Ask the Collective
The questions independent drinks founders ask most — answered. Distilled from years of community knowledge so the good stuff never disappears in the feed again.
What payment processors and card readers do members recommend for UK drinks businesses selling online and offline?
Members recommend several options depending on your transaction volume and setup needs: **Zettle** is a popular choice for card readers. It offers tiered transaction fees that decrease with volume, integrates easily with accounting platforms (Xero, QuickBooks, Sage), fast delivery, and quick payment settlement. The reporting is solid. **Square** is recommended for businesses with low monthly transaction volume and no monthly fees. Transaction fees are around 1.75%, with a card reader available for around £20. You can accept card payments over the phone, online, and via their free website option. **Stripe** works well linked to invoicing and accounting software. Standard UK online charge is 1.4% when using Shopify Payments. **Tyl from NatWest** has very low fees and has saved members money compared to previous solutions, though you may need a NatWest business account. **WorldPay** offers much lower transaction fees than Square but charges monthly fees, so it's better suited to higher-volume traders. Members also mention **SumUp** as a working option. For event/POS sales, Square is noted as particularly easy to set up quickly. One member mentioned using both Stripe and Square together works well.
Which card payment reader systems work best for events and festivals?
Members strongly favour dedicated hardware card readers over phone-only systems for event and festival use. A recent poll showed **Square** and **iZettle** as the most popular choices, with **Dojo** emerging as a strong alternative that performs well on cost per transaction and technical support. **Specific recommendations:** - **Square** — 12 votes in the poll; successfully deployed at large-scale events (60,000+ capacity) with Starlink connectivity; reliable handheld terminals. - **iZettle** — 11 votes; long track record (users report 10+ years of reliable event use); PayPal now remits takings next-day (previously 3 working days). - **Dojo** — Recommended strongly by members; won competitive tenders for major hospitality operators on cost per transaction, tech support, and kit quality; works with phone plus handheld hardware. - **Stripe** — 0 votes; not favoured for events despite broad awareness. - **SumUp** — 6 votes; less popular than top choices. **Key caveat:** Members strongly advise against asking staff to use their personal mobile devices as the sole payment system—devices can be dropped, lost, or stolen. Dedicated hardware is safer and more professional. For connectivity-dependent systems, consider redundancy with a data-only eSIM (e.g. **Airalo**) to cover signal failures.
What payment processing options and fees should we consider for ecommerce in the drinks industry?
Members report a range of payment processing solutions with varying fee structures depending on your platform and customer type. **Stripe** — Standard option charging 1.4% transaction fees. **Revolut Pay** — Members report it as a solid option with competitive rates. Key caveat: while consumer card transactions are charged at 1%, commercial/business cards incur a higher 2.8% fee. This is a significant consideration if your revenue mix includes B2B sales. Members noted this was a surprise discovery after initial sign-up. Revolut also offers cashback incentives (e.g. £20 on purchases) when using RevPay alongside a Revolut business account. **Shopify Payments** — If using Shopify as your platform, the fees vary by plan tier: Basic plan = 2%, Shopify = 1%, Advanced = 0.5%, Shopify Plus = 0.15%. Shopify adds additional third-party fees if you use payment providers other than Shopify Payments. **Caveat:** Members operating B2B models should carefully evaluate Revolut's commercial card fees (2.8%), as this significantly erodes the headline 1% consumer rate advantage if a substantial portion of your revenue comes from business customers rather than direct-to-consumer sales.
What payment processing solutions work for taking card payments at consumer events without a UK business entity?
Several members have tested card readers at events without UK business entities. **Square** is the most recommended option—members report it's easy to set up, offers good reporting and functionality, and crucially allows you to input event coordinates to disable location services, which prevents the struggles other systems face in high-volume environments. **Zettle** (via PayPal) requires a UK business entity and members warned it has poor location services that cause problems at busy events. **Stripe** was suggested but not discussed in detail. **TYL by NatWest** was mentioned as a possible option, though members were uncertain whether it requires a UK entity. Members confirmed they are VAT registered, suggesting that registration alone doesn't solve the entity requirement for most providers. The key differentiator for Square is its event-location flexibility—you can manually set coordinates for each venue to avoid GPS drift in crowded spaces.
How does Amazon Pay work as a payment option for e-commerce, and what should we know about using it?
Amazon Pay is a payment convenience tool similar to Apple Pay or PayPal that allows customers to checkout using their existing Amazon account credentials. **Payment processing:** - **Amazon Pay** — functions as an accelerated checkout method, letting customers pay without re-entering card details; members compare it to Apple Pay in terms of user convenience **Implementation:** - Available as a payment option on platforms like Shopify (see Shopify's accelerated checkouts documentation for setup) - Used by established e-commerce retailers like Whiskey Exchange **Related logistics note:** While researching payment options, members flagged that **Amazon shipping** (a separate service from Amazon Pay) performed poorly in their experience—roughly 10% of packages were delivered to wrong addresses or not delivered at all. This is a fulfillment/logistics issue, not a payment issue, but worth noting if considering Amazon's end-to-end services.
What payment processing systems are reliable for point-of-sale operations in drinks businesses?
Members recommend evaluating payment processors based on both functionality and uptime reliability, as system downtime directly impacts sales. **Square** — Currently in use by at least one member; supports card payments and point-of-sale functions. **Zettle** — Long-established option (used reliably by members for years) with built-in EPOS system integration, though recent reports indicate reliability issues in some cases; consider this if stability becomes a concern. **Dojo** — Emerging alternative with reportedly excellent coverage, though members note it lacks built-in EPOS functionality like Zettle, which may require separate systems integration. Key consideration: Members emphasise that payment system downtime is critical—there is nothing worse than being unable to complete a sale. If switching from an established provider like Zettle due to recent unreliability, ensure the alternative has proven uptime before committing.