As tiny businesses in Aotearoa, be it in music or as crafty sorts, we don’t want to miss out on any potential income, right? Here’s what I do as a lightweight, good, cheapo EFTPOS “alternative”!

This is something I use, and a note upfront: I don’t like BNZ (don’t get me started!) at all, but this is a great service that works no matter what bank you’re with. NZ has an app that allows you to use a phone as an EFTPOS machine that accepts paywave.

Not just that, it’s also super awesome if there’s more than one band, you can set up a “point of sale” system to create buttons for all merch items and the tickets, so you know who sold what and how much you owe people at the end of the night for merch, if you name things “Band X Tee”, “Band Y Vinyl” etc. It also eliminates any and all chances to miscalculate the full amount to be paid. Even your cousin can now run your merch! 😏

This also comes in handy because you can keep tally even if people pay cash or via bank transfer – you press the buttons of what people are buying and on check-out, instead of the card option, you pick “cash” or “other”, and the system keeps track of all sales and how it was paid for.

The reporting for the app is better than any other EFTPOS machine that’s easily available, and you can email the results about. Bingo.

It’s soooo practical, and with one account, you can assign log-ins for other phones, I think up to three at a time, all using the same app, and buttons that you assigned earlier.

It’s a real game changer, on a budget.

It comes with a bonus of being able to write simple invoices on your phone, email them and then get people to pay you there and then, without any excuses about paying you later “some time”.

You only pay the fees ($10/month + merchant fees) if you use the app, so if you’ve got a bit of a quiet time, you won’t get charged.

Other Options

Bank transfer

Not a huge fan, as it takes ages at a time when you want to sell as much as possible, I find it super customer-un-friendly because who wants to type a long string of number correctly when you’re maybe a bit tipsy or whatever, but hey, it’s totally free!

Your own EFTPOS machine

Only really worth it if you use it regularly. In that case, the pricing for it starts at $30 + GST/ month + merchant fees, if you go for your bank’s budget option – which is usually 100% fine, especially if you’ve got a power bank to bring along to top up the battery.

On the upside, it allows for regular swipey EFTPOS payments and paywave.

Personally, I’ve got both, and need both, but this isn’t for everyone.

Hired EFTPOS machine

Sometimes you just need one for a weekend, so this is an option, but the shorter you hire it for, the more expensive it gets, plus couriering etc on top of it all. With a reputable provider, you probably look at ~120+GST for a one-night hire, plus elevated merchant fees.

Stripe

Stripe has a ton of options for taking payments online, via your phone (paywave styles) or by creating QR codes that lead to a payment portal people can pay you on via their phones.

It’s pay-as-you-go, but no fixed fee per month in return, so there’s a relatively high fee for you per transaction, but that’s that, and, hey, so simple, and rather reliable. I use it as payment portal for my shop, no issues, it just works. 👍

Shopify

The very good Ben of VMorg/Two Tones uses hardware that he can hook up to his Shopify store and take payments like that! Seems like an awesome option if you’re already using Shopify anyway. I’m a WooCommerce user, and am quite happy with my payment portals, but it’s worth noting for sure!

(Shopify charges monthly, WooCommerce doesn’t)