What a till really costs
The brochures show the monthly fee. The real invoice includes three or four more things. Here they all are.
Monthly fee: from 0 to 60 €
There are free programs (with limited features or adverts), fees of 10 to 20 € for a small shop and platforms at 40 to 60 € with advanced features. For a bar, a salon or a single-site shop, the reasonable range is between 10 and 20 € a month.
Setup: from 0 to 300 €
Many charge for configuring products, the logo and the printer. That is fair, but it must be clear beforehand. A 150 € setup fee on a 10 €/month program is a whole year of fees: ask yourself whether it is worth it.
Printer: 90 to 200 €
A one-off purchase if the printer is yours. If they rent it to you, add the rental up over a year and compare with buying: buying almost always wins.
Paper and consumables: 3 to 8 € a month
A roll of 80 mm paper is cheap, but a busy bar goes through several a day. The digital receipt removes much of that cost.
Modules: this is where the trap is
Many cheap programs charge separately for the things you actually need: invoicing, digital receipt, online shop, a second user. Always ask what the base fee includes and what costs extra.
A real example, numbers included
| Item | Year 1 |
|---|---|
| Fee 10 €/month + VAT (12 months, first free) | 121 € |
| 80 mm thermal printer | 140 € |
| Paper and consumables | 60 € |
| Setup and configuration | 0 € |
| Year 1 total | ≈ 321 € |
From the second year the cost drops to around 180 € a year between fee and paper. Compare that with what a till that does not add up costs you.
No setup fee and the first month free
10 €/month + VAT for the till, or 18 €/month + VAT including domain, hosting and website.