Not happy about New Square pricing

Anyone else not happy with the new pricing plan? I am a solo massage therapist and have been using square appointments for over two years and happy with it until now. The new free plan would work for me EXCEPT it doesn't calendar sync!! Which makes it basically non functional for me as someone who doesn't necessarily keep regular business hours, but is by appointment only. And to pay $29 a month just for the calendar sync function seems absurd. Curious what other booking software people use that they are happy with?

 

Check out my website: www.miwarobbins.com

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I totally agree!

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Square Champion

Hi @FlowState 

 

 I'm not thrilled with the pricing increase either since I use several SQ products and that is just one more subscription to pay for.  I've used two other services in the past and they were the same price as this  or more so I don't think there is anything out there that is free. The reason I finally switched to SQ Appointments were to seamlessly integrate my checkout process with my calendar and, if I am being honest, because it was free.  When Square announced the price changes earlier this week I checked on the booking system I used a few years ago and their prices are now $45 a month! So for me Square is still the best price out there.  

Doran

Esthetician
Haute Beauty Guide
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None of the extra features that you get with paying $29 a month are useful to me. The ONLY function that I would use is the calendar sync. Our point was that $29 just to sync to Google calendar wasn't reasonable. 

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I agree. I checked other platforms and they are either the same price or missing features I love. There is one particular company that a lot of people suggest, but they nickle and dime you for everything. I was paying $65/month with them in the past. I also haven’t found another company that guides your client rescheduling instructions via the confirmation text - that alone saves me a lot of time. My online store is free, there’s Square Capital and now AfterPay. Square is lacking some simple features, but I’m staying out after much research.

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Ditto. I’m a solo. I’m not paying $29 to sync. I have to add it to my Google calendar anyway to have my hubby see my schedule. So I’m doing it already. 

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Not if you do a two-way sync and give your husband access to that calendar. I don’t have to manually add anything - my Square calendar syncs with Google and vice versa. Anyone that has access to that particular calendar can see it, and I even have multiple calendars on my account.

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I tried to do that before and it didn’t work. Do you know how you did it?

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For me I noticed I was missing a few vital features with the free plan. One being the confirmation texts. I don’t want to have to go after my clients one by one. A reminder text is not enough. The second was for online booking requiring a card to make an appointment. 2 very important features I have to have. The fee is slightly less per transaction with this plan as it goes from 2.6% to 2.5%. I think if you do enough transactions in a month you might be able to make up the difference but really my business needs those 2 features so it’s worth it to me. 

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There is ONE feature that has been asked for since before I joined Square in 2016. It's the ability to sell a package and the system keep count of remaining sessions. For THAT, I would GLADLY pay $29 a month. 

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Another long awaiting feature is a waiting list. I would also love if Square sent editable follow-up emails and texts - not just requesting feedback inside of Square.

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You can customize the communications emails within the appointment settings.

 

go to Appointments>Settings>Notifications and there you can customize each automated communication there is about 25 different notifications to edit.

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Hi! Thank for the reply, but I know you can customize the email templates. I’m talking about a totally different feature. None of the templates are for follow-up after an appointment.

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The follow-up emails post appointment are part of the paid marketing feature with Square assistant. 

The free solution is within square feedback only.

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Use e-gift cards to sell packages. This allows you to to see remaining balance.

 

I recommend my clients add the full value and discount the sell of the e-gift card.

 

example:

 

60 Minute Facial - $100

 

package of 6 - $600 value

 

15% discount: $90

 

add $600 to an eGift card.

apply 15% discount.

Client pays $510 but $600 is loaded on to the e-gift card and stored on their profile like a card on file.

 

when transacting future appointments add the 60 minute service to the checkout. And use the e-gift card to process the payment. No discount is applied at this time because the discount is already on the e-gift card.

 

this also keeps your financial reporting accurate since money is not earned income until the transaction is completed. I recommend setting up a envelope in square for gift cards / packages and transferring the funds into that savings envelope and moving it into your primary checking as the services are redeemed. This ensures proper financial management as well.

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Nice workaround!

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OMG! That is so smart and actually a simple workaround.  I'm totally doing that from now on.  

Doran

Esthetician
Haute Beauty Guide
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Where can I find the differences?  I don’t seem to have gotten a notice. 

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It’s under pricing. You should have also gotten a notification in the software.

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I looked in pricing. Nothing that I saw said $29. I got a notification but it was when I was checking someone out so I dismissed it. 

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