Monday, January 10, 2011

Have You Seen This???

Before getting into my weekly installment of “Have You Seen This?” I have to take a second and mention how excited I am to be sitting in my office looking out at the beautiful falling snow!  Can’t wait to have some snow cream for dessert later…

This week I want to tell you about a little gadget I read about  in an article by Susan Dickenson in the November 2010 issue of  “Home Accents Today”.  Even if you are not in the market for this nifty little piece of equipment, I think you will still find it innovative and just another way technology equals convenience.

Square Credit Card Reader 1-10-11“Square” as it is called, is a little, FREE,  piece of plastic that allows you to accept credit cards via your iPhone, iPad, iPod Touch or Android.  The process is simple:  The Square snaps into the headphone jack of your phone. You slide the card through the slot and enter the amount of the purchase.   The customer signs the phone’s touch screen and “cha ching”, you are done!  You can then enter the customer’s email and a receipt will be sent automatically. 

What’s the catch, you ask??  Although the equipment is free, the usage comes with a price.  The merchant is charged 2.75% of the purchase price, with an additional 15 cent charge to swipe the card.  This little piece of convenience isn’t free, but it sure is handy. 

Let’s go back, just a minute, to what I said above about those of you who may think you aren’t in the market for such a thing.  Susan Dickenson, the writer of the article, mentioned Girl Scout cookie salesman, people that do yard sales, babysitters and cab drivers.  For impulse buyers, and just for the sake of convenience, this could mean the difference between losing and a sale and getting a sale!  (For any interior designers out there, I thought how great it would be, in the case of being out at a client’s home and finishing up a design consultation, that I could get paid on the spot!  Wow!  That would be great!) 

Keep in mind, as with any new piece of technology, there are glitches to be worked out.  But, once the bumps and malfunctions are ironed away this will another device that will help us move effortlessly along the information highway.

To read more check out: https://squareup.com and http://www.homeaccentstoday.com/

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