Taking Payments at A Trade Show

The 8th chapter in the trade show success series is about taking payments.

The more ways that you can accept payments at a live event, the better for you. When it comes to setting up, you don’t want to be able to take only cash as payment. You want to be able to accept credit cards, debit, as well as possibly check. I encourage you to have as many options as possible so that you have as many sales as possible. Nowadays, everybody walks with a credit card, so having cash on hand is a rare experience. I’ve never carried cash because it’s just so much easier to have a credit card on hand or debit card.

Making sure that you can take debit and credit cards is essential. There are a couple things to note when it comes to this. Check out a square reader. You can go online and request Square to mail you a free Square Reader. And the cool thing about this company is that they will send this reader to you for free and then they will take a percentage of your payment. Say you have a certain number of sales, Square will receive a portion of that, and it’s a tiny percent. Be aware of that because it’s so handy.

You can plug the Square Reader into your phone; while you’re at the event, you’re holding your phone and your swiping people’s credit cards on your phone and taking payments that way. That’s super handy, and it works well.

The only thing is you need to be in a place where you can get good coverage for your phone. You either have to have an internet wireless internet connection or to have a real connected phone. For example, there’s one time where I was at an event, and the actual Convention Center was like a tank, it was like Fort Knox. I found that the actual walls, they’re solid cement walls.

It was impossible to get a phone call in there, let alone to run cards in there. We had to bring our own hotspot, but an affordable internet hotspot helps me a lot. You may need to do that as well. Look into that if you need to.

It would be like an actual box. I find nowadays phones are getting better, and in most cases, you won’t need that. It would be best if you had your phone. You can use the Square Reader that way.

All you do is you just set up an account with Square, and you connect it to your PayPal account, which will then be deposited into your bank account. Beware of the currency. For example, when you’re taking payments on the Square Reader, at first I wasn’t thinking about currency, and I was charging people in Canada, I was swiping their cards.

Since the currency in Canada is different from America, a $20 purchase in Canada is like spending USD 23. You’re spending a little bit more. Most people didn’t care; I just had to refund the difference. Be aware of that when you are setting up a square reader. Make sure it’s in the currency where you’re selling.

Make sure that it’s in the correct currency for where you’re going to be making the sale.

The other thing you can do is to get a portable Visa machine. These are a lot more expensive, but one of the brands that comes to mind is Moneris.

Moneris is a portable credit card machine you can carry with you. I like the idea of just using my phone, that’s my experience, but you can check that out as well. Having the ability to take payments is going to be your best bet. If you show up to an event and you don’t have any ability to accept credit cards, you will lose sales.

Please don’t do it. For the sake of your success as a trade show, make sure you can take credit card sales. If you’re taking only cash and then switch over to taking credit, you’re going to see a massive spike because everybody has a credit card.

You want to make sure to have that available for your booth, as well as a sign that says, “We take credit and debit.”

You want to make sure that you have a sign. You can purchase one online and have a real Visa symbol. That will help you with your sales at your event.

And it goes without saying if you’re going to take cash, make sure you have change. you don’t want to be the person where someone’s giving you a twenty, and the cost is $13, and you’re like, “Oh, I don’t have change.”

What do you mean you don’t have change? You’re selling products, so make sure you have all the different types of change you’re going to need. You may want to have a portable box that has compartments for the different types of coins, as well as a back space that will give you space for your cash.

To have a cash box is essential. If you’re nervous about having a cash box because somebody could swipe it when you’re not looking, you could always have a cash bag that you wrap around your body. It’s almost like what waitresses wear. It can hold your cash; it has a zipper at the top of it. I’ve used those in the past and work well. As a trade show presenter, the last thing you want is to feel paranoid about someone swiping your cash box.

You can use a fanny pack; you can use a variety of different on-body holders for your cash. As long as they have separate compartments, I find it helps. You have a section for your cash in a segment for the different forms of change. I would encourage you to have something on your physical body to hold your cash. It’s something that people don’t want to think about, but you never know. Better be safe than sorry. You don’t want your cash box to go walking when you’re not looking. Keep the cash on your body. If you’re taking payments on your phone, keep your phone on your body as well. Be aware of keeping your belongings, especially anything to do with your sales, close to your physical body.