Do any of you take credit cards for your work? I just had someone ask me for the first time and I hadn't thought about it until then.

I do through PayPal. Up your price enough to cover the PayPal charge. Most people know about it and its safe for you and your customer!
Leslie

I do not take credit cards.......and I won't.Most people dont mind.

I actually prefer that they pay by credit/debit card. Quick, simple and easy. Especially for phone transactions. You get their number while taking the order and it's a dun-deal. No worries about bounced checks or waiting for checks to clear. Studies have shown that people will spend more if they are paying via credit card than if they are paying via cash or check.

On my trip to Fantasy Island, I'd have a sign made that said, "No checks accepted. Cash is ok. Credit cards preferred."

I'm one of those people who never carries cash or a checkbook. Debit card 100% of the time. If the place doesn't take plastic, then I take my business elsewhere.

Is it easy to do it via paypal? I've been thinking of doing this.
Do I have to have a special account? I have a normal paypal account, would this work?

It is easy, but you do need a business account. They charge a small percentage per transaction. You definitely need to make sure to include the fees in your prices.

Where does the money go?

in a separate bank account

I have been thinking about it too I even went to my bank to check it out and its was $10 per month just to have it available and if you sold under $2000 per month the charge was 3.57 % per transaction so I decided not to since I'v only been asked twice.

Paypal is the way to go. It is owned by ebay (they bought it out), but can be used by anyone. I can send my sister in college money through paypal, it's easy. If I had someone who wanted to pay by credit card, I would totally recommend paypal.

Thanks for all the advise. I just logged on to see if there if I should bump myself b/c I got no emails saying There were any responses. Weird b/c I have gotten them for everything else.
Anyway I think I will look into the Paypal way. Do you feel there are any down falls to that, at least starting out?
Thanks again.
Susan

With Paypal you can invoice your customers instead of just sending them a notice that they owe you money! It is very professional and that's how I bill all of my corporate clients. You can also invoice them at the time of order instead of waiting for pick up!

Obviously your customer must have a pay pal account and access to the internet, so they can't pay you on the spot with the plastic. BUT they should pay your invoice in advance of pick up, just make that your policy

Good advice thanks.

I was actually think about this, but I suppose in my case it really wouldnt be necessary until I get to the oint where I'm selling cakes ALL the time. If I get my shop like I want, Ive decided that Im going to get the Quickbooks POS software. I think it would be very convient, plus everything can be downloaded right into QuickBooks.

I have a pay pal account right now for credit cards. Whenever I say that I accept credit cards thru pay pal the person writes me a check. I am with tmdoxie, when I get to the point of having enough sales, I will purchase QuickBooks. I have only heard wonderful things about it, plus it has something that accepts credit cards also. Hopefully only one more year before I can purchase that!

I got my merchant account on ebay. I got it a few years ago for my other business. I pay $3/month. no monthly min. the only other charge I have is when someone charges something. then each merchant (visa, MC, Discover) has their own fee schedule. I haven't used it in over a year so I don't know the exact fees. But you should check ebay and do a search for merchant accounts. If you want to know the people I went through let me know I'll have to log into my ebay account and check. HTH

I am so glad I asked about this, I am getting some great info on what to look at and for. Thanks everyone! I knew I could count on you all