I setup at the Farmers Market and other Trade shows. What would you recomend?

[sdavis0777]

I currently use only a cash bag and constantly worry about losing it. I also work another job, which makes it difficult for me to keep track of my inventory. I don’t need receipts, but I recently purchased a Socket Mobile scanner and am only subscribed to Squaare's free software.  

[HC_Charlie]

Hello @sdavis0777 thanks for your post, and welcome to the Square Community...we're so glad you're here!

With your items (inventory) you can create SKUs or barcodes for each item, and then use your scanner to input each item into your Square app to complete a customer's purchase. If you need help connecting your scanner, check out this help article:

https://squareup.com/help/us/en/article/5143-bar-code-scanners-with-square-point-of-sale

I've found using a scanner is a quick and easy way to help keep track of your inventory and sales. Once you get a few weeks or months of sales under your belt using this system, be sure to use Square Reports to see your sales trends; this will help forecasting and making decisions to help sell more in the future.

If you're worried about carrying around and potentially losing cash, I've found most customers at markets and shows will pay with their credit cards and phones, and if you use a compatible smart phone (or even better Square's Tap to Pay Reader), you can just tap your customer's card and receive their payment. If you want to have cash on hand for some sales, I'd get a sturdy metal lock box. If you make a lot of cash sales, you could even invest in a metal cash drawer. Depending on your setup and booth/table configuration, you could build in and bolt/secure the cash drawer to a shelf or something stable that won't get stolen.

Good luck to you and your business. Be sure to keep posting and contributing in the Square Community. I've found this a great place for Square questions and general small business help.

[Candlestore]

@sdavis0777 ;

With Square's free software you can use Squares Inventory to create Items with Quantities on hand.  Since you already bought the Socket Scanner you could use an Iphone or Ipad to process sales.  I would also get the Tap to pay Bluetooth reader.  The socket scanner works with Ipads and I assume with an Iphone through Square.  You can enter your Items on a computer through a web browser like Chrome, and see all your items on your Ipad or Iphone.   You can create your own SKU's for Square or use the items Barcode as a GTIN if the item(s) you sell already have a Barcode on them.  You may also want to look into the Square for Retail Free app.  This app has a few features that the regular POS app does not have.  Here is a Link showing the Features between Square for Retail Free and the Paid version.  https://squareup.com/us/en/point-of-sale/retail/pricing 

The Retail Free plan is different than the Square POS.  The Icon for the retail is a Green icon you tap to open it compared tp the Grey one for the POS.  The nice thing about the Retail version is the Favorites menu and the ability to use the Camera in you Ipad or Iphone as a Barcode or QR code reader.  This function is not available in the standard POS version for some reason.

If you go up to a Square Stand you would also need some sort of Power Supply to power a Square stand or a Register, but you do not really need these.  A simple Lockable Cashdrawer should be fine and you would have to manually open it with a key.  Not sure if they have a Bluetooth one or if one is compatible with Square.  Most people are happy with a text or emailed receipt which you can do with Square.