
Connect from Square - wodow
https://connect.squareup.com/
======
euroclydon
What about Square's Online Store? It's free? The same thing from Weebly is
$25/mo.

Does Stripe have a store builder?

[https://squareup.com/online-store](https://squareup.com/online-store)

[http://www.weebly.com/pricing](http://www.weebly.com/pricing)

~~~
supster
Yeah the Online Store that comes with their POS is free and pretty great - I
know a lot of small merchants using it and they love it. Looks like this goes
one step further and allows you to build a web store without using their
hardware POS. Unlike Weebly, Square makes money by the fees on processing
credit cards so they can offer the online store for free. Stripe is a only a
payments processor so you need to use Weebly or Squarespace to build your
store and then use Stripe to accept payments. The thing is most merchants end
up using a website builder like Weebly/Squarespace anyways to establish their
web presence.

~~~
euroclydon
(Square + SquareStore - POS) == (Stripe + 'StripeStore' \- POS) -> Stripe
should make a store.

~~~
supster
by that logic Stripe should make a POS also

~~~
euroclydon
Well, _I_ wish they would make an online store, so I only had to deal with one
payment vender. Plus, it's arguably easier to write the store software than
the POS software and deal with the hardware.

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pbreit
Finally. I have no idea why Square didn't do is years ago before Stripe came
to dominate. Square has tremendous advantage with large existing merchant
base, most of whom need online processing.

~~~
dwightgunning
I'm not sure if most of their large merchant base do have an immediate need
for online processing. I always thought they targeted mainly bricks-and-mortar
retail, cafes, small chains, etc.

I havent thought about this a whole lot by my initial guess was that in the
past they just had their hands full capturing that large bricks-and-mortar
merchant base.

It seems easier to move from that position of strength into the adjacent
online payment market than in the other direction.

Timing into the market(s) would also be a factor. Square and Stripe have been
at it for quite a while.

~~~
pbreit
Even cafes, indie retail and food trucks have online commerce.

I think they've had her hands full with a lot of non-core activities like food
delivery and payroll.

------
wodow
Here's TechCrunch on the announcement:
[http://techcrunch.com/2016/03/30/square-copies-stripe-
with-n...](http://techcrunch.com/2016/03/30/square-copies-stripe-with-new-
online-checkout-api/)

------
taylorzane
I'm disappointed that they didn't include invoicing through the Connect API.
This is my primary method of billing, and it would be great to be able to
integrate this into other services.

~~~
jawspeak
Hi - I'm the engineering manager of the team and thanks for the suggestion and
feedback. We appreciate it because feedback guides our roadmap (and hiring,
p.s. we are hiring!) - keep it coming (-: \- Jonathan Wolter, Engineering
Manager Square Developer Platform

------
derwiki
Exciting to see them enter the space. Can anyone find the pricing on this?

We're using Stripe, and without the ability to initiate an ACH transfer, it
looks like we won't be able to use Connect from Square. If they do support it
some day, I would seriously look into switching. _Instant_ transfers are
amazing and that's why I've switched back to Square Cash from Venmo.

[edit] The Techcrunch article answered my question: "Like Stripe, online
checkout costs 2.9 percent + 30 cents per transaction."

~~~
jawspeak
Hi! I'm the engineering manager for the team. Thanks for the feedback.
eCommerce pricing is 2.9 + 30c as you said, while the Register API pricing is
the same as if you used Square Register. That plus more are in our FAQ
[https://docs.connect.squareup.com/articles/faq/](https://docs.connect.squareup.com/articles/faq/).
Also glad to hear you like Square Cash! \- Jonathan Wolter, Engineering
Manager Square Developer Platform (we are hiring Product, Engineering, and Dev
Evangelism roles)

------
the-dude
Does anybody know if there any advantages to Square over Stripe?

For us, Stripe charges 1.4% for European cards ( we are based in Europe ).

That is significant.

~~~
derwiki
Stripe only charges 1.4% for European cards? I've been paying 2.9% for all
cards, even if they're based in Europe.

~~~
the-dude
Are you based in Europe?

~~~
derwiki
No, US. So if based in Europe charging European cards it's 1.4%? Wish US-based
charging US-cards was as favorable.

~~~
the-dude
EU:

[https://stripe.com/nl/pricing](https://stripe.com/nl/pricing)
[https://stripe.com/de/pricing](https://stripe.com/de/pricing)
[https://stripe.com/gb/pricing](https://stripe.com/gb/pricing)

etc.

US and Japan for example:
[https://stripe.com/us/pricing](https://stripe.com/us/pricing)
[https://stripe.com/jp/pricing](https://stripe.com/jp/pricing) ( no fixed )

Must have something to do with: [http://europa.eu/rapid/press-
release_IP-15-4585_en.htm](http://europa.eu/rapid/press-
release_IP-15-4585_en.htm)

------
leothekim
I skimmed the documentation so I could be wrong, but it looks like there's no
ACH support, which Stripe has. Stripe's ACH pricing is pretty high though, so
it would be a pretty big coup for Square to provide a cheaper alternative.

~~~
uptown
Have you looked into Dwolla?

~~~
pbnjay
+1 for Dwolla suggestion. I use it for client payments, although the customer
UX is not as clean as stripe/square here for web applications.

------
pbnjay
I see "Subscription APIs" in the e-commerce section of the marketing page, but
can't find any mention of it skimming through the developer docs. Anyone have
experience doing subscriptions/recurring charges with this?

------
supster
Does anyone know if you can now connect to the Square payments processing
hardware through the API? I would like to process in person payments through
Square but keep the user experience in my application.

~~~
hartard
Yes, this functionality is now available through the Register API (announced
alongside the ECommerce API)

[https://docs.connect.squareup.com/articles/register-api-
over...](https://docs.connect.squareup.com/articles/register-api-overview/)

~~~
supster
Unfortunately that kicks the user out of your app and into Square's
temporarily. And according to the TOS, the customer needs to be supervised by
a merchant employee during the transaction. Ideally you would be able to
handle the customer's payment seamlessly and unsupervised within your own app.

~~~
brazzledazzle
If it's unsupervised and in another app wouldn't that just be ecommerce? Or
are you talking about something like a kiosk?

~~~
supster
Yeah something like a kiosk. I want to be able to process card swipes instead
of making users enter their card number (as in the Ecommerce api). The
additional benefit is that you get charged the 2.75% _card present_ fee
instead of the 2.9% + $0.30 _card not present_ fee.

------
showtimes
This is really interesting. Took way too long though. Im curious though how
this works for a market place similar to what stripe connect does if anyone
has any insight before I dig into the docs.

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brianjking
With this release it looks like this may bring Square as a viable gateway/CC
processor for 3rd party ecommerce platforms such as WooCommerce. Any
confirmation?

Thanks!

~~~
hartard
Yes, this can be used as a payment gateway option for ECommerce platforms
(including Woocommmerce). It's already available through both Bigcommerce and
Weebly.

~~~
brianjking
Yes, these two options were already available, however, anything else was off
the table until this release.

