Introduction

Back in 2023, I had no idea what we needed for in person event transactions and did literally no research. I ended up driving over to the local Best Buy and picking up a Square Terminal. I had definitely gone back and forth about that getting that or just picking up the Square Reader, which was about $240 cheaper.

I didn't consider too many factors about my choice at the time, but the terminal felt like it would be easiest to use for someone starting out. I have no idea if this was the right or wrong choice as I have never used the Square Reader at all, even as of this blog post.

I think it is important to note that I was an online artist first, so I didn't just drop into events without any products. I think for people starting out with an art business, this is probably not the wisest investment right out of the gate. If you've read any of my blogs, you'll see that getting started in the art vending world is both expensive and there is no guaranteed return on investment. There are several times I barely broke even, so keep your costs as low as possible at the start.

If you've been vending awhile and are looking for an upgrade, I do think that the Square Terminal is a really nice option.

Basic Information & Operation

I've been talking about this payment machine I picked up for events, but what is a Square Terminal exactly? The Square Terminal is a standalone machine that takes payments with tap, insert or swipe. It also has a built-in receipt paper printer, which I rarely use but sometimes you do get that rogue customer who wants a physical one. The one I purchased from Best Buy came with the terminal, power adapter, power adapter cable, and one receipt paper roll.

It's a larger device than the Square Reader if you're concerned about space. That being said, it's not a huge item to lug around either. It's 5.6 inches in length, 2.5 inches tall and about 3.4 inches wide. The receipt paper sits inside the device and comes out from the top near the screen. When a customer selects that they want a receipt, they are prompted to pass the device to you where you then tell it to print. It has little teeth at the top so you can easily tear it off and hand it to them.

Square's business model is payment processing, so of course there are fees that you incur from using the device. I won't include those here since they are something that changes based on how you are using the device. For example, Square does not charge you a transaction fee if you only take cash payments. While some people do add credit card fees as a surcharge, there are rules and legal limitations you need to check into before seriously considering that. It is really nice that this is a device that doesn't also require a monthly fee of any sort. You basically just pay for the device itself and if you don't use it, you don't pay anything further.

Once out of the box, it's basically plug and play. You charge the device, login with the Square account you will need to create on your computer and then you can start using it.

Tip: Charge fully before each event.

While the terminal, at least in my experience, can last for several days without a charge, it's still within your best interest to make sure it is fully charged before the start of each day. I say that since some events are just one day events, while others can span up to a week. The charger provided charges really quickly depending on how drained your terminal is. It takes about 2 hours at most for a full charge from a dead battery. I do find that it also tends to die if I forget to turn it off after an event, so always check and don't assume it will still be alive before the next event.

The screen will turn itself off to conserve battery after so long. You can change how long it stays active in the settings. I don't remember what the settings were right out of the box, I just remember changing mine to be longer than what it was initially. For those who may wonder, you can keep the terminal plugged in the whole time to the charger itself or even a portable charger. Different events may have restrictions on the size of batteries you can bring to charge things, so make sure you scan the rules if you have something larger than average that you intend to use.

Internet Requirements & Challenges

You will need either a Wi-Fi connection or a hotspot in order to use this at events. I do think this is important to take into consideration if you're considering purchasing this device. Most cellphones do allow you to create your own hotspot, but you can also purchase a separate device to connect to that won't drain your data or cell phone battery.

We use Google Fi as our cell phone service. Many people complained before I started doing conventions about spotty reception at certain events. I can't say I have had this experience yet, thankfully. Google Fi has a referral program for anyone interested in signing up (as of 6/6/2025) where if you sign up (https://fi.google.com/about/referrals?rc=M3V26K), you get $60 credit and I will also get $60 credit for my family account.

While some places offer free WiFi, a lot of events (especially conventions) charge a fairly large fee for using it. The Square Terminal can NOT connect directly to networks that use captive portals. If you have no idea what that is, it's when you try to connect to a free Wi-Fi at some hotels, airports or coffee shops but it makes you agree to terms and conditions in order to gain access. Sometimes it requires a password or asks you to input other information. Either way, the Square Terminal doesn't have any way to access these pages and thus you can't use it that way.

If you lose connection, you can enable the device to go into offline mode. A friend at another event told me to just turn on the offline mode which left me a little concerned about the stability of my internet. I didn't end up needing to worry in the end, but it's nice to know it can do offline payments if needed. That being said, sometimes cards do get declined. I would be concerned about losing internet at all since most of my items are at higher price points.

Tip: Check for software updates regularly.

I do find that the terminal likes to update at inconvenient times if you're not paying attention. If you go under [directions], you can check and see if your device is up to date with the latest software or not. I highly suggest if you have an event on a Friday, you try and make sure that you check for updates Thursday evening or early in the morning the day of. It can take up to 15 minutes for an update, so give yourself enough time. I hear all the time at events that people's terminals are updating and they can't check out any orders.

Setup

While you can set things up on the terminal itself with limits, I used my computer to set things up. Since I have a website already, I just take the existing images I have for each of my products to create the items in my square page.

Some people use Square for their online shops as well, but I still prefer Shopify for the moment. Perhaps that will change in the future, but I like my online and physical sales staying separate. I find it much easier to keep up with transactions, fees & taxes, especially with how Shopify changed tracking tax things in 2025.

How you input your items for sale depends entirely on what your end goals are with what you are selling. For example, some people just do stickers at a flat rate and have things listed in a way that if they buy X amount of stickers they get some sort of discount. So then they just click the item that matches, such as buy two get one free, and check the person out. I personally prefer to know exactly what items are selling so if I have to reorder something, I can overstock the bigger sellers and not worry as much about the ones that do not sell as well as others.

I also find it useful to track information about what version of a design sells better in certain areas. For example, my red Pembroke corgis sold very well at Momocon in 2024. In 2025, I brought black headed tricolor merch and the sales did not do significantly better than the red Pembrokes did. At other events, my black tricolor merch has been the top seller. This is good information to have if you are traveling as well and planning around what to bring to certain events.

I do think it does have a pretty simple learning curve. Taking card is easiest, of course. People can simply tap (which is like the middle of my screen), insert or slide their card. Tap also works with smart watches and cell phones, which is super neat. To take cash, if you don't plan to have coin change on hand, you'll want to change your tax options. Either way, you just hit the X on the screen where it asks for payment and hit cash. Hate math like I do? Just put in the amount they handed you and it will then give you the amount you need to give them back if anything is owed at all. It's great.

You have the option of having tax added extra or have inclusive tax. I do inclusive tax on all my items, so if something costs $20 regardless of cash or card, it will do what I call "backwards math" with the taxes and then ask about a receipt. Most people have additive tax if it's card and tax included if they accept cash.

I haven't had to do a lot of complex transactions just yet so my experience with those is fairly limited. For example, say you have someone that wants to pay part of the order with cash and the rest of the order with card. Sounds like a pain, however, they have a split payment option that will allow you to help that customer with their order. You can also add a free app that allows you to save an in progress transaction and resume it later. This is handy if you have a customer you started checking out, but they are struggling to make final decisions or changed their mind on something. Their order can be saved so you can come back to it later and check someone else out.

One last thing that I like that some people don't like is tipping. I'm not some big store, I'm one person with some help from my husband, daughter or friends from time to time. You can turn tipping on and while most people don't tip, the ones who do make a huge difference. A lot of times those transaction fees you have to pay can be covered with tips from people. I know people get up in arms over it, but no one has to tip. I love to tip artists myself.

Customer Support

I have never had to use Square's customer support in the entire time I have had the device. I do not have any idea if it's good or bad, so unfortunately this section is just going to have to remain pretty empty.

Add-ons

Square has a lot of applications and add-on accessories that you can use between all of their devices, which is pretty convenient.

One appealing aspect of the Square Terminal was that it can connect with several different devices, such as barcode scanners! We ended up with a free barcode scanner that was being disposed of, but the battery to make it functional was about $200. Unfortunately we never got to test it out since it wasn't on the compatibility list nor did we have a battery.

Another thing we never used it for was external printers. Since I only bring my terminal to events, I had no reason to care about the functionality for anything else. People who may have small store fronts can connect to certain printers to print sticky labels, receipts, order tickets, barcodes & thermal receipts. Square also has a compatibility list for the printers on their site. I personally like that for people who want a receipt, they can have a physical one printed from my terminal or have it emailed/texted if they choose.

There are other devices you can connect to it, but I don't think most of those will be used by any of us at events. The printer at least I can see to be a little useful outside of events at your own home for online orders, but even then I can't imagine it being a very common situation for most.

We're still learning to use the add-ons (may as well call them apps) for the device. Some are free, some are not, but these are the ones we have installed. I think if my devices were set up correctly across the board, open tickets would be the most beneficial.

I likely won't review the apps, but just know there are some. They aren't necessary at all to download and use. We actually didn't even install them until sometime into 2025 to begin with and we've had the device since 2023.

I have a screen protector on mine and highly recommend a carrying case. I got both of mine off amazon.

Others Experiences

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Pros & Cons List

Pros

• Stand alone point of sale machine
• Works offline
• Built in receipt printer
• Battery life that can last a full day or two without charging
• Can accept virtual terminal
• No monthly fees
• Tipping functionality

Cons

• Expensive up front cost
• Locked into Square's fees for processing
• Requires Internet Access for any use
• Shopify & Square don't have a shared inventory tracking application
• Inconvenient update timing

Conclusion

If you're looking for an upgrade and can afford it, the terminal is a great all in one package. I would not recommend this for a brand new to events business unless you can financially take the hit.