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Introducing the Square Stand

squareup.com

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Re: Introducing the Square Stand

#51

Post by bitbckt »

jrochkind1 wrote: post #39
ruswick wrote: post #4

I'm not sure who this is for. Square originated as a simple way for individuals and very small businesses to take credit without a massive investment. Evidently, businesses also took interest in such a product. However, a $300 kiosk is probably out of the realm of possibility for many one-man operations. At the same time, the business demographic to which they are appealing with this (larger established businesses th…

A BUNCH of small businesses with physical storefronts I frequent locally already use an iPad or iPhone with square as their PoS. They do this DESPITE the inconvenience of using the standard plug-in square reader. DESPITE the technological know-how and inconvenience needed to hook up a receipt printer (they will email receipt to you ONLY, some customers don't like this, too bad). Despite all those downsides, they do i…

They are "rounding the square," as Jack would put it.

Re: Introducing the Square Stand

#52

Post by adnrw »

ryguytilidie wrote: post #50
gerbil wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This. Is just sucker marketing to the 'cant afford a real POS system' and I don't mind giving-away for free (betraying) my customer-base for a cheap-assed alternative, merchants who can't be boned to read and comprehend the T&C. Square = tracking/profiling of customers without their direct permission = scam-artists. Jack, please reply.

Doesn't green mean you're a mod? And you wrote this? :\

Green means they've recently registered

Re: Introducing the Square Stand

#53

Post by socmoth »

xianshou wrote: post #5

The pricing makes very little sense to me...Square already sells Business in a Box for $250 with a cash drawer and $500 if you want a receipt printer. This stand costs six times as much as similar options ( http://amzn.to/102UtKn ) and the only real improvement is the long track. If you've ever spent a day swiping credit cards with a Square reader, though, that long track will look mighty attractive... The market for…

Random details you may of missed:

"The integrated card reader keeps information secure from swipe to payment."

That means integrated encryption in to the stand. There are probably some other details. How to mount the thing to the table, how to connect devices.

Edit: disclaimer, former square here. Details matter.

Re: Introducing the Square Stand

#54

Post by nopal »

socmoth wrote: post #53
xianshou wrote: post #5

The pricing makes very little sense to me...Square already sells Business in a Box for $250 with a cash drawer and $500 if you want a receipt printer. This stand costs six times as much as similar options ( http://amzn.to/102UtKn ) and the only real improvement is the long track. If you've ever spent a day swiping credit cards with a Square reader, though, that long track will look mighty attractive... The market for…

Random details you may of missed: "The integrated card reader keeps information secure from swipe to payment." That means integrated encryption in to the stand. There are probably some other details. How to mount the thing to the table, how to connect devices. Edit: disclaimer, former square here. Details matter.

So does that mean it's PCI compliant?

Re: Introducing the Square Stand

#55

Post by kalleboo »

itsybitsycoder wrote: post #21
kalleboo wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They are U.S./Canada only. The European equivalent (which does take EMV chip-and-pin) is iZettle https://www.izettle.com

Chip & pin is very common in Canada, and for good reason: http://www.zimbio.com/Credit+Cards/articles/wqJ31IbmC13/New+... (Visa & Mastercard are the biggest CC companies here. Hardly anyone has Amex, and Interac is a debit card thing that Square doesn't support.)

Ah, I hadn't realized that Canada had gotten with the game. So it's only the US alone which is lagging behind then, as usual :)

Re: Introducing the Square Stand

#56

Post by eightyone »

diasol wrote: post #34
evo_9 wrote: post #3

What an absolutely brilliant & simple move by Square. POS register systems are a huge, costly market and this is an incredibly attractive option, esp at that price - talk about disruption! Nice job guys!

Groupon already does this and cheaper http://breadcrumb.groupon.com/

A couple of things:

1.) The fact that Breadcrumb has a "Pro" option and requires me to schedule a demo, suggests that it's more of a complex system than Square.

2.) Breadcrumb looks to be targeted specifically toward restaurants.

3.) I bet Square will be around for a heck of a lot longer than Groupon will.

Re: Introducing the Square Stand

#58

Post by amatix »

skeletonjelly wrote: post #48
pbreit wrote: post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Because it's a massive investment in replacing all POS hardware and cards for almost no gain (in fact, the customer experience is decidedly worse).

Worse? It's one extra step. Besides here in Australia the chip is already old tech. RFID is the new hotness. So much in fact it's killing the association that manages debit cards (EFTPOS)

In New Zealand it's certainly been worse - chip transactions consistently take 30+ seconds longer than swipe ones (ie. at least twice as long as the old way, just waiting around for the damn card reader)

Though the new Visa PayWave/MC PayPass tap-and-go stuff is really quick and super-easy, but not many merchants have it installed yet.

Re: Introducing the Square Stand

#60

Post by csmattryder »

gerbil wrote: post #17

Square should admit that their real purpose is to track the customer without their direct permission and sell the data to the highest bidder. Square is for morons who love Facebook profiling coz it's free.

You're new to Hacker News, but you're encouraged to 'show your working' here along with your comment.

I welcome to see the data that Square is tracking purchases, and if it is, how is this any different to XYZ Supermarket's loyalty program/card, and how are they doing this without breaking any laws.

(Oh, and they've handled $15bn in transactions, sans Starbucks, I doubt they need the moolah!)

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