GET A CHANCE TO WIN A FREE CHARGING PAD! 🏆

[isabelle]

The Seller Community is excited to announce that we’re offering an opportunity for US-based Sellers to win a free, Square-branded charging phone pad from January 28th, 2022 - February 10th, 2022! 

Please review the contest terms below before you enter. 

How does it work? 

We’re asking sellers to reply to this post introducing yourselves and telling us what you’re looking for in the Seller Community and/or what brought you to the Seller Community. Feel free to include photos of your business or logo. 

Use the reply button below to share what you'd like to see from the Seller Community! 

Here’s an example of the kind of replies that help us understand how to better serve you:

Hi, I’m Isabelle, business owner of Cup of Candle in San Francisco, CA. I started the business 5 years ago, and have been using Square since we opened. 

I have joined the Seller Community hoping to learn more about Square for Retail by asking questions geared towards other retail-industry sellers. 

Other examples of what you may be looking for in the Community include: 

• A connection to product teams
• Peers who own a similar business 
• Events that help you learn more about Square products
• Answers to technical questions

No matter what it is you're interested in, we want to know! 😊

This is part of an effort to better understand what interests our sellers in the Seller Community and how we can improve!

How are winners selected? 

The Seller Community team will review the replies authored between January 28th, 2022 - February 10th, 2022, and select 120 winners. A winning reply will be thought-provoking, insightful, and offer genuine feedback or guidance for the Seller Community Team. 

The winners will be notified via private message, asking for a shipping address, and you should receive your free charging pad within 6 weeks of notification!

Terms attached.

[teeze]

Hey there!

I'm Josh from Daily Press Coffee House and Bar in Brooklyn. We are a locally focused venue offering a coffee shop vibe during the day and transitioning to a bar/events space at night. We've been using Square for the past 6+ years now. 

I joined the seller community to get a more direct line to Square employees who may be able to answer questions and implement changes within the Square ecosystem faster than their automated "answer-bot" and call center.

Mainly I look for answers to technical questions and browse to see if folks have already asked for features that I too wish were implemented. 

I also browse to see if those requests for certain features were followed up on and given any sort of response in either direction.

Connecting with other business owners is pretty low on the list as a lot of those posts tend to be a ego-ish contest that usually starts with "Well - with my business we do "x" instead of "y"".

Technical support from people who don't make the product generally hasn't been very helpful. That's not exactly on Square though.

To be perfectly transparent - the seller community seems...vapid.

That feels like a harsh word, but it's what keeps coming back to me. 

There are tutorials and FAQ's, a-plenty. Nearly any question I've ever had I have answered with a tutorial.

People don't like to read though, so I feel like the "Seller Community" is designed to bridge that gap...but...doesn't.
If you take a look at a lot of the "popular topics" from the Dashboard for instance, the questions asked there are mainly asked to the void. 

Sellers ask questions, and sure - some are ridiculous and half of a sentence, but some aren't. 

They are either answered by other sellers in the community (sometimes), Square staff (super rarely), or (from what it seems, mostly) not at all. 

I joined to be inspired, to have direct access to change within a system I use and pay for, and to have my voice heard when I have an issue. 

Is the Square Seller Community meeting those expectations. 
...

Not right now.

Your physical hardware is excellent (I have notes on the Square Register and how you can't order a separate customer display in case one breaks, that seems a little silly, but I digress), your transaction prices are affordable, and the GUI for everything we use is fantastic. 

Don't get me wrong, I really enjoy Square and appreciate you for facilitating small businesses like you've been doing for years - I don't see myself switching to anything else. 

However, Seller Community Forum is a void.

[tracy143]

Hello,

My name is Tracy Hedrick and I have utilized  Square for my business since 2017.  I own a Children’s clothing boutique that is based out of my home. I frequently take my business on the road. Square is so easy to use and accepted by most of my customers. I also use the Invoice option for 85% of my business. 

I accessed the Seller Community because I had a question about a certain function for my invoices. I received an answer straightaway. There was misinformation being displayed on the support page and what I was being told by an agent. The answer wasn’t the one I was hoping but to make me 100% happy, I was offered limited free processing, which I gladly accepted. 

Square support has always been easily within reach and the Seller Community is an important part of that support. I am extremely happy with Square!

 

[patriciarusty]

Hi, my name is Patricia Huskins, I own Rusty Pearl Boutique in Calhoun, GA. I sell women's 7 men's clothing and accessories. We have been using Square POS system since we opened 5 years ago. I love the ease of use with the POS system and the way you can message your customers.

[gigi936]

Hello.  My name is Lisa, owner of Gigi's Creatopia.  I've used square for a year now and I'm loving it.  It is os much more convenient than the POS I've previously used.  I'd like to see more options in the mobile app.  There are several capabilities online that I can't access on the mobile app.

The ease of access between other things such as restaurants and clocking in isn't transmitting over to one app.  They appear to all be different.

[QuantumOne]

Aloha Seller Community, 

My name is Albert owner of Sweet Shop By The Sea, the world's smallest and most remote confectionery boutique. We are located in the middle of the Pacific ocean on the beautiful garden island of Kaua'i's Royal Coconut Coast.

Since our operation began in 2019 we have relied on our Square terminal to process all of our transactions. We've had zero issues to date and often receive positive feedback from our customers about the sleek design and touchless checkout process.

Square has so many features that we rely on to manage and grow our business. Invoicing, checking, savings, loans, customer data, sales reports, gift cards, and team management to name a few.

During these difficult times we have learned that developing personal relationships with our vendors and customers is paramount. Square services alow us to engage in a professional and sophisticated way that is both fast and reliable.

We very much look forward to exploring and engaging with the Square sellers community.

Sweetest regards,

-The A Team

Albert, Ashley, Amethyst-Rae

@sweetshopbythesea

www.sweetshopkauai.com

[707962Cartoons]

Hello Olive and everyone else, I'm Dean Minton, President of Cartoons by Deano, Inc. I draw live caricatures, and sometimes caricatures from photos on the Gulf Coast. It is a fun way to make a living. One of my sub contracted artists introduced me to Square, and it has been so much easier than my previous credit card processor. I like it so much that I decided after a year to buy shares in the company. I'm ready to learn what the Seller Community can teach me.

[marybird6]

Greetings from Minnesota!  I'm MaryBeth founder of Ugly Daisy Studio LLC. in 2018, and started using Square in 2020 for small souvenir items for our artist collections in 2020.  After a long pandemic smothering art festival seasons, we are booting up again and looking to include larger fine art collection pieces in our retail gallery online store.   Curious if NFTs of Crypto currency is a thing starting within the square venues anywhere?  Looking for feedback?

[Lara830]

Hello, I’m Liza from Liza’s Healing Touch.

I have used Square from the very beginning of my massage therapy business (2015)! 

I like to use the sellers community for personal growth ,encouragement and new ideas on marketing. 

Lizashealingtouch.com 

[SMHairstudio]

Hi there! My name is Sara. I own a full-service salon; Shear Madness Hair Studio and a tea bar called The Twisted Willow. My salon contractors and myself all use Square. The fees are inexpensive and the programs that square offers are very beneficial. I look forward to growing both my small businesses with the help from the community and square program. I have to mention the loan program has helped carry my businesses through the shutdown with extremely reasonable pay back fees. I couldn't be happier!

[RuckusDonuts]

Hello from Rockland, Maine where it's gone from sub zero blizzard conditions to clear mid 40s! My name is Todd Bross & I am the Owner/CFO (Chief Frying Officer) of Ruckus Donuts. We're the feel good story you read about - from being a baker at a small cafe responsible for making donuts to, at the ripe young age of 55, being as of August 2021 a first time business owner/entrepreneur & my own boss.

I joined the Seller Community for a variety to reasons, among which were learning more about the various aspects of the Square POS and what it can/cannot do, making suggestions as far as things on the cannot hoping to make it/them a can, increase our revenue opportunities (Hello Batch Production/Order Fulfillment Beta!), learn from others who know more than I do as well as help others with issues important to them.

A rising tide floats all boats, and we hope to be able to weather the craziness of the past 2 years, be stronger for it and in the process help others. The Seller Community has done so with us & I look forward to paying it forward in the future.

Regards,

Todd Bross

Owner/Chief Frying Officer

Ruckus Donuts

377 Main Street

Rockland, Maine

www.ruckusdonuts.com

[thealohaworksho]

Hello! My name is Lyndsie and I created The Aloha Workshop as a platform to share my creative expression. I now sell handmade, eco-friendly pet bandanas. I source my fabric from other independent artists with the goal of supporting other small businesses and creators. I look to the Square Seller Community for guidance in hopes of turning my side hobby into a small business.

[GContinuum]

Hello I'm Charles and running my business in Ohio, I've been in business for awhile and recently switched Square for ease of scaling and unifying my systems all under one system.  It has greatly increased my productivity and made it easier to keep track of everything. As an example inventory was a nightmare as we had 4 different systems to handle it now we have one, we had a point of sale that was independent from our online shipping, convention & from our warehouse.  Now all these systems are being switched to Square to make it easier for use to do retail, gig work & web services with shipping etc..

I've joined to Square Community to help product get better, expand beyond to fit our businesses and others. Also to meet others in similar business spaces I am in. I've found my business is a little unique as not many in the "Retro Space" are using Square at the moment.  But as I go to conventions and other vendors see me whip out the handheld Square terminal or when they stop in my shop and see the Square Registers its sparks a conversation. Most of the time it starts off with "I thought that was only for food trucks" then I have to explain the many other features.  And it always ends with me saying "its not a perfect for our space but with a community that listens to us and updating with more features regularly. I can see the future where everyone in our space will be using this service, because its already light years better then what we have now."m m ,

What I hope to get out the Community :

• meet people in my business space
• work on improving the Square experience   (I.E. my last suggestion of to make the on-screen keyboard have an unobtrusive option, please look at my other post in community forums to read more about it or to see my other suggestions.)
• sharing tips and tricks to better use the Square system

[samN]

Hi, 

Square and it's top notch services are truly disruptive in the payment processing space - breaking the hegemony of Visa/MC.

I love using square and it's slick interface and this has truly enabled my business to seamlessly process transactions. I would like the invoices app to display custom invoices so that I don't have to log on to the Square portal. Currently, it keeps crashing when I try to view a custom invoice. 

Square to the sky - Fair and Square!. 

[defends]

I am a small business woman owner. I sell 100% naturally, organic,Caffeine free Rooibos tea,

I source all the Rooibos tea from Cape-Town South Africa

[vanessa_p]

Hi Olive,  I’m Vanessa, business owner of Nail Arts in San Francisco, CA. I want to help people feel more confident with their beauty. I have been using Square for few months after switching from another credit processor

I have joined the Seller Community hoping to learn more about business management and beauty trend in similar industries. I want to start processing credit cards and grow my own label with online store for organic, toxic-free nail and waxing products.

[Shameka]

Hi, I'm Shameka and I'm the owner of Hankins Heartfelt Creations, I create handmade children's clothing.  I think a lot people give up on their websites because driving your own traffic can be a lot of work.  I would like to learn more information on how to use different social media platforms to market my business.  How to turn those that visit my website into purchasers.  Another great thing would be information on how to review your square reports and how to apply tips and tricks to grow your business.

[TWISTED_SCISSOR]

Hi! I am Jenn, owner of The Twisted Scissor hair Studio. Square has help our business grow leaps & bounds! We Square to process our sales, book appointment, communicate with our clients, and have even used Square capital to stock up on extra inventory. EXCELLENT "one stop shop" for SO MANY of our business needs! CANNOT RECOMMEND SQUARE ENOUGH!

[DTAC]

Hello!  I am Delores Thom from Delores' Tax and Accounting in Fayette, IA.  I have been in business for 33 years doing taxes and accounting for my clients.  I use the Square for clients that want to pay by debit or credit cards.  It is convenient for them and for me and I get paid right away.  I have used Square for several years now and really enjoy the convenience of it.  I also have clients that use Square in their business as I have recommended it to them.

[jjsmeatshak1]

Hi All! Im Jacob, Co-owner and operations manager for JJs Meat Shak in a small southern town in Virginia! We have been with Square for over 10 years and love to grow our business as Square grows! We have been honored to have been in several betas to bring the best-in-class experience to other Square sellers! We have had a rockstar account manager that has made this experience even better! I am happy to help any other sellers and community members in ANY way possible! So please reach out if you have needs! 

[skn7520]

Hi! I'm TK and I'm the manager at Sakana Sushi and Ramen, a Japanese restaurant located in Westminster, Colorado. We've been using Square since September 2021, and the Seller Community has helped me A LOT to get the most out of Square POS and Square Restaurant POS!!

When transitioning from the old POS to Square, I decided to do the setup (installation, menu creation, POS layout) myself rather than relying on the technicians. The Square tech teams have been super helpful so far, but our restaurant is open outside the Square customer support business hours and sometimes we just need the answer ASAP. I wanted to be the go-to person in case we need to make any adjustments/troubleshoot immediately, and so I started out with the tutorials Square shared on the website (which was also very helpful!) and went to the Seller Community for any questions I couldn't get answered on the website.

Some of the questions I've asked included printer troubleshooting, restaurant POS features, and Square POS/Restaurant POS integrations. The answers I've received have helped me clarify many things, and it's also nice to know that I'm not the only one facing this issue; there are other businesses who've encountered the same problem, and often times they've already figured it out. I think the Seller Community is great for sharing these kind of experiences and leverage each other to maximize the Square features.

The Square team may already be working on this, but I would also love to see:

- Technical support/solutions guide page for POS, organized by subject (e.g., printer, Restaurant closing, update bugs, etc.)

- Peers who have similar businesses, and what their Square set up is like (# of devices, # of printers, etc.)

- Tips and tricks on using Restaurant POS

- General cheat sheet on certain procedures to share with team/during training

Thanks again to everyone in the Square Seller Community! Let's keep this going!😀

TK

[WillyShears]

Hello  I am Willy, owner of Willy Shears barber llc, in Cleveland OH,  I been using square since i lunch my business back in 2017, and is been nothing but great things i love how square gives you flexibility to stay in touch with your clients thru marketing, how you can send notifications and gives the freedoms to the clients to book their selfs a service, square by far is the best booking system and campaign system also, thanks square.