We wanna take plastic!

April 13, 2007 8:25 PM

Help me find the best credit card processing solution for a very specific, slightly unusual non-profit need.

A non-profit that I'm involved with sells annual memberships for $10. We'd like to be able to take credit card payments for online sign-ups. That part I can figure out ... but, the organization also has a twice-yearly booksale, a great big mother of an event - three days, tens of thousands of books, huge warehouse with tons of people coming through, buying books by the grocery cart.

For those six days out of the year, we would really like to be able to accept credit card payments - and ideally, it would be through the same system that facilitates online signups. One more wrinkle: the booksale is usually held in an auditorium or warehouse somewhere, and Internet access is not usually available - so a laptop/website based solution won't cut it.

So, ideally, we're looking for a credit card processing solution that will ...

1. Inexpensively facilitate low-dollar ($10/year) online transactions
2. Provide us with at least two portable card-swipe units, preferably the kind with cellular connectivity built in, those little hand-held jobbies with built-in receipt printer
3. In re #2, either loan them to us or rent them, since we only need them six days out of the year
4. Not charge a prohibitively large monthly fee, as most of our activity happens in the weeks surrounding the booksales (members get access to a "members-only" cherry-picking opening night, so most signups happen a few days prior)

Phew. I know that's really specific, but the options out there are labyrinthine. Thanks in advance for any help!

posted by jbickers to work & money (5 comments total)

An organization I'm involved with has been pretty happy with Auctionpay. We haven't used their online services (yet), but they rent credit card terminals with receipt printers to us for one event per year. We like them because (a) their services are fairly easy to use and (b) they have great customer service. Like your org, we don't need the processor machines all year long.
posted by pril at 7:16 AM on April 14, 2007

I asked a similar question back in December. You might find some of the replies in there to be helpful.
posted by CrayDrygu at 8:54 AM on April 14, 2007

CrayDrygu - are you happy with Merchant Express? I am also looking for a simliar vendor.
posted by MeetMegan at 9:25 AM on April 14, 2007

Don't forget to talk to your bank. They might be able to offer a special deal to keep this part of your business, or offer a discount because of your other business with them.
posted by Robert Angelo at 9:36 AM on April 14, 2007

Sorry for the late reply, I forgot I'd made this post :)

As it turns out, I never actually went with any of them. They were all simply too costly for my organization's plans this year, though we're going to re-evaluate next year.
posted by CrayDrygu at 4:14 PM on April 16, 2007