Some genius has made my life a lot easier by designing the “Square.” It’s a marvelous little piece of technology that attaches to my Droid phone via the earphone port, allowing me to accept a credit card payment for one of my books or paintings from someone who carries neither checkbook nor cash.
The best part is—both the Square and the app that operates it are FREE! My only expense is a per-transaction charge of 2.75%. For example, my novel Spirit Willing: A Savannah Haunting sells for $20, so when someone buys a copy from me using a credit card, $19.45 goes directly into my bank account, and the other 55¢ goes to www.squareup.com. My customer will receive a receipt via email, which I provide by keying in his email address and clicking “send.”
The app records the amount of the credit card purchase—as well as cash purchases—for bookkeeping purposes. And if I wish to do so, I can use my phone’s camera, accessed by an icon on the app's home page, to photograph the item purchased and/or the buyer himself.
The Square works with iPhones, iPads, and Droids. It accepts Visa, MasterCard, American Express, and Discover. What a cool concept!
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