Shawn P. B. Robinson

All right… let’s imagine a scenario. You are selling your books just fine on Amazon and other sites, but you have a case of printed paperbacks at home, and someone wants to buy one. Unfortunately, they only have a credit card on hand, and you’re not sure what to do… because you don’t know how to get money out of that credit card.

What do you do?

Use Square

Square is a POS system (Point of Sale) that authors (such as us) can use to accept credit card, debit, Apple Pay, Google Pay and send invoices. It’s a great system to use when you’re running book tables or simply need to accept a credit card for a book purchase in your home.

In this blog, I want to give a quick rundown on how to make use of the Square system to sell books.

Square is a system that includes hardware (physical units that take payments by swipe or tap) and an easy to use APP for “ringing up your sales.”

NOTE: I actually read about one guy who found he had friends who owed him money, but he couldn’t get them to pay him back because they never had cash on them… so he used Square so he could get the money back through their credit card. Interesting solution… although, it changes the feel of the friendship a bit, eh?

Okay, here’s what you do to make use of Square:

1. Head to Square and create an account (note: that link is a referral link that’ll save you some fees–see below for details).
   • Once you set up your account, you can have them ship you a free magstripe reader (to attach to your phone or tablet). If you purchase the unit from Amazon, it’ll cost $10, but I believe SquareUp will then give you a credit on your SquareUp account to cover the cost of the purchase.
   • This free unit allows you to swipe credit cards but does not allow you to use tap.
   • NOTE: When setting up your account with Square, you’ll need to input your banking information with Square, so they know where to send the money you make, so be prepared to do this. I have been impressed with how quickly Square can deposit money in an account.
2. Create your “Store”
   • Once you sign in to your online account on the SquareUp site, click on the Home Menu on the top left-hand corner of the Screen. In there you’ll have an option to choose “Items,” and this is where you can add in your books. You can add some graphics (such as your ebook cover), prices for your books, discounts for sets, etc.

Once your account and store are set up, your app on your phone/tablet will sync up with this online account, and your graphics and prices and everything will automatically be set up. So, rather than having to input the total amount for each book, you can click a book in the app, and it’ll be added to the cart.

Download the SquareUp App

There is an iOS and Android app available. Search for “SquareUp” in the App Store or on Google Play, and away you go! Install the app and log into your account (in the app).

Hardware

Square Reader

I would recommend you purchase the Square Reader for Contactless and Chip in addition to the free magstripe reader.

The Square Reader is a small unit (about 4″x4″), but it allows you to take chip cards and tap in addition to swipe. I purchased mine off Amazon. The price does seem to fluctuate somewhat on Amazon, so you might want to keep an eye on the unit for a little bit so you can get the best price.

Magstripe Reader

You will get a Magstripe Reader free with your Square Account Setup (they’ll mail it to you), but here it is on Amazon. This unit allows you to swipe in credit cards.

Square Terminal

You can also get a Square Terminal. This is kind of an all in one unit, so you don’t have to use your phone or tablet, although it has a different cost per transaction than the regular Square hardware.

Making the sale

Once your items are all set up in your account with the prices and more, you are ready to go.

I have found Square to be extremely simple to use, and it’s VERY fast.

When you are taking a sale, you can do it with internet access (best) or, in a pinch, you can do it without internet access.

If you do not have internet access at the time of your sale, Square will still take the sale, but won’t send it through to verify that the card is valid until you get online again. The downside with that is if someone’s card is declined, you won’t know until you connect up to the internet (which could mean you gave the book away).

How it works:

So, you come to make a sale. Let’s say someone wants to buy a copy of your book called, “To Kill a Laughing Bird” (no one ever said your titles were creative or original).

First, you need your phone/tablet synced up with the Square Reader. That involves loading up the app, syncing the phone/reader up with Bluetooth through the settings in your app.

Now, head to the Checkout section in your app.

Once there, you simply tap that book on your cool Square app, and it flies into the cart.

When your new fan is ready to pay, you hit the big “Charge” button at the top of the screen, and they can tap the Card Reader, or you can swipe with the Magstripe Reader.

I have found Square to be shockingly fast and simple. I always expect it to be more complicated than it is.

Offering receipts

The final part of the sale is really cool. Once the sale is made, you get an option to send them a receipt either through text or email. The Square App will ask you to enter the mobile number or email address, and their receipt will be on its way. Text receipts are often received within seconds.

Cost

Now, there is a cost to using Square. At the time of writing this blog post, if you charge debit, it costs 10 cents per transaction. For credit card tap/swipe it costs 2.75% of the sale, and if you key in the transaction, it’s closer to 4%. While this may seem high, remember if you’re selling your book for $10, that could be 28 cents. That’s not bad to facilitate a sale.

NOTE: there is a way to waive the fees. I’ll cover that below.

Cash transactions are, of course, free. Now when I heard that, I thought to myself, “Why would I put a cash transaction through the Square App? I don’t need to do that! There’s nothing to swipe or tap!”

There are, however, two great benefits. First, it allows you to email or text your reader a receipt, so they have a record of the sale. Second, it gives YOU a record of the sale.

If, at the end of the day, you are wondering what sales went through in terms of cash or credit… well… you’ll know. Square will give you a total for the day’s sales.

Getting a Report

That brings me to the next part. Square will, at the end of a day, send you an email letting you know what all was sold (only on days when there was a transaction). It’s a nice record for the day!

Running Deals

Now, here’s another benefit. One of the things I like about the inventory you create in your app is that you can set up not only the books you have for sale but also deals for sets. I give a discount if someone buys a set, and I also have some merchandise that I can sell along with the books. All these things can go in the app.

My wife also uses Square for her customers. She is a Vocal Teacher and owns her own studio called JR Vocals. She uses Square for collecting fees from her students.

NOTE: did you notice how I just did a plug for my wife’s business and slipped it in there shamelessly? Yes… that was smooth.

Waiving the fees with Square

Now, one of the cool things about Square is that you can waive the fees they charge you for your sales. If you sign up through a referral link from a Square user, you and the person who referred you get to save the fees on up to $1000 in sales. So… I would be remiss to not offer my referral link. 🙂

Referral link: squareup.com/i/SHAWNPBROB

If you sign up through that referral link, both of us get the fees waived for our next $1000 in sales!

There you have it. I hope you find Square to be as useful and helpful as I have!

Shawn

NOTE: this blog post uses affiliate links to Square and Amazon.