Virginia Highland Summerfest & Square!

This was my first year selling at the Virginia-Highland Summerfest and Im happy to say it was Zafiro's best show ever!!   I got very lucky with a premium booth location.  I had a corner spot right at the main entrance, very close to the band and neighbor to King of Pops!  (I had to show my support by eating 2 chocolate sea salt and one blackberry ginger popsicle! Mmm)

In addition to great placement under a huge tree, the weather was unbelievable.  This annual June festival is usually hot and sticky, but this year was just beautiful.  80 degrees and sunny.  I think that can make all the difference when it comes to shopping/trying on jewelry.   The wide street was jam packed with people...and the people watching was spectacular.  This is a major party crowd too; lots of house parties were going on during the festival, plus the margarita/hurricane stand across from my booth told me he had record sales.   I had a front row seat to the music and even stayed open 90 minutes after the artist market closed on Saturday because I still had tons of traffic. 

I don't think that I have ever been as tired as I was when the show ended last night.  I was standing for 10 hours each day.  Ernesto was with Mateo so I was there by my lonesome. Does that sound like a complaint?  It's not.  There were constantly people in my tent and I met some great customers. 

 I have been accepting credit cards for years at my shows.  I don't even want to imagine how many sales I could loose by only taking cash.  I started by entering cc info through paypal when I got home.  It was easy enough, but occasionally I would copy a number incorrectly or a card would be declined.  Then I would have to call the customer...yada yada yada.  Of course Paypal has come a long way since those days.**

Have you guys heard of Square?  This was my fourth show using the little plug in credit card reader and I have no complaints.  In fact, it works great every time.  Fast, easy and without a doubt....COOL!  Customers love it.  

Here is how it works;

Plug in the card reader to your phone [headphones jack] and open the Square app.

Enter sales amount on keypad, enter item description (or better yet, take a picture of it) and swipe card.

You have the approval in seconds and the customer signs right on the screen.  You can then email or text the receipt.  Amazing.

The rate is 2.75% per swipe for all major credit cards.  No monthly fee.  No start up fee.  Square will mail you the card reader for free.  Your sales will be deposited into your bank account the next day.  It works with iphones and Androids.  You can sign up here.  

**  Paypal also has an app and card reader for iphone,  but I heard about square first, and honestly, it's just way cooler:)