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Does Square offer layaway?

Does Square offer layaway?

For retail owners and layway tool would extremely useful. I has attempted a make process currently but would love to see this feature added.

3 Verified Answers
Verified Answer

Re: Meet Our Square Hardware Team: How can we improve Square's payment products?

We start doing layaways between mid September- mid December to help our customers with their holiday shopping.

A layaway option would be fantastic or the ability to take payments on saved tickets would be awesome. 

 

 

Your post was moved by a Community Moderator to a thread with similar subject matter on a Feature Request.

Verified Answer

Re: Does Square offer layaway?

I operate an art gallery and we do a lot of layaway purchases. Here's my workaround:

 

After calculating the total and the deposit due, I ring the item/items and manually change the price to reflect the deposit amount. For each item I use the Note function to indicate it's a layaway deposit. I then make an invoice that splits the remaining balance into equal thirds or fourths depending on the customer's choice. We set a reminder for 2 days prior, and the day of each payment due date. The paper agreement says we prefer they use the online invoice function. If they do happen to come in to make an in-person payment, I create an item for the amount and use the Notes to indicate what it's for. Since we're a consignment gallery, and artists are paid as each payment comes in, having the invoice record helps our accounts to ensure commission payments are made correctly.

Verified Answer

Re: How can I offer my customers a layaway option with Square Point of Sale?

Great question, @wh! We don't have a specific layaway feature, but we have had some sellers use our open tickets feature to facilitate layaway sales. The workaround goes like this:

 

1) Create an open ticket for the item

2) When the customer makes a payment on the item, close out the existing open ticket with their payment

3) Then create a new open ticket with the updated balance

4) Follow this process until the item has been paid off

 

Here are the details on how the open tickets feature works: http://squ.re/201xf50.

 

You could also create an Invoice for the upfront partial payment and more Invoices for the balance until the goods are picked up. Here’s how to create Invoices: http://squ.re/1SGkd8s.


@2ndglances, do you have other tips?

89 Comments
Alumni

Hey @DragonStar!

 

Not sure if you're aware, but our Partial Payments feature for Invoices is in beta and may work for you in the meantime. For more information on how to join, check out Test Partial Payments in the Invoices Request Deposit Beta

 Hey all, 

We recently started using Square for our business and we're having trouble solving one issue.

We do pop up stores at senior living facilities.

Most of the time, we'll take orders from the residents and roll them up into one big invoice for the facility manager. 

Basically, we need to write down each resident's order so the facility manager knows how much to charge each resident, and what clothes they ordered. Then we send an invoice to the facility manager for the total sum of all the orders which they pay to us by cheque (usually) 30-90 days later.

An average pop up store will be 50-60 of these orders.

So, we need a way to essentially adjust our inventory without taking payment for items - and I can't find a solution for this so far.

If we create draft invoices for all those individual orders, the inventory isn't adjusted until those invoices are paid.

On top of that, once we create an invoice for the total of all the orders to be paid by the facility, we'd end up having to cancel those draft invoices anyway (to avoid recording 2x our actual sales)

I can't seem to find a way to do some kind of layaway for those orders either.

The last option would be to process all those orders as sales under a special tender, then go back and refund them and replenish the inventory at the time the invoice is paid by the facility - which seems like a terrible way to do this.

I feel like I'm missing something obvious, but hopefully, someone can shed light on a good workflow for this kind of situation.

Admin

Hi @Mpetitpas,

 

Welcome to the Seller Community and thanks for taking the time to point out why setting aside inventory without taking a payment is important for your business. I'll make sure our Point of Sale Team sees this.

 

I went to check, and the ability to track items automatically as you've described is not available without completing the sale at this time.

 

We are tracking a similar request on this thread from our US community board as well: Does Square offer layaway?

 

For now, I would suggest having a look at the inventory services we've partnered with. They may be able to offer an immediate solution for your pop-up inventory needs: App Marketplace.

 

We are working to expand our feature set and availability to all sellers who are using Point of Sale. Please keep in touch for updates and thanks for your patience.

I own a bridal boutique that rents tuxedos (deposit required) and allows layaway payments on gowns. I desperately need SFR to have a layaway or partial payment function - not for invoices, but an in person, live payment process. I know it can be done for invoices but this isn’t an ancient or new payment type so why isn’t this feature available yet??

This issue with offering layaway needs to be addressed.  We are a bridal boutique and many of our dresses are done with layaway.  We currently perform this manually, but there is no way to adjust it in the inventory at any time.  Addressing this with a ticket each time does not offer a solution.  Even if it is done with tickets, the item in the inventory is not adjusted.  We as merchants pay a high percentage with Square to run the system.  So it only seems proper to finally address this as it is over two years old from the community.  We can have a tile on the system and it shows in reports but does not remove from inventory, thus, rendering inventory incorrect.  So two things must be addressed.  1. Allow us merchants the ability to have layaway through the system, and have it removed from inventory once purchased at the initial point of sale.  2. Allow us, merchants, to adjust our inventory at any given point with any info we want.  Such as the date sold, adding a receipt #, ticket, whatever.  This would allow us the latitude to make changes at will and not be constrained.  our email: [Personal Information Redacted]

The issue with offering layaway needs to be addressed.  We are a jewelry boutique and many of our custom sales are done with layaway. I get that I can send a partial payment email but I'm paying $177 for a month POS system that doeesnt have a layaway option? I need to offer the layaway when the customer is at the register. Seriously Square needs to get with it...

Alumni

Hi @lulu90803 - Not sure if you saw my response above, but I also mentioned the Square Installments feature if partial payments isn't for you. 

 

With layaway I understand the customer doesn't receive the item until it's paid in full. However, if you use Square Installments, you get paid in full up front while customers can receive the item upon checkout (or when the item is ready for pickup) and still have the option to pay over time. It might make a better experience for both you and your customer since they get the item when it's ready and you don't have to worry about keeping up with their payments. If you're already aware of this feature, do you mind sharing why it wouldn't work for you?

I've looked into the installments feature.  I am told it's not available to me.  This probably would work, especially if when checking out, it removed the item from my inventory.  If not, I still have the issue of not having the ability to make changes to my inventory at to sold date, etc. at another time other than a full price check out.  If a special order or layaway is used, this is where my inventory gets messed up and is inaccurate.  Square needs to unlock this so making any adjustment may be performed at any time.  The same goes for layaway.  I can't imagine that it is too hard to program.

How is the updating of offering layaway going?  There is a need for it, I believe there are many that may agree and just not bother to post.  Square totally isn't for us as it's a FIFO based software.  We are considered Specific Identification based.  Our products may sit and are not rotated such as FIFO.  There is no need to rotate dresses.  This is why Square needs to step up to the plate and perform for its customers.  Thank you.

@puka The installment feature is not user friendy. Asking my customer's to sign up online for installemts on their phones whilst at check out is ridiculous. How about if I could enter their details for them on the POS? I would certainly do that if I could offer them just that.