How do I set up my items for a store with price negotiations?

[hudsonbabylon]

I have a small vintage store with multiple categories  - jewelry, accessories, etc. Under each category, there are sub categories - bracelet, ring, etc. I am new to Square and overwhelmed. Almost all my sales end up with some kind of negotation at time of sale. Bracelet is marked $115, I agree to $105.

How do I set up so that I can track categories, items but not establish price until I sell? Also, no idea how to deal with taxes  - everything is taxed at one rate except for one category (clothes under $110)which is tax exempt.

HELP! very anxious and finding Square support to be confusing and/or non-existent.

[RHatch]

Here you go.

Tax

Go to Items / Taxes and set up your sales tax.  As you add your items it will add the tax.  For your clothing, you can toggle the tax off.  

Categories

Go to Items / Categories and set up your main categories.  You can't have subcategories with Square.  Example: Jewelry

Items

Go to Items / Create Items and create your item. Enter the item name and don't enter a price.  Example: Bracelet.  This will allow you to enter the price for the item at the time of sale.

Hope this helps.

[hudsonbabylon]

Thank you so much for the response.

-I am not sure what you mean by toggle off the tax on clothes.

-I understand that I leave the price empty for each item and add it but not sure how to do that.

I am not keeping inventory levels as the size of my business only requires that I keep track  of COGS, per my accountant.

SO, can I just have the an item (l950s bracelet, for instance) and use it over and over with just a change of price per each bracelet that reflects that decription.

And, how do you even start and continue the check out process? I know that sounds so stupid but I am an artist. I am comfortable with technology but this is not my thing at all. And I find instructions to be very vague.

I so appreciate your help.

[Helen · Accepted solution]

I've answered each of your questions here @hudsonbabylon, I hope this helps !

To clarify, the 'toggle' RHatch is referring to is the blue switch in the screenshot below. This is what you'll see when you're setting up an item from the app after you've set up your sales tax.

When you toggle the sales tax ON (blue showing) for an item it will automatically add or include the tax in the sale. If you toggle the sales tax off (grey showing), it won't include the tax. To get to the screen below tap Items > All Items > Create Item or select an existing item.

You can set up one item for "1950s bracelet" and use it each time you make a sale.

When you leave the price empty as pictured above (tap "Save" after you've added the name/category etc) any time you select that item at Checkout the app will prompt you do enter a price. 

The 'flow' for checking out is a bit different on a phone than on an iPad. I'm not sure what your set up is but the articles below show how to take a payment step-by-step:

• How to accept payments on a tablet
• How to accept payments on a phone

I really hope this helps. Please don't be overwhelmed! I know it takes a bit of time to find your way around the app but I promise it will start to make sense with practice. Don't hesitate to ask more questions!

😀 

[hudsonbabylon]

Thank you so much. I tried leaving it blank and filling it in at checkout. That seems to work but it doesn’t go back to blank price - stays at price I entered. I think I can just change that price each time I use that item??? I am 

trying to stay strong but want to go back to paper receipts and phone connection. 

[hudsonbabylon]

Thank you so much for your help. So this is what happened on iphone. I entered an item (50s bracelet) and left off price.

When I clicked that item, I added price by clicking "Add new price."

That seemed fine.

However, when I tried another transaction with the same item, price already appeared per the previous transaction.

Did I do something wrong?

Also, link you provided to "checking out with iphone" does not seem to be working. Is it me?

I so appreciate your patience and guidance.

[Helen]

@hudsonbabylon 

So sorry about the link, I've updated it now so it should direct you to how to accept payments on a phone! 

Keep in mind item library is visible in two areas of the app. From the Items section you'll see your items, and can make changes. From the Checkout section you'll see your items in order to add them to a sale!

It sounds like you're adding the price to 50s bracelet from the Items section of the app but you need to leave it blank there as follows:

1. Tap Items > All Items > tap your item 1950s bracelet.
2. Leave the price field blank: don't enter $0.00, don't select Add New Price. (If you entered $0.00 delete $0.00. You should see 'Price' instead.)
3. Tap Save. After you've saved your changes you'll then see the word Variable next to this item.
4. To ring up a sale, tap the arrow icon in the upper left > tap the three lines in the upper left > tap Checkout.
5. When you select 1950s bracelet from the list of items another screen will pop up allowing you to enter the price, and add the item to the sale.

I hope this helps but if you're still running into trouble let me know! 

[HLB]

Hi, 

[VanKalkerFarms]

adding items at checkout is possible but not fast.  you could create an item and enter a price but it is best to have them all done before.  you can have items with variable prices if you want.

you can also just enter an amount but it will just show up as a custom amount.

[HLB]

Thanks for your help.

Could I enter in inventory a generic "necklace" with, say, 100 pcs on hand, and with variable pricing? Then, at time of sale, sell a "necklace" and enter the specific price? If I can do this, the problem I face, inventorying hundreds and hundreds of specific necklaces, rings, braclets (and every other ladies' fashion widget under the sun), but still see actual sales dollars.

We inventory by dollars, adding cost of goods purchased and deducting cost of goods sold, and recognize only total dollar value of inventory. We are very micro and, if we need to find a specific item, we simply walk past a couple of dozen racks to find it.

Again, thanks for your insights and help.

[Helen]

This reply was created from merging an existing thread: “We don't keep inventory by item, but want to name and price items when sold & print receipt”

@HLB Yes you can set up one item for necklaces and have a variable price for it! 

I merged your post with this thread where another seller had similar questions about how to set up an item with a variable price (see page 1). The steps above are for setting up an item in the app. If you're using your computer to set up items you can use these steps. 

Keep in mind you can add items later or edit items in future. So you can see how using one item with a variable price is working for you after a week/month and then make any changes if needed.