Free Point of Sale System

makezee · Jan 11, 2017

Hey guys, just wanted to do a quick post about an interesting system i am working as a developer on.

It is a cloud based point of sale system. Basically, it is website based so you can use it anywhere and on any device. A regular PC/Mac, iPad, Tablet, whatever. You just log into your instance and off you go.

It includes a full featured point of sale with barcode printing and scanning, inventory management, financial reporting , credit card swiping (admittedly at a fee), and some other convenient features.

The free plan is totally free, but is only suitable for cash, and check. Credit card processing can be done with a 3rd party/standalone credit card unit.

There is a plan that includes integrated credit card processing (2.9%), tech support, and a few other premium features for $25 a month.

Well check it out, glad to answer any questions. Not meant to be spammy, and i am using it for my business. I am thinking the $25 a month is quite a bit less than most people are paying for credit card processing/credit unit lease, etc. Interested to find out if i am correct in this assumption.

Deploy Point of Sale - Your New Point of Sale System

-adam

ManualEd · Jan 11, 2017

How do I know I can trust Joe Blow to run my customers credit cards?

makezee · Jan 11, 2017

ManualEd said:
How do I know I can trust Joe Blow to run my customers credit cards?

The credit card processing is actually though Stripe, which is among the largest card processors in the world. The same processor that Shopify and many other huge platforms use.

-Adam

Garwood · Jan 11, 2017

ManualEd said:
How do I know I can trust Joe Blow to run my customers credit cards?

Look up how card processing works- Who has the money, who has the control and how it trades hands.

The card processors are at the bottom of the chain.

If you're using a card the processor doesn't matter- If they screw up you are protected above and beyond by your card issuer.

If you are the merchant you stand to lose a lot with the wrong processor. Ones that make you enter a contract or charge bullshit "security fees" and/or hold onto your money for "risk evaluation" are a scam.

Can it integrate with Stripe?

EDIT: So it's through stripe. Can the free version integrate with my stripe?

Monarchist · Jan 12, 2017

makezee said:
glad to answer any questions.

"Free" izzit? Alarms begin to ring.

One might not wish to alter and recompile your source code.

One would be a damned fool to not have the ability to review it or have it reviewed by those who could do.

Where is your tarball, and which license do you release under?

Or were you not aware there are 'many' Free/Libre Open Source Point of Sale Systems in widespread use?
Cloud and otherwise.

With known players. Third-party reviews. Proven track records.

With none of those things showing on the website you linked?

Either you and your team are naifs - even scoundrels - or believe the World at large to be one or both.

NO SALE, and no thanks.

MONEY and key information are both at risk.

Bill

makezee · Jan 12, 2017

Garwood said:
Look up how card processing works- Who has the money, who has the control and how it trades hands.

The card processors are at the bottom of the chain.

If you're using a card the processor doesn't matter- If they screw up you are protected above and beyond by your card issuer.

If you are the merchant you stand to lose a lot with the wrong processor. Ones that make you enter a contract or charge bullshit "security fees" and/or hold onto your money for "risk evaluation" are a scam.

Can it integrate with Stripe?

EDIT: So it's through stripe. Can the free version integrate with my stripe?

Yes, it can. The free version just comes with a waiver that says if you set it up wrong and send your money to Zimbabwe, no one is going to help you find it. That being said, its quite easy to connect if you already have a Stripe account. Basically just using your 4 API keys.

Im not sure how you feel about stripe, but I'm loving it. I recently canceled our other processor that was charging all those traditional fees.

makezee · Jan 12, 2017

Monarchist said:
"Free" izzit? Alarms begin to ring.

One might not wish to alter and recompile your source code.

One would be a damned fool to not have the ability to review it or have it reviewed by those who could do.

Where is your tarball, and which license do you release under?

Or were you not aware there are 'many' Free/Libre Open Source Point of Sale Systems in widespread use?
Cloud and otherwise.

With known players. Third-party reviews. Proven track records.

With none of those things showing on the website you linked?

Either you and your team are naifs - even scoundrels - or believe the World at large to be one or both.

NO SALE, and no thanks.

MONEY and key information are both at risk.

Bill

I am well versed in the doctrine of Stallman ha. It is more of a web app than a traditional application. I mean i guess you can compile linux and build a LAMP server if you want, but theres really not much in the way of traditional compiling source code. It's PHP files in directories, and mySQL databases (an oversimplification of course).

It is all GPL, so as a user you can see whatever you want. You are primarily paying for support/ priority access and hardware depending on plan (not exactly, but you know what I'm saying if know the history of GPL)

I am personally familiar with a few of the other offerings. A lot of them are pretty nasty from a user perspective. Unicenta/Openbravo is totally free, but is difficult to set up and modify. You also have to set up your own DB server for anything larger than a single register system.

The other cloud offerings such as Vend, impose arbitrary limits on you. Things such as 1 register, 1 outlet(store). They then charge you to add more to the system. Its more of a pain in the ass then you think. With this system i can sit in my living room and pull it up on my iPad and see how daily/weekly sales are going and even process a phone order right there if i wanted to.

A far as money being at risk, i am extremely confident in Stripe as a processor. They have one hell of a track record. The point of sale system never sees a dime. It certainly keeps a record of all transactions, but any CC info goes straight to stripe.

-Adam

AARONT · Jan 12, 2017

How is this any better than using the Square?

makezee · Jan 12, 2017

AARONT said:
How is this any better than using the Square?

To my knowledge square is geared more toward the smaller places like pizza shops and the like. I dont think they have a mechanism for things like barcode creation/printing/scanning, and bulk inventory management. Square is a good platform for what it is, but i dont think it is really meant to be a full scale POS replacement. I may be wrong, but that was my impression of using square.

Are you a Square user? Can you do sales from regular PC, or just the Tablet interface with the headphone jack swiper? Genuinely curious. Everything i have heard says it is iOS and Android only, which is deal breaker for me.

-Adam

mteiken · Jan 12, 2017

I must say, Makzee, you certainly have a knack for creating things that nobody wants.

makezee · Jan 12, 2017

mteiken said:
I must say, Makzee, you certainly have a knack for creating things that nobody wants.

HAHAHAA. Excellent. Hey man, we all have our purpose in life.

-Adam

AARONT · Jan 12, 2017

We do use square. We primarily use it via tablet or phone. You can use it via pc, but you have to go through their virtual terminal. I've never done it, but know it's an option.

Monarchist · Jan 12, 2017

makezee said:
It's PHP files in directories, and mySQL databases (an oversimplification of course).

Either toolset alone the sign of rank amateurism with no regard to security or robust service. The two taken together, a virtual 'kiss of death' among those in the know.

One more bullet dodged.

Thanks for sharing that projectile's trajectory in advance.

Bill

makezee · Jan 12, 2017

AARONT said:
We do use square. We primarily use it via tablet or phone. You can use it via pc, but you have to go through their virtual terminal. I've never done it, but know it's an option.

Thats what i saw as well. Seems more like just processing the credit card transaction. Almost like how a dumb terminal works. Enter the amount and swipe the card. Odd that they dont give you the full POS system in a browser. I suppose it isn't really what they are going for though.

-Adam

makezee · Jan 12, 2017

Monarchist said:
Either toolset alone the sign of rank amateurism with no regard to security or robust service. The two taken together, a virtual 'kiss of death' among those in the know.

One more bullet dodged.

Thanks for sharing that projectile's trajectory in advance.

Bill

Are you seriously against PHP and MySQL? Not trying to start a pissing contest, but thats kind of like saying your are against engines and wheels on automobiles. What do propose as an alternative?

-Adam

Chip Chester · Jan 12, 2017

The Square deal:

Recommended Hardware for Square Stand | Square Support Center - US

Chip

Monarchist · Jan 12, 2017

makezee said:
Are you seriously against PHP and MySQL?

"Against"? Too lazy by half.

Abandoned, left for dead, and indifferent to their fate or that of those who utilize them would be more accurate.

You have to be kidding to not be aware of their sad back-trails and the baggage from it still being carried? Or maybe just oblivious?

But since you asked, a compiled language nearly always, C mostly, in all cases atop PostgreSQL [1], on one of the *BSD as server & workstation OS, OpenBSD more often than the others.

My clients also ran - and still run - major-maker 'Big Iron' or 'mid-iron' OS'en & Oracle.

One cannot manage near-real-time tickets sales with elective choice of seating for two dozen-plus venues and 7+ million Hong Kong Chinese off no steenkin' "Pee Cee", after all. IBM's AIX & DB2 on Power - nine boxen - won the bid. HP-UX + an Industrial-strength Linux with Oracle on clustered Superdomes delivers it well-enough at a significant cost reduction.

Bill

[1] One exception, still up since launched 2003, also utilizes Python and the "Z" Object DB as well as Object/Relational PostgreSQL, same website, multiple DB, multiple httpd. Part of it began life as a highly, highly modified Zope/Plone CMS ++. Even during the early stone age my Drupal installs ran atop PostgreSQL, not MouseSqueal.

makezee · Jan 12, 2017

Monarchist said:
"Against"? Abandoned, left for dead, and indifferent to their fate or that of those who utilize them would be more accurate. You have to be kidding to not be aware of their sad back-trails and the baggage from it still being carried? Or maybe just oblivious?

But since you asked, a compiled language nearly always, C mostly, in all cases atop PostgreSQL, on one of the *BSD as server & workstation OS, OpenBSD more often than the others.

Bill

I can appreciate that. Every system / service / language / protocol has its potential benefits and potential shortcomings. It's up to the user/developer on what is the best stack to use. Im resolving myself to understanding that i wont change your mind, and you likely wont change mine on this.

Im quite confident this very forum leans heavily on PHP for it's functionality though.

-Adam

Garwood · Jan 12, 2017

Stripe has been excellent for us. Our web person loves it. Says it's hands down the simplest and least trouble.

I remember when we first integrated paypal pro with our websites. Fuck. What a nightmare.

Stripe was like 5 minutes. Done. "It already works?"

Monarchist · Jan 12, 2017

makezee said:
I can appreciate that. Every system / service / language / protocol has its potential benefits and potential shortcomings. It's up to the user/developer on what is the best stack to use. Im resolving myself to understanding that i wont change your mind, and you likely wont change mine on this.

Im quite confident this very forum leans heavily on PHP for it's functionality though.

-Adam

VB - and sadly its closed-source devel team are "married" to MouseSqueal when PG would be sooo much easier to maintain - is one of the more successful PHP/MSQL critters out there.

Painless on smaller user-communities (jagaurforums.com).

But there is a substantial maintenance cost and risk price being paid to prop it up on LARGE forums. This one, for example.

Bill

Free Point of Sale System

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