How to Accept Credit Cards at Craft Fairs

You've crafted for months, created the perfect display, lined up a spot at the fair of the year, and now you're sitting in front of a customer who has just asked if you accept credit cards. As the would-be customer walks away, you wonder how much she would have spent and how many more sales you've lost by being a cash only seller. Don't let this scenario happen to you! Let me show you just how easy it is to accept credit cards at craft fairs.

Many crafters assume that accepting credit cards at fairs is impossible. After all, many fairs do not supply electricity and little to none provide any form of Internet access. What is a crafter to do? There are options available that will make lost credit card sales a thing of the past.

The first thing you're going to need, of course, is a merchant account. Be sure to do your homework and find the company that can offer you the best service at the best price, keeping in mind the old adage, you get what you pay for. When shopping around, keep your needs in mind. You will need a payment gateway that will allow you to accept credit cards at craft fairs, where electricity and Internet can never be guaranteed. There are several solutions that many merchant accounts offer.

Let's start with the most basic of these. Most, if not all, merchant account providers will offer a manual credit card impression device (commonly known as a knuckle-buster). You've probably seen these imprinters at retail shops when their POS goes down. The manual imprinter will allow you to make a carbon copy of the customer's credit card. You'll have a copy for them and one that they should sign and leave with you. Later, you'll be able to call in your credit card transactions or even process them online depending on what is available through your merchant account. The drawback to this method of accepting credit cards at craft fairs is that you won't know instantly whether a card is good or not.

A step up from the knuckle-buster is accepting credit cards by phone. At a craft fair, this can be accomplished in a couple of ways. The first is simply to use your cell phone to call a toll-free number and process the card on the spot. While this allows you to know right away if the card is good, it can also take some time to get through to an operator and complete the process. Meanwhile, your line could be backing up and you could lose customers who may not have time to wait.

Another way of using your cell phone to accept credit cards at craft fairs is by using an attachment provided by your merchant account service. The attachment will allow you to swipe the card, much like a POS terminal, and it will use your phone's signal to transmit the information to your provider. This is a faster and fairly more reliable way to process credit card transactions than simply calling them in.

The final and, perhaps, best solution for accepting credit cards at craft fairs is with a wireless credit card terminal equipped for swiping the card and operating on the same network that your cell phone uses. These terminals are made specifically for processing transactions in environments without electricity or Internet access. They typically run on batteries and some can store credit card information in case of network failure. That way, you can still process the transactions later when a signal is available. While these devices are on the higher end of the price range, they will allow crafters who do multiple shows per year to process credit card transactions quickly, easily, and securely.

As you can see, accepting credit cards at craft fairs is a very real possibility and one that is sure to net you added sales. Keep in mind that this process will require an investment in both time and money. Don't expect to apply for a merchant account today and be setup to process credit card transactions at your craft fair tomorrow. Take the time to shop around, find the best prices, and the best equipment for your needs. Then, go to that fair, have fun, and say yes to credit.