3 ms·
Interesting idea, I really like the hardware piece. Not sure how large of a market there is for this. Mom + Pop stores use CC terminals (cheaper than an iPhone
by tbgvi 17y ago
Interesting idea, I really like the hardware piece.
Not sure how large of a market there is for this. Mom + Pop stores use CC terminals (cheaper than an iPhone), so that leaves this open to mostly people who accept payment outdoors at farmers markets, sports events, etc..
For that to work you'd have to be comfortable giving a merchant your credit card, which isn't a sure thing considering they can disappear without a brick+mortar store. Also, the merchant would have to be comfortable giving a customer their iPhone. I know I wouldn't want to hand out my phone to random people on the street.
That being said, it looks cool and if I had a store I would definitely give it a try.
- uggedal 17y agoThe sex industry could be a large market.
- tbgvi 17y agoCould be :) Something like this could get merchants who don't traditionally accept credit to start
- kevindication 17y agoIn such a market, anonymity is probably preferred.
- olefoo 17y agoGift Cards. See things like http://www.swapagift.com/ http://www.swapagift.com/ And http://www.valutec.net/ http://www.valutec.net/ Be careful though, under US law since 2001, you are probably committing a financial crime by doing anything that looks like anonymous digital cash.
- cpach 17y agoProbably. But maybe less so in transactions that are not illegal.
- kareemm 17y agoit's unclear to me whether you need a merchant account to use square; i'm assuming from "0-$60 in under 10 seconds" that you don't. if you don't need a merchant account, the market for this is massive. there are millions of people who provide services and sell products who take cash, check, or paypal only. many of these people are dying to take credit cards with zero hassle, which square lets them do.
- tbgvi 17y agoI thought about that too. Someone has to have a merchant account, so it's possible all of the payments go through Square and they act as a clearing house where they redirect payment to the correct merchant. I could see that leaving them vulnerable to chargebacks. I wonder what kind of rates they're offering to users.
- kareemm 17y agofrom http://www.techcrunch.com/2009/12/01/square-worth-40-million-before-launch http://www.techcrunch.com/2009/12/01/square-worth-40-million...: "like PayPal, Square allows anyone to have a virtual merchant account and take payments directly." yep, the market is huuuuge.
- omnivector 17y agoIs it cheaper than getting a terminal? The idea behind this is you already have a cell phone. Why by an additional device to do this, which worse yet has a bad interface and can't be upgraded.