Square vs venmo for markate

Okay so I’m just about ready to go with the new business. I have Markate as a CRM, open a bank business account. Now I am trying to decide whether to attach venmo or square to the Markate for customers to pay by credit card off site if need be. Right now my markate is accepting cash or check but would like to have an option for them to pay by card. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thank you

If you use QuickBooks for your accounting, they’ll send you a card reader for free. Mine is collecting dust, I tell clients my preferred method is check and haven’t had an issue yet. Checks are just so much easier; no fees and mobile deposit

Okay Jake I appreciate it and no I do not use QuickBooks never have this is new to me. Just basically have in mind going to be saving receipts in Markate and also paper receipts I guess for the first year to see how it goes with doing taxes. Just wanted an option for customers to pay with card if they wanted to.

We like square……credit card acceptance make for a better customer experience. Everyone is using cards, just add the cost, into running your business, pass on with your bids.

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Square doesn’t require the customer to have an account to use it.

Venmo does.

Venmo’s fees are much cheaper though. I just don’t see most people using it.

Can you offer both?

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Not sure yet if I can afford both. Putting out a bunch of do this week for all my insurances on truck business an inland marine for equipment. Also just had to apply a first city and county business tax receipt. So probably going to be a $4500.00 day I was just wanting to offer something for a customer to pay with credit card if they wanted to.

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I don’t use Markate. Do they charge you extra to offer credit card services? Do they take a cut?

No I don’t believe they do.

Then it won’t cost you anything to offer both options. The only time you pay anything to Venmo or Square is when the card is swiped.

I use WePay with Markate. Other than their ridiculously low weekly payout amount it’s been fine. I had to call and have them raise the weekly amount to $5k just so my money wasn’t tied up for two weeks before they released it.

No they don’t. Square charges a percent and Markate allows you to include that in the cost.

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I hooked square up to markate and its fine. After several years of square I got tired of paying 3.5% fees so I let the customer know in advance that it will be added. This usually makes them choose a check, which I prefer.

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We use Venmo on occasion, some of our customers aren’t on site when they pay. Be aware online pay services are now required to report to the IRS any business transactions over $600 in a fiscal year.

Yeah my wife was talking about that. She says that’s going to hurt us. She is just wanting to take cash or check LOL. Wonder if anybody’s doing that? I just figure we have to offer customers a way to pay with card.

Regardless of how they pay, you still want to report it. That protects you and them.

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I’m sure everyone knows this, and do with it what you will…whether you get paid via cash, check, or charge, you’re obligated to report it all as income. The fact that the payment processor reports it should be of no consequence to anyone whatsoever… If you don’t report everything, you’re not taking money from the gov’t, you’re taking it from your neighbor who is being honest. The gov’t is going to get whatever money they think they need every year, they just get it from someone else.

On topic, we just figure a straight amount of processing fees every year (based on the prior year’s historical percentage, applied to the coming year’s sales projection). Alternatively, you can tell clients they pay the fee to use a card, but that doesn’t sit well with people in general in my experience.

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Don’t get me wrong. I will be reporting everything! Just was wondering how many out there only received cash or check and don’t give the option of a credit card payment?

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Are you saying you build it in to each quote/job?

Yes on markate we are going to have a 3% fee for using card if that’s how they are going to pay. Haven’t offered a payment option for credit card on there yet but today we are going to figure out which one to use. Probably going to go with square but going to talk to the bank today to see if there’s a way we can do it through them with markate but I don’t think so.

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Not specifically, but as it’s in the budget as an expense, it flows into our pricing model by default… Essentially, we treat it just as any other “cost of doing business”, which is pretty much what it is in today’s economy.

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