Mobile payments startup's Square Market will allow merchants to sell their wares online without the expense of building and maintaining their own sites. June 25, 2013 10:22 PM PDT Square Market in action. (Credit: Square) Square, the mobile payments startup best known for its credit card readers, is branching into e-commerce to take on the likes of eBay and Amazon. The company on Tuesday launched Square Market, an online marketplace that allows merchants to sell their wares online without the expense of building and maintaining their own sites. "Creating an online marketplace is our next step in making commerce easy for everyone," Ajit Varma, Square's Director of Discovery, said in a statement. "Square Market makes local businesses accessible to customers down the block and across the country." Related stories Gigabit Seattle sets price for its high-speed Internet service Square Wallet gets a major aesthetic redesign At Square, an obsession with the 'magic' of hardware design The marketplace allows sellers to create a profile, manage their product listings, and add photos. Merchants can then use social media such as Twitter or Facebook to alert buyers to deals on the marketplace. While Amazon charges 99 cents per listing, and eBay's charges range from free to 30 cents, Square's listings are free but the payments processor collects 2.75 percent of item sales prices. However, Square won't handle fulfillment; as with transactions on eBay, product shipping is the responsibility of the seller. Until recently, the San Francisco-based company's core business was a device that lets a merchant or individual accept credit cards though a cell phone or tablet. But the company has been steadily building a roster of merchants that accept its service. The company recently landed coffeehouse giant Starbucks as a partner. The new marketplace offering could go a long way toward attracting a new legion of clients of its mobile payment service, putting its brand and payment dongles in front of a wider audience and perhaps make the notion of paying via its service natural to millions of new people.
Mobile payments startup's Square Market will allow merchants to sell their wares online without the expense of building and maintaining their own sites.
Square Market in action.
(Credit: Square)
Square, the mobile payments startup best known for its credit card readers, is branching into e-commerce to take on the likes of eBay and Amazon.
The company on Tuesday launched Square Market, an online marketplace that allows merchants to sell their wares online without the expense of building and maintaining their own sites.
"Creating an online marketplace is our next step in making commerce easy for everyone," Ajit Varma, Square's Director of Discovery, said in a statement. "Square Market makes local businesses accessible to customers down the block and across the country."
Related stories
- Gigabit Seattle sets price for its high-speed Internet service
- Square Wallet gets a major aesthetic redesign
- At Square, an obsession with the 'magic' of hardware design
The marketplace allows sellers to create a profile, manage their product listings, and add photos. Merchants can then use social media such as Twitter or Facebook to alert buyers to deals on the marketplace.
While Amazon charges 99 cents per listing, and eBay's charges range from free to 30 cents, Square's listings are free but the payments processor collects 2.75 percent of item sales prices. However, Square won't handle fulfillment; as with transactions on eBay, product shipping is the responsibility of the seller.
Until recently, the San Francisco-based company's core business was a device that lets a merchant or individual accept credit cards though a cell phone or tablet. But the company has been steadily building a roster of merchants that accept its service. The company recently landed coffeehouse giant Starbucks as a partner.
The new marketplace offering could go a long way toward attracting a new legion of clients of its mobile payment service, putting its brand and payment dongles in front of a wider audience and perhaps make the notion of paying via its service natural to millions of new people.
