The £30 card reader giving casual sellers an answer to ‘got no cash’

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Your next customer might love what you’re selling but have no cash to buy it. A £30 card reader could remove that obstacle at car boots, craft stalls and Christmas fairs.

Christmas fairs, craft fairs, and car boot sales are a great way to declutter and bring in some extra spending money for the festive season - and there are plenty popping up right now.

But if you're going to want to sell your wares to a wide audience, you're going to need to consider taking card payments.

Gone are the days when cash was king, now buyers rarely carry notes and coins - but it's surprisingly easy to move with the times.

SumUp, a leading provider of card payment terminals, offers a handheld payment machine for just £30 - and it's ideal for small-time sellers.

There's no monthly subscription, you just pay a 1.69% fee per transaction, so once you've bought your machine, you just start using it straight away.

For regular car boot sellers, market traders, and people testing out a small selling venture, it's an ideal way to boost your sales.

The SumUp Solo Lite connects to a compatible smartphone over Bluetooth and works through the free SumUp Business app. Sellers enter the amount, then customers pay using the reader.

It accepts chip and PIN, contactless payments, and mobile wallets including Apple Pay and Google Pay.

The reader is small enough to fit into a palm, rather than requiring a shop-style counter setup and the battery should last all day.

For anyone who only wants contactless payments, SumUp also offers Tap to Pay on compatible smartphones without buying a separate reader. The Solo Lite’s additional appeal is having a dedicated device that also accepts chip and PIN.

To find out more about the SumUp card readers and deals, click here.