Paypal vs Square

S

Shawn F.

New member
Has anyone here used both of these methods of credit card payments on a mobile device? I am on the fence on which one to go with. I've been holding off on taking credit cards but have had a lot of customers wanting to use cards now and also now that I am going to be selling detailing products here in NC, I will need to accept credit cards. I did some of my own research but seems that every bit of info I find is all based on opinions from people who have never used BOTH products and services. Paypal has a very slightly lower charge for each scan than Square but it seems the time it takes to deposit the money into your bank with Paypal is much longer. Square says next day before 5PM and Paypal says 3 days and 6 for checks... Only thing I like about Paypal minus the slight lower charge is that if I do an online store, I can use Paypal shopping cart and everything be tied in together.

Any info and opinions would be greatly appreciated!
 
Shawn,



I use square for both Presidential Details and 3D Manheim. I absolutely love it. They put the bread into your account fast. Plus customers love it when you swipe there card on your phone. Also square is free to set up. Im a big fan of it. As for Paypal well I don't use it. Also one nice thing about square is it take American Express! Good Luck
 
Just got my Paypal reader and will use it this weekend. I have a Paypal store so it made sense to go with the reader. They told me that they are encrypted, while Sq. is not- could be sales pitch. Either way, I'm sure either will be good for you.



Rob
 
Barry, glad to hear the American Express because I think I heard the complete opposite from the reviews online from people who are just full of BS. WCD, I am thinking the same thing as you on it because of my account already setup with Paypal for online purchases. Everyone I know personally uses Square and said they love it and very few bugs or complaints (the reader being on of them). I'll wait another week or two to get more opinions on this site and from the locals before I make the jump...
 
I use paypal for my online store, but they want to be too "connected" with their here service...



I use Square when someone comes into my store and wants to use a card and when people want to pay for their details. I think square is absolutely amazing and I would highly recommend it.



Square also has software where you can give your employees limited access to your square account so that they can take cards if you aren't available. Good stuff.
 
The more and more I look into it and hear from people who've actually used both or messed with both, the more I like the Square setup better. So far I am leaning towards Square more than Paypal. We'll see!
 
I've never used Paypal but I do have a square account and an account with First Data including the swipe machine and a debit pin pad for in the shop. Haven't had any issues with Square and I've noticed their processing times have dropped from 2 days into my account to next day since i've been using it. Getting rid of my First Data account and machines as well to go with Square all together. HTH
 
I know you mentioned those two but I'd recommend Intuit. Just like Square but the card readers are easier to use. The small square readers are sometime a pain in the but. I use both Intuit and square. And they both go to the same account so I switch between the two. As for PayPal, te fees are WAY TO HIGH. That should be your deciding factor. If they are do the same thing, how much are you being charged annually, per transaction.



That is my two cents. (PayPal charges more than that)
 
I will look into the intuit thing as well, thanks for the advice! I believe I looked into that first before I knew about Square and can't remember why I threw it to the side...
 
I use Square because I've had it before a lot of these other things came out. I've only used it once, and that was this morning. The only thing I don't like is how testy the reader can be. My client was in a rush to make piano lessons, so sitting there constantly swiping her card was making her really impatient. She went to go back into the house to get cash (which I would have preferred obviously), and then it finally worked.



I like it, but situations like that kinda suck. Not a huge deal, I mean...a total of 20 seconds. But to someone who's in a rush, it's an all day event.
 
Quenga, that is what I hear with EVERYONE that uses Square. They say the reader is total junk and cheap and hardly ever works. My customers are usually the same way, they have no time to waste and even 2 minutes of fiddling with something to make it work will get them on edge. They usually want the car done, come to the shop, look at the car, pay and leave. Some don't care but others are busy and want to be in and out. It sucks that the rate is higher to manually put the info in and it's probably because they know their reader is junk and won't work haha.
 
I've been using Intuit card reader for about a year now with great success! Definitely happy with it.
 
WCD said:
Just got my Paypal reader and will use it this weekend. I have a Paypal store so it made sense to go with the reader. They told me that they are encrypted, while Sq. is not- could be sales pitch. Either way, I'm sure either will be good for you.



Rob
Click to expand...



Gen1 square card reader were not encrypted, current square readers are.





Sent from my iPad3 via Tapatalk
 
My g/f is an accountant with a company that does a lot of road shows and mobile venues (high end equestrian: pro/olympic) and they only use Square, which also is PCI compliant. You'd have check to see if Paypal is.



From personal experience and talking to many others over the last decade, Paypal is STILL the number one way to be scammed. People I know, who share way too much info on the Internet, made money in the dotcom boom, still are wary of Paypal; which is one of many reasons Square took off so well. Low fees, nill setup costs, and good customer service. Heck, Starbucks just went with Square, not Paypal. On the flip end, Home Depot now accepts Paypal, but then again, HD can and does bend over backwards to cater to the consumer.



Consumers want to know that a third party will go to bat for them and mediate if things get dicey, Square allows that to happen, Paypal does not imo.



If I come to you for a detail and pay cash and you mess things up, I have very little recourse to fix the situation, this makes consumers uneasy. However, in this day and age, a cc swipe is the norm, and I have an actual cc company number and procedure in place to resolve issues, as does the merchant in case the consumer tries to pull a fast one as well...



I would ask your CPA, whatever he says, go with, as the eaiser you make his life, the easier for you come tax season😁





Sent from my iPad3 via Tapatalk
 
Square actually has no customer service considering there is no phone number or email on their website.



"How do I contact Square Support?



Support is very important to us. While we're always here to help, an ideal support experience is one where you don't need to write in or wait for an answer at all. To provide such an experience, we offer instant answers in a robust online Help Center that you can visit anytime. For further help on a particular topic, you'll also find a link to write in within the relevant article."



But support is very important to them.
 
Barry Theal said:
Shawn,



I use square for both Presidential Details and 3D Manheim. I absolutely love it. They put the bread into your account fast. Plus customers love it when you swipe there card on your phone. Also square is free to set up. Im a big fan of it. As for Paypal well I don't use it. Also one nice thing about square is it take American Express! Good Luck
Click to expand...



+1 for square!



I have had a few issues lately with the reader and my earphone jack connecting. I plan to get a new phone soon so it's not a big issue....I just have to hold the reader tightly in the jack and it will work.
 
Square seems the best still but the customer service thing has me worried simply for the fact that I've heard of PLENTY of issues from shops where the CC was charged more than was supposed to and it was a HUGE hassle to get the customer their money back. This looks BAD on us business owners simply for the fact because a.) it's a hassle to fix b.) Customer worries about their account getting hacked c.) they think we ripped them off or tried to pull a fast one on them.

I have been getting customers weekly asking about taking credit card. I tell them no but will soon but am trying to hold off for as long as possible until all these bugs are taken care of.
 
I had the same problem. Square is convenient, and I do keep it as a backup option, but I've been using "Phone Swipe". It's similar to Square in every way except they answer the phones when I have a problem.
 
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