How do I know our money is "safe"?

• School Collector uses Stripe, a major credit card processing company, to collect your money.  We transfer your money directly from Stripe to your bank account. This means that we never actually "have" your money. Please visit Stripe.com for more details. 

• We've plastered our names and contact information all over this site.  If something goes wrong... you know where to find us!

• Lastly, if we were unscrupulous jerks (which we're not), your users are protected by their credit cards.  They legally able to recoop all of their money by contacting their credit card issuer.

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How do you keep student information safe?

• We do a lot of things to keep your students' information safe.

• We use Comodo SSL security across our entire site.  This is the same type of technology used for online banking.

• We require advisors to have 10 character passwords.  This greatly reduces people figuring out your password compared to shorter ones.  You can check it out for yourself at https://howsecureismypassword.net/.

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What technology requirements do you have?

To use School Collector you will need... 

• A computer with internet connection.  

• You're reading this, so you should be all set :) 

 

​Other helpful tools:

• Student ID cards with a bar code (many schools already use these for school lunches, checking out library materials, etc.).

• A scanner.

• A .CSV file of any student name, ID number, and any other information you want to be considered when buying a ticket (i.e. grade level). If you don't know what this is, don't worry. Your school has one. We will help you learn how to use it when the time comes!

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What type of scanner do I need?

If you plan to take advantage of School Collector's scanning capabilities (which we definitely recommend) you'll want a usb scanner to pulg into your computer. There are two types of USB scanners you could choose from:

• USB Barcode Scanner

  • This type of scanner is able to scan barcodes that may appear on your student ID cards or printed emailed tickets.​

  • Pro: cheaper

  • Con: Cannot scan off a phone or computer screen

  • Example

• USB Image Barcode Scanner

  • This type of scanner is able to scan barcodes that may appear on your student ID cards, printed emailed tickets, cell phones, and computers.  

  • Pros: Higher quality. Students can use their phone to have their emailed tickets scanned.  Some students also enjoy the ability to take a photo of their ID card to be scanned rather than bringing their ID to the event.

  • Cons: More expensive.

  • Example

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Does School Collector Provide Scanners?

• Unfortunately, no.    

• Many schools, with scannable ID cards, already have scanners. Check with your school - you may be pleasantly surprised!

• If you find that you need a scanner, see below...

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Where Can I Get a Scanner?

• School Collector does not provide scanners.  But they are quite easy to come by.

• School cafeterias are a great place to get one.

• You can also check with your athletic department.

• You can also buy one at Amazon.com.

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Do I Have to Use Student ID cards as Tickets?

• Nope!  

• School Collector can email each student a paper ticket to be printed and brought to the dance (with a scannable barcode!).

• Alternatively, your school can choose to use your own printed tickets.  

• In both of these cases, School Collector would serve as a money collector (for credit card sales) and sales tracker... which is still quite helpful!

 

Do you charge for cash sales?

• Yes.

• School Collector still collects $1 per ticket for each cash sale ticket purchaser put into the system.

• The student will NOT be charged credit card processing fees for cash sales. 

• See pricing page for a more detailed explanation on pricing. 

• Note: cash sales are run by the school and all cash is handled by the school.  Therefore, $1 per cash sale ticket is deducted from overall credit card sales.

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Can I have multiple people conducting check-in?

• Yes! (pretty lame technology if it that wasn't possible!)

• When connected to the internet, you can have multiple people scanning tickets and School Collector will track all of this in 1 convenient location. 

• Of course, you will need multiple scanners and laptops to make this happen.

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What if my event place does not have internet?​

• School Collector ID card scanning capabilities requires Internet access; therefore, you will be unable to scan ID cards and track entrants and exits if your event place does not have internet.

• Never fear! We have 3 possible solutions.

• You can still use School Collector to collect credit card payments and track ticket purchases. 

 

Solution 1

• Many cell phones can be "hot spots".  This means that (assuming you have a phone signal at your event place) you can use a wireless signal sent from your phone!  Check with your cell phone provider to learn about how this works and fees associated with the service. 

 

Solution 2

• Before your event, print the "ticket purchasers" report. (We recommend doing this regardless.  Internet connection always seems to be weak when you really need it!)

• Bring this to your event and use it to check off names. 

 

Solution 3

• Either have students print tickets that were emailed to them from School Collector OR use your school's printed tickets.

• For event check-in, simply collect tickets. 

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What if I have other questions?

• We are here to help!  Remember, School Collector was founded by teachers - we know you're busy and can use some support!

• We've created detailed, step-by-step instructions on setting up and running an event to make your life as easy as possible.

• If, at any time, you have questions - contact us!

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