Accepting card payments — what small shops should know

If you're still cash-only and curious about accepting cards, a quick primer. **Basic options:** — **Square** — simplest to get started, free reader, flat-rate pricing (~2.6% + 10¢ in person). Good for low-volume shops, pop-ups, flea market booths. We have a sign-up link for Square on the directory. — **Clover POS** — more full-featured. Interchange-plus pricing usually beats Square if you do over ~$10K/mo. Better inventory, multiple registers. POS Outlet (our sister company) handles Clover setup + processing. — **Stripe/PayPal** — if you sell online as well as in-store, worth considering for the integrated setup. **What actually matters at your volume:** — Under $5K/mo: flat-rate pricing (Square) is usually cheapest once you factor in no monthly fee. — $10K–50K/mo: interchange-plus starts saving real money. — $50K+/mo: negotiate — you have leverage. Happy to answer specific questions. — Chase