Wednesday, March 08, 2023

How to better communicate with others (via apps)?


Where are we headed? What app should we use to share/communicate with others in a group setting without ads or having an option to have our data not to be mined or sold?

Is there a way to safely determine what my most used services are (by time and by device(mobile/desktop)? (gmail, voice, outlook, figma, youtube, amazon, etc) - and see a daily/weekly/monthly chart of each at any time? My guess is that I would need to install an app on my phone and have a Windows/MacOS desktop app to do this?

This question was inspired by a discussion here:
https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=35070060

Some data to review below (*may be biased):
Most Popular Apps 2022 (United States)

TikTok99
Instagram72
Cash App64
WhatsApp63
Snapchat54
Subway Surfers51.4
Roblox50.9
Amazon47
Messenger46.3
Facebook45.5

Most Popular Apps 2022 (Global)
TikTok672
Instagram548
Facebook449
WhatsApp424
CapCut357
Snapchat330
Telegram310
Subway Surfers304
Stumble Guys254
Spotify238


https://www.softwaretestinghelp.com/most-downloaded-apps/

https://www.businessofapps.com/data/most-popular-apps/

https://www.zucisystems.com/blog/15-most-popular-apps-to-download-in-2021/

https://buildfire.com/app-statistics/


Monday, March 06, 2023

Credit Card Processing, Refund Fees and more! What are our options?

FYI - Paypal, Stripe, Shopify and now Square as of this year will not refund processing fees (which is typically a percentage of the sale)?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j40yV7KD62M

https://odysee.com/@rossmanngroup:a/square-merchant-services-screws:3

*Rumor is if you set the transaction to authorize and don't charge until fulfilment you don't pay any fees unless you capture the payment (at least for now, who knows)

Chase supposedly has not implemented this yet?

U.S. Bank will charge you twice for the penalty?

This may cause an uptick in stores adopting restocking fees?

Rumor is that your business bank may have an API key that you can use to build your own website and link your store directly to your bank. There will be a cost to get the site setup to work with it but that should not be all that much to do and is a one time charge. *Ask them if doing this will avoid the cost of refunding processing fees from your customers.

Stax offers a flat subscription fee with no long-term contracts.

https://staxpayments.com/blog/payment-apis-how-they-work/

All traders should specify these charges on receipts. For example: PayPal fee of $25 is 2.5% = $2.50 Non-refundable.

What about offering different payment processors as part of your checkout process? Then clearly marking that "this one charges 30 cents+ 2% of transaction"

This also invents a default "cash discount".

https://www.cryptovantage.com/news/did-strike-global-just-end-transaction-fees-for-the-entire-planet/

2.3% + $0.10 per trans - https://www.clover.com/pricing/quick-service-restaurant

2.75% - https://cash.app/help/US/EN-US/6521-cash-for-business-fees

2.75% fees for USA, refundable if transaction is reversed. https://www.sumup.com/en-us/credit-card-processing-fees/

2.9% + $0.60 per trans - https://support.waveapps.com/hc/en-us/articles/218323823-Wave-Payments-processing-fees-and-timelines

2.99% + $0.15 per trans - https://www.nerdwallet.com/article/small-business/toast-pos-review

Will Ecommerce brands will become their own processor? Lightning Network is a way to achieve this.

A business can accept crypto, as well as any credit card (Visa, Mastercard, AMEX, etc) or fiat. All-in-one solutions are listed below. *What are the fees and service charges?

https://www.pallapay.com/

https://www.ellypos.mk/en/

BTCPay Server Setup: No Fee Bitcoin Only Solution for Merchants - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FfXammizweQ


*** JUNE 2023 UPDATE:
Clover, Stripe and PAYPAL ripoff?
Clover screws over restaurants after "no surprises" advertising campaign
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zQM2cTxpfJc
No ads video? - https://odysee.com/@rossmanngroup:a/clover-screws-over-restaurants-after-no:e
6 days left to dump Square merchant services before they begin screwing small businesses
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GCrxL-lc9d8
No ads video? - https://odysee.com/@rossmanngroup:a/6-days-left-to-dump-square-merchant:9

*** JULY 2023 UPDATE:
Many other options to consider: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=36811026

Louis uses https://www.authorize.net and the magento payment gateway - magento.com, which has been bought by Adobe? https://business.adobe.com/products/magento/magento-commerce.html

What about STRIKE?
https://www.paycec.com/faq/what-is-strike-payment-gateway
Strike POS demo - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nXYL6k_BHgk
Payment via QR code demo - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EWi1xEueISE
STRIKE APP UPDATE! Everything You Need to Know - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lqhrCe_jfPM
Official website: https://strike.me/