Why are Rates higher for the Square Register? id love to try the register

[Michael-StarB]

Why are Rates higher for the Square Register? i'd love to try the register, but it would cost us about 600-800 per month in extra fees to impliment.   I saw @pessosices 's review and wondered how his business could get to point where it can afford the added expense.  I use square for a lot, but would recommed their fee tiers be the same throughtout the system.   

[pessosices]

Hey @Michael-StarB!

Thanks for reading my review of the new Square Register!

The different rates actually benefit different business types - businesses with an average transaction of more than $40 actually end up saving money when using the rate on the Square Register!

Since my average transaction is lower than $15, I do pay more per transaction than on the iOS POS.
I don't look at it as getting to a point where I can afford the added expense, but more so that the features and conveniences of the Register make the added expense worth it. I save time and energy in not having to manage and update iPads and software, in keeping my line moving quickly by having my customers be able to easily type in their loyalty information without having to spin around a Square Stand, and so much more!

And remember if you meet certain requirments, you may be elligible for a custom rate that should override the Register rate

[Michael-StarB]

Excellent Point.  on time saving on updates and managing the stupid Ipads all the time.       for us it would cost about 600-800 extra pers month in fees.  Thats a tough nut to bite.   our avg.  is about $13.5    

seems like we do spend a little time doing that.      

THANKS FOR YOUR REVIEW.     

[pessosices]

Exactly! The iPads were great for us when we first started, but at this point we're at 4 Registers and it saves us so much time and effort and aggravation with no dealing with iPads anymore!

We're at about the same average transaction $Amount, so we also don't yet qualify for the custom rate.

Luckily for us, it's only about $90 extra a month in fees for us, which is totally manageable and worth it for us.

Totally! If it's too much and doesn't make sense, then there's your answer! It's all about cost-benefit analysis and seeing what's best for you and your business. You gotta do what is best for your business, whichever way that is!

It is absolutely my pleasure! I'm so glad it helped!

[VanKalkerFarms]

just a quick question and math check.  if the average ticket was 13.50 you're paying 37¢ for .0275% and paying 44¢ for .025% +10¢.  you would have to do 12,121 transactions a month at that average to pay $800 more in fees a month.  just checking if that seems to work out.

the reasons for the price change are fairly straightforward.  Square loses money processing low ticket transactions due to all the fees they have to pay.  a $5 transaction can lose them 10¢ or more and times that by millions and millions of transactions it adds up.

[Michael-StarB]

@VanKalkerFarms  thanks for your comment.   Your math sounds correct, but the question still hasn't been answered.   And really only a Square Rep can do that with authority.

 If square needs to adjust rates then they ought to do so.  But their business model is based on a FLAT rate.   Which is appealing to a lot of people.  If they need to change the rate to 3% 3.25% or even 5% thats their thing.   But having 2 different rates seems counterproductive to the business model.  I'll keep using the IPADS untill we are forced to something different.  

[EJ_]

Hi @Michael-StarB

Thanks for sharing your thoughts around pricing, as it's always something we try to improve.

Check out this existing thread that was posted by our Register Product team directly. It goes into details about the pricing structure and why it's different: 

Square Register Pricing

[VanKalkerFarms]

@Michael-StarB, I too am staying with the iPads in Square Stands.  They do the job perfectly and efficiently and although I do like the look of the Square Register I just don't see the need for it in my business.  Pricing wouldn't mater either way as we have a lower rate due to high volume high average ticket price and that overides all the other Square pricing that are based on what device you use.  I personally say just keep using the iPads and just be careful that you don't have them set to auto update the OS.  We have never had an issue where the iPads and Square weren't working in our 6+ years.  Why fix something that isn't broke.

Happy processing.