6 Best Thrift Store POS Systems

Square POS and Square for Retail, which include added inventory features for retail stores like thrift shops, are both free and are among the best free POS systems available.

You can also upgrade to Square for Retail Plus, which includes even more advanced inventory features as well as team management.

Square for Retail offers the following thrift store POS features:

• Track stock: Easily keep tabs on your inventory and set up real-time alerts when inventory gets low
• Import/export item library: Transfer items easily via a CSV file and have them viewable within minutes
• Free Square Online store: Set up the ability to sell your items online for free with Square’s eCommerce platform
• Free gift cards: Set up gift cards for an additional way to sell and promote your products
• Accept donations online: Individuals can support your business aside from buying products with the ability to take charitable donations easily
• Local delivery via DoorDash or Postmates: Square integrates with third-party delivery companies so customers can order online and receive items directly
• Collect donor information at POS: Easily store and track customer information to set up future marketing campaigns
• Print barcodes (Plus version only): A printer and scanner will allow you to print your own barcodes for individual products in your store
• Loyalty program (paid add-on): Encourage repeat business by allowing customers to rack up points for each dollar they spend.

Square for Retail can be used on pretty much any tablet, iPad, or even smartphone setup.

Square also offers complete hardware kits for countertop retail use, which is what most thrift stores would use. For example, the Square Stand kit includes a Square Stand (proprietary iPad enclosure with built-in payment acceptance), 10.2″ iPad, cash drawer, receipt printer, and paper.

Or you can buy a Square Register kit that includes an all-in-one Square Register (includes tablet and payment acceptance), cash drawer, receipt printer, and paper.

All Square accounts come with built-in payment processing. In-person rates are 2.6% + $0.10 on Square POS and Square for Retail Free plans, or 2.5% + $0.10 on Square for Retail Plus plans.

Nonprofit thrift stores can use Square, but Square does not offer a reduced processing fee to these organizations. If you process more than $250,000 per year, you may qualify for a discounted rate. (For more resources about running a nonprofit, please check out our guide.)

All Square plans, including paid Square for Retail Plus plans, are month-to-month with no contract. One thing to know about Square is that it doesn’t come with your own merchant account. It uses an aggregate merchant account, or payment services provider model, which can lead to account stability issues such as occasional fund holds.

Lightspeed offers the following features that are beneficial to thrift stores:

• Create bundles: Easily combine items in bundles to sort and track while managing your inventory
• Item import: Upload up to 10,000 items in one single import, making the importing process quick and simple
• Bulk pricing changes
• Offer discounts: Set up promotions and discounts like BOGO offers and more to draw in customers
• Generate barcodes: Lightspeed comes with a free barcode tool compatible with all scanners and generates unlimited barcodes
• Holds and layaway: Allow customers to purchase items and keep them on hold or set up payment plans
• Integrated in-house eCommerce (on higher plans): Set up your own online store to allow customers to purchase items directly from your website or your social media platform
• Omnichannel gift cards (on higher plans)

You can use Lightspeed Retail with an iPad or Mac desktop setup. You can source your POS hardware yourself or buy a bundle from Lightspeed. Hardware pricing is quote-based.

Note: Lightspeed Retail now requires all new and existing qualified merchants using Lightspeed Retail in the US and Canada to sign up for Lightspeed Payments, Lightspeed’s payment processor. If you currently use a card reader from a third-party payment processor, you can’t use it anymore. Since you can’t use any existing payment terminals (card readers) with Lightspeed Payments, Lightspeed is currently running a free terminal replacement promotion for eligible merchants that includes two free Lightspeed POS terminals (card readers) per qualified merchant.

Eligible merchants include business owners who process a minimum of $100/day in credit card payments, as measured by a monthly average. Apple products are not included in this promotion, so you’ll still need to source an iPad to take sales.

Lightspeed Payments is included on all accounts, with an in-person rate of 2.6% + $0.10.

Note: Lightspeed will buy out payment processing contracts, paying off merchants’ early cancellation fees if you process a minimum of $25,000 in card sales and then submit documentation of your previous payment processing contract that states your early termination fee within six months of meeting this minimum processing amount.

It’s important to note that the “paying off” comes in the form of discounted payment processing fees, not a chunk of cash that goes towards your termination fees when you decide to switch to Lightspeed Payments.

If you are a current Lightspeed user and don’t apply for Lightspeed Payments within 30 days of receiving a notification email, you’ll be charged a fee between $200 and $1,120 per month until you do sign up for Lightspeed Payments.

Lightspeed has the option to pay monthly or annually. You’ll pay a higher monthly price if you opt for the monthly plan. However, you will be charged an early termination fee if you cancel your plan early, so consider signing up for a monthly plan until you’re sure Lightspeed is a good fit for your thrift store.

You are required to verify that you have received your Lightspeed hardware within five business days of receiving it, or the equipment will not be eligible for Lightspeed’s 30-day warranty (14 days for Apple products).

You can add the Shopify POS Pro package, which gives you access to even more features. An additional monthly fee applies.

Shopify also has special plans for nonprofits and monthly pricing correlates closely with Shopify’s other plans (i.e., there’s no monthly discount), you will get discounted payment processing on these plans and some added features.

Shopify POS has the following features for thrift stores, plus many others:

• Reduced transaction fees for nonprofits: Shopify is one of the few POS companies that offer a break for nonprofits with its credit card fees, giving users instant savings
• Integrates with resale & consignment apps: Shopify integrates with hundreds of other companies, including software specifically for consignment and thrift stores
• Generate & print barcodes: Shopify makes creating barcodes easy and allows you to print them out in-home or in-store to help track inventory
• Custom discounts: You can set up your own promotions and discounts to reach specific demographics and encourage repeat spending
• Accept custom payment methods: Shopify allows for multiple payment methods, including partial payments, and deposits.
• Sell at events with your smartphone using Shopify Lite (included in all plans)
• Categorize products in almost any way: You can choose how you organize your inventory, including by category, type, season, sale, etc.
• Domestic & international shipping options

Shopify POS runs on iOS and Android devices (and is one of the best POS for Android), and you can purchase optional POS equipment, such as scanners and cash registers, on your own or on Shopify’s website.

At the very least, you will need to purchase a Shopify Bluetooth payment reader. Shopify also sells hardware bundles such as a Star Micronics mPOP bundle that includes a tablet stand, cash drawer, receipt printer, and hand scanner (iPad not included).

Payment processing fees depend on your Shopify plan. On regular plans for for-profit thrift stores, fees for in-person transactions range from 2.4 – 2.9% using Shopify Payments. If you use a third-party processor other than Shopify Payments you’ll be charged an additional transaction fee ranging from 0.5% to 2%.

Notably, thrift stores on a nonprofit plan will receive reduced nonprofit payment processing fees through Shopify Payments. Depending on your nonprofit plan, you may be charged an additional 1% per in-person transaction if you use an outside processor like PayPal.

All Shopify plans are month-to-month with no contract or cancelation fees. However, you will save 10% if you pay annually instead of monthly.

Note that Shopify Payments is a PSP like Square or PayPal, which means you will not receive your own merchant account but rather an aggregate merchant account. This type of account will have more sensitive security checks, and may be prone to issues like fund holds for transactions that the system deems as “suspicious” (rightly or not).

When you purchase a plan from Clover.com, you can opt to purchase your hardware outright and pay a monthly fee for your POS software, or you can lease your hardware for an additional monthly cost.

Clover offers the following thrift store POS features:

• Advanced inventory with variants
• Sell by weight: For non-profits that often sell products in bulk or by weight, this is an easy feature to activate and utilize
• Easy item exchanges: Clover makes it easy to offer exchanges and for customers to either swap products or receive store credit
• Built-in loyalty program: Clover comes with its own loyalty program that helps you store customer information and allows them to earn points depending on how much they spend
• Generate & print sales reports on built-in receipt printer
• Employee management: Set up individual permissions for employees and easily set up calendars and track hours
• Free Ecwid online store or integrate with an existing e-store
• Mobile & traditional gift cards: You can create both digital or physical gift cards to help increase your business’s branding
• Expandable functionality with apps: Clover is app-based software, and you can bulk up your system by downloading tailor-made apps for your establishment

Clover hardware options include the Clover Flex smart terminal, the Clover Mini countertop POS, or the all-in-one Clover Station. You can also mix and match, adding a handheld Clover Flex to a Clover Station setup, for example.

Plans purchased through Clover.com offer flat-rate processing. Rates for in-person processing start at 2.3% – 2.6% + $0.10% per transaction.

Nonprofits may be able to get discounted Clover payment processing by using Clover with a processor that offers discounts to nonprofits, such as Dharma Merchant Services or National Processing. Rather than flat-rate pricing, both of these processors have an interchange-plus payment processing model.

Clover.com plans are month-to-month, and you can cancel anytime if you purchase your equipment outright. However, many other merchant services providers, banks, credit unions, and even retailers like Sam’s Club sell Clover systems. Clover POS hardware is always sold with a First Data merchant account, but these accounts can be structured in various ways, including with expensive, long-term processing contracts and equipment leases. Quality of customer service also depends on where you purchase your Clover system from.

To avoid getting stuck with a predatory contract with a shady Clover MSP, be sure to buy your system from Clover directly or from another recommended Clover reseller provider.

Plans are month-to-month, but you will receive a free month of service if you opt to pay annually.

KORONA has these features for thrift stores:

KORONA can run on most POS hardware, including Android and iPad options. KORONA sells hardware and also offers leases, though the company does not list pricing on its website.

KORONA POS does not offer in-house processing; rather, the POS integrates with all major payment processors. Processing options include high-risk processors, as well as cash discount processors for thrift stores that want to pass along their credit card processing charges to customers by offering a “discount” for paying in cash.

KORONA does not have a contract or long-term commitment. However, it’s possible that whatever payment processor you choose to integrate with may have a long-term contract, so be sure to choose your merchant services provider wisely.

Loyverse includes all of its core functionality, including its built-in loyalty program, for free.

Loyverse also has a few affordable add-ons available for purchase, including employee management and advanced inventory and integrations with third-party software like QuickBooks and Xero, both good accounting software solutions for nonprofits.

Loyverse offers these thrift store POS features:

• 24/7 live chat support
• Works with multiple processors: Loyverse integrates with multiple processors, including Worldpay, SumUp, and Zettle
• Free points-based loyalty program: Loyverse comes with free loyalty for customers that includes scannable barcode cards
• Free customer display screen functionality: Allow customers to make their own payments and search for products on their own
• Easy discounts & returns: Loyverse makes it easy for customers to return products or receive store credit
• Organize goods by category: Included in Loyverse’s inventory management is the ability to sort your products in a number of ways depending on how your business is set up
• Works offline
• Multistore capability

You can source your own Apple or Android POS hardware to use with Loyverse, and you can also buy various hardware components including iPad stands, cash drawers, and barcode scanners on Loyverse’s website to put together a new system.

Loyverse integrates with various payment processors but does not offer its own payment processing services. Some processing options for US merchants include:

• SumUp
• PayPal Zettle
• Worldpay.

Note that you can accept donations in person using PayPal Zettle, but PayPal’s discounted fees for nonprofits only apply to online payments.

You can sign up for Loyverse for free with no contract. Paid add-on services are also month-to-month with no contract, but you do receive a discount if you sign on for a full year.