Re: [TheThinkTank] Shop software

5 Jul 2012

      Hey everyone,
I wanted to chime in here as this issue is important to me.
At Bike Farm (www.bikefarm.org) we use Square to take debit/credit
cards via smartphone.  It is by far the cheapest and easiest to use
with very low fees.  The barrier to entry is basically training your
volunteers and obtaining a smart phone.  Signing up is free, there's
no monthly rate and they mail you a card reader for no cost.
I wish we had an iPad in our shop as Square's point of sale software
is so elegant.  Many more small businesses in addition to non-profits
are moving to Square.  Their iPad app works with POS hardware (receipt
printer, cash drawer), does inventory management, records customer
info and even tracks cash payments.  Even the cost of an iPad (used or
new) is cheap compared to even the most basic POS system and the
software is free.  MerchantOS is a great alternative for shops that
already have merchant accounts/payment processors and can afford their
monthly fees.
One downside to Square is that they don't have an API for rolling your
own integrations.  However, most POS software doesn't either.  Using
Square does not require a merchant account which mitigates the iPad
cost issue in my opinion.  New non-profits or small co-ops probably
couldn't get a decent merchant account with affordable rate anyway.
To those working on this software, I don't understand the scope of
this project.  There's already a ton of great options out there for
every feature mentioned.  What's the unmet need this software will
help with?  I would be inclined to help if I knew a little more about
the overall goals.
Thanks,
Frank
On Thu, Jul 5, 2012 at 10:23 AM,  christopher@holisticcycles.com wrote:
...
I have a droid and use square
Christopher Wallace
Holistic Cycles
140 Harrison St
Oak Park, IL. 60304
-------- Original Message --------
Subject: Re: [TheThinkTank] Shop software
From: momoko saunders analyst@bikefarm.org
Date: Wed, July 04, 2012 12:08 pm
To: The Think Tank thethinktank@lists.bikecollectives.org
I wonder if we can get a spread sheet of the data that Square creates.  It
might be useful to develop an app that takes the data from square, and
transforms it into useful data for bike collectives. I've had a look at
their web page https://squareup.com/register
It's unfortunate that you must have an ipad to use Square as a POS.
The data base appears to collect this info:
date, product, price, payment method, discounts,
i've got a theory that one can use a POS for membership data base, as well
as volunteer data base.  But i'm not sure if Square collects data about the
customer.  That would be necessary.  I like that you can have cash or check
or credit card transactions stored.  I just wish you could also have it on a
desktop.  A lot of our volunteers are against the use of an ipad in the shop
and I understand.  It sends an odd message to the people who come into the
shop for help.  We're already in danger of adding to the gentrification of
our neighborhood, the last thing we need is is fancy chrome apple products
to alienate people even further...
Godwin,
I of course support you in your effort to develop this web based app.
Hopefully you/we can think of a simple solution that is flexible.  I'm
terrible at naming things... So i've got no suggestions there.  But I've
forwarded on your email to my developer friends.  I'm sure we can add some
sections in.  I assume you'll get it up on github?
cool
we'll talk soon
-m
On Tue, Jul 3, 2012 at 12:44 PM, Jonathan Morrison
jonathan.morrison@gmail.com wrote:
...
If you haven't checked out Square, you really should.  It is cheap and
simple, and that might be enough for most shops.
https://squareup.com/?gclid=CJfQsMOu_rACFQkZQgodBEtl8A#register
At least it might provide some ideas...
Sincerely,
Jonathan Morrison
c: 801-688-0183
On Mon, Jul 2, 2012 at 4:00 PM, Godwin ! goodgodwin@hotmail.com wrote:
...
I’ve also had reservations about going with a web-based system but in the
end I think it’s the most adaptable solution. I’m not worrying about
hardware integration for now, I’m pretty sure anything is possible but I
think that would be far down the list of requirements for most shops that
need free software.
It will be open source and modular, so there won’t be a single point
person for the entire system, I’ll do my best to set up a good environment
for users to interact with the developers and for developers to provide
documentation. This is a bit of an experiment but I have far more faith in
open and crowd sourcing technologies than I do having a long term individual
or group in charge (including myself).
Thanks!
.g
From: Jonathan Morrison
Sent: Monday, July 02, 2012 3:49:13 PM
To: The Think Tank
Subject: Re: [TheThinkTank] Shop software
Godwin,
Will it be able to swipe credit card?  Interface with a cash drawer?  Or
scan a UPC?  My concern with any web-based system is that you don't have
access to the necessary lower level hardware of a useful POS system.
Also, how much will you be charging for tech support, or what level of
on-going support can users expect?  Or will use be at your own risk with no
implied support?
Name Suggestion: PIF - Pedaling/Paying It Forward
Sincerely,
Jonathan Morrison
c: 801-688-0183
On Mon, Jul 2, 2012 at 2:33 PM, Ryan Sharpe sharpe@sacbikekitchen.org
wrote:
...
At the risk of being too family-unfriendly, gratuitously offensive to
Godwin's herculean task, and over-aware of the cobbled-together nature of
some of our various operations, I'd be tickled if it were named "That POS".
--Ryan S.
On Mon, Jul 2, 2012 at 1:13 PM, summitcyclingcenter@yahoo.com
summitcyclingcenter@yahoo.com wrote:
...
I Appreciate what you are doing.  Name-I suggest Velocomp POS.
Sent from my HTC EVO Design™ 4G from Boost Mobile
----- Reply message -----
From: "Godwin !" goodgodwin@hotmail.com
To: "The Think Tank" thethinktank@bikecollectives.org
Subject: [TheThinkTank] Shop software
Date: Sun, Jul 1, 2012 6:50 pm
Trying to squeeze in the extra time this week to open up to developers
soon but first:
Non-technical
Nominate a name!
Right now the code name I'm using is 'Samara' after the fruit that a
maple tree produces but I'd like to hear better ideas if anyone has them
(and maybe get some sort of consensus)
Will my shop / organization be able to use it?
Yes. The intention is to make everything completely customizable so
that it can work with the way your organization does, although I'm not going
to promote it over any of the other options
It will be web-based and (if required) compatible with Wordpress,
Joomla, and Drupal and eventually hopefully IPad and Android. Setting it up
to work offline will also be possible.
What will it do?
The focus at the beginning is to create a point of sale system, after
that I'd like to implement other features from news feeds to keep everyone
informed to budget planning and audit modules (everything will be optional)
Whatever else you can dream of and find someone to help build
Why are you doing this?
To create a common tool that will work for everyone's needs, so that we
can combine our efforts where we can and diverge when we need to
Because I like software development and especially interesting projects
Not to overshadow other people's efforts such as freehub
When will it be ready?
No clue. I've made a number of promises in the past but I realized that
I really need to stop making them, we all know what volunteering is like
Don't wait for it if you need something now, there's lots of other
tools out there and if you eventually want to switch we may be able to work
together to get that done.
Check out:  http://erply.com/, http://www.merchantos.com/, and of
course  https://github.com/asalant/freehub/wiki/
How to get involved
GIVE IT A NAME! - It's likely that your shop name will be more
prominent (if this name is even visible at all) but it would be nice to have
something to call it when downloading or when talking amongst ourselves
Design a logo - You might want to wait for the name
Otherwise wait for my next email (but don't hold your breath), I'll be
setting up a development environment so that people can jump on as they can.
We'll be more in need of experienced PHP developers in the beginning stages
to round out the framework, less experienced developers can hop on in the
later stages to build modules and themes.
Feel free to send questions or feedback (critical or otherwise)
directly to me if you'd like,
.godwin

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