Why is a receipt printer $300? Just curious.
It's a thermal printer with network access, an automated cutter and is rated to work reliably past 60m lines. That doesn't seem like a lot of money for a good tool.
Business in a Box
21–30 of 135 posts
Re: Business in a Box
#22It's like the hardware bundles that Checkout, POS for Mac OS X, has done for a long time [0]. It's a smart idea, it makes it easier for small business owners because there is actually a large variety of hardware to choose from, and buying a bundle you know is compatible is one less thing to worry about.
Re: Business in a Box
#23I just helped a friend install a iPad POS at his coffee shop this past December using BreadCrumb. We looked at Square Register, but it's rather lackluster feature set ruled it out. Namely, it doesn't support multiple printers or printer queuing (ex. food items get sent to kitchen printer), it doesn't have a modifier system for items (maybe this has changed), and no employee features (clock-in/out) etc..
I would say it's good for a small shop without too many needs. As soon as you have to do funky stuff like modify orders (and report on them), you're better off looking elsewhere.
I would also caution people against using the wireless printers and go with hard wired ones instead. I know, wires are not fashionable, but they are damn reliable and predictable. The restaurant next door uses wireless STARs with their POSLavu system(should win an award for worst name), and a waitress there told me they constantly had problems with them, and missed orders, etc.
Also, for anyone wondering why these thermal printers are $300+ on a good day, they're built like tanks. I bought all the Epson TM printers for my friend from a bankrupt Chinese restaurant. When I asked the owner if he'd had any problems with them (they self tested okay), he said in his broken english something like "even with roaches, they still print!"...
Well, I get them home and start pulling them apart to clean them, and they're FULL of dead roaches. Every empty space inside the printers was chock full of roach bodies. The circuit boards were caked with roach shit and all the feed mechanisms had ingested and ground up the roaches that got in their way. And ever single one of these printers still works flawlessly.
So yeah, they're worth the $400.
Re: Business in a Box
#24This is fantastic. The POS space has needed massive disruption for decades. Kill the dinosaurs!
How is this disruptive? It's still a cash register. Most cash registers for decades have been digital/electronic in terms of running/totals and counting cash, and they all have credit card readers too.
For restaurant POS systems the typical cost is typically around $15-20k plus $2k per terminal. For smaller restaurants that don't need more than this package offers it's a bargain.
Re: Business in a Box
#25Dear everyone:
Might you please make use of the noscript functionality provided to you? Many people like myself do not let arbitrary websites run javascript on their machines. Without the use of noscript tags, as is the case here, I am met with an entirely blank page.
Had there been something there, something describing what I'm missing and how good it is, I very likely would have enabled js temporarily.
But there wasn't, and I didn't.
Very best regards,
ol
Re: Business in a Box
#26Looks great, but seems to imply that the cash register doesn't open automatically if you don't buy a printer, which rather ruins the paperless option. It might be a good business idea to create a simple piece of hardware that does the opening if Square doesn't release one soon – hell, the hardware could just be a broken printer by the sound of it. But very cool ephemeralisation none-the-less.
This seems to be an attempt to keep costs low. Most cash drawers have a simple cable connection to the printer which can send a signal down the line to open, very simple. Adding a wireless adapter to the cash drawer would certainly be more expensive.
Re: Business in a Box
#27Looks great, but seems to imply that the cash register doesn't open automatically if you don't buy a printer, which rather ruins the paperless option. It might be a good business idea to create a simple piece of hardware that does the opening if Square doesn't release one soon – hell, the hardware could just be a broken printer by the sound of it. But very cool ephemeralisation none-the-less.
More details on the hardware setup:
https://squareup.com/help/en-us/article/5084-using-hardware-...
Re: Business in a Box
#28Dear everyone: Might you please make use of the noscript functionality provided to you? Many people like myself do not let arbitrary websites run javascript on their machines. Without the use of noscript tags, as is the case here, I am met with an entirely blank page. Had there been something there, something describing what I'm missing and how good it is, I very likely would have enabled js temporarily. But there wa…
I don't even have Javascript disabled and I still got a blank page (running Safari 5.1.7).
Re: Business in a Box
#29The design is great. Even though I don't have a brick and mortar store, it kinda makes me want to buy one, inexplicably. I wonder how many other things you can sell like this, an all-in-one box, that doesn't smell cheap, like a 10-in-1 games CD? The best thing I can think of right now is 'gardening in a box'. I wonder what 'startup in a box' looks like.
This isn't exactly the same as a one time "box" but monthly subscription services for "boxes" of different items have been taking off lately.
I currently subscribe to Barkbox[0], a monthly subscription to receive dog treats, toys and accessories every month. A few months ago they had over 20,000 subscribers. They based their model off Birchbox[1], which provides a monthly subscription of hand picked beauty products.
I've been trying to think of other niches that would be a good fit for this box model.
Re: Business in a Box
#30This is fantastic. The POS space has needed massive disruption for decades. Kill the dinosaurs!
How is this disruptive? It's still a cash register. Most cash registers for decades have been digital/electronic in terms of running/totals and counting cash, and they all have credit card readers too.
It's easy. It doesn't require having a merchant account. It has an simple interface for configuring items and lets transactions be paperless. That sounds disruptive.