More people pay with bank and credit cards now than with cash or checks.  In fact, many people have stopped buying checks for their bank accounts and many businesses no longer accept them.  Because of this, if you sell jewelry at craft shows, farmers markets or anywhere else that you deal with people face to face, you really should consider accepting credit cards.

Thanks to a new company called Square, you can accept credit cards without any upfront cost or monthly fees, which eliminates most of the major barriers to taking credit cards at shows.  All you need for Square is an Android or iPhone phone or tablet.  Square provides you with a small card reader that plugs in to the headphone jack on your device, and the software runs on both Android and iPhone operating systems.

Square will ship you the reader for free, and you don’t pay a dime until you process a transaction.  Even their transaction fees are very reasonable, at 2.75 percent per swipe.  You can also accept all major cards through Square, and they will deposit your funds into your account the next day.

Square is not just for businesses.  In fact, it was originally designed for individuals to help with things like splitting dinner tabs, paying back a loan or other person-to-person transactions.

So if you sell jewelry – or any other craft – at local shows and have a compatible phone, you owe it to your business to get a Square reader and see how much you can increase your sales.