Allen Corneau]

Howdy folks,

Working on business stuff today and I thought I'd ask about different methods of receiving payments...

1. What forms of payment do you accept? (Cash, check, credit cards, bank transfers, PayPal, etc.)

2. If you take credit cards what is your method/service and what do you think about it? (PayPal, service via main bank, online service, etc.)

I understand that non-US operations may have some different payment methods available to them (gold, livestock, small children, etc.) but fire away!

[MaxC]

Just starting out my mastering business but at my other gig we take cash, all major cards, and checks with a stipulation; for first time custumers no merchandise is delivered until funds have cleared. It's important to note that the credit card thing isn't completely bullet-proof either. A couple weeks ago I called a client to let him know that his merchandise had arrived and I would be coming by to install it. He then informed me he had canceled the payment (we had already received the funds) and he didn't want the merchandise. We will end up getting paid for the service call we performed as well as a restocking fee but it could take up to 6 months.

For processing we use intuit. Either through Quickbooks or via their iPhone app (they send you this cool little swiper that plugs into the headphone jack).

Best,
Max

Oh and I would definitely take gold! Maybe 12 songs for an ounce? 

[Thomas W. Bethel]

Checks or cash. Most of my clients pay with checks. I looked into the credit card acceptance through PayPal and I might go that way sometime soon. Forget having a credit card machine in your studio. Too expensive IMHO.

[pmx]

bank transfer for 99%, paypal and checks for the rest.

[Jerry Tubb]

50% credit/debit cards

40% check

8% cash (my favorite)

1% paypal

1% other; hamsters, hedgehogs, guinea pigs, and bank transfers

Of course these numbers are approximate.

Accepting credit cards is very smart, allows clients to book a session at times when their cash flow is Limited, as they can still proceed with the session, and you won't need to accept any IOU's which can be problematic to collect ;-) Yes, the 2-3% fees sting a little, but worth it IME.

JT

p.s. Some might suggest that accepting CCards supports the world banks and illuminati families.
Proceed at your own risk...

[Twerk]

We use Square for credit card payments both in person (using their free card reader for iPhone and iPad) and by phone using their free iOS software. They take a fee like everyone else but it's convienient and hassle free, and very competitive in rates. And unlike PayPal, the money is in your account in only a couple of days.

Cash? I wish.

[mmarra]

The Square payment system & app looks great for in person CC payments....I just wish they become available in Canada soon as this would be a great way for clients to pay for attended sessions.

There are a couple of vendors in Canada that do a similar thing in Canada but their fees are too much....but thanks for the heads up about Square as I'm going to keep my eye on them to see when it will be available in Canada.

[aleatoric]

Signed up for the free Square card reader today for my iPhone.  Looks great for attended session payments and for those clients without PayPal.  PayPal is easy enough to setup but my aim is to always make things as easy as possible for the client.  Thanks for the recommendation! 

Currently I accept:  cash, checks (personal or cashier), credit/debit cards via PayPal, PayPal and money orders. 

[Twerk]

Square works great for unattended sessions as well because you can manually enter the card number, which I do often. The fee is higher, but still competitive.

[aleatoric]

Square works great for unattended sessions as well because you can manually enter the card number, which I do often. The fee is higher, but still competitive.

Right, I saw that.  3.5% if I remember correctly which is essentially the same as PayPal.  Pretty cool! 

[DOMC]

Im 90% bank transfer 5% cash 5% paypal..  havent set up Credit card yet but really need to.  Might look into square seems interesting.  I was going to do the whole MYOB credit card thing.

[Jim Wilson]

Hi Allen, I used to have an old fashioned terminal for CC (which is a ripoff). I have since switched to using Paypal and signing up with their virtual terminal service.  For non-swiped transactions, it's a better deal than most banks and even the Square thingy.
For billing, and online payments, I use a service called Freshbooks, which is a cloud invoicing service. It's $30/ month and is a real time saver.  My clients like it.  It gives them the option of paying with all major cards and paypal through the HTML invoice. It also has time tracking/ project tracking, a client database, and plugs into a number of different accounting programs.  It keeps the business b.s. to a minimum and helps keep me organized. I hate to plug a software company like this, but it works really well for me.

[Gold]

I use a service called First Data. I started with their Virtual Terminal which is an online CC service. Last year I switched services from Virtual Terminal to having a payment page embedded in my website. It's worked pretty well.