Open Source POS For Retailers - Are They Really Free?

Posted by backdown on September 8th, 2017

If you are a retailer you are looking for a POS system, you may have had several open source POS systems. They may bother you because they should be free. POS systems are expensive, after all, and if you do not want to pay thousands of dollars then you will not be very upset.

Using a free open source software might be possible to get a free POS system, but there are some things you should keep in mind. First of all, Open Source means that the source code for the software is available. This does not mean that you are free to offer complete POS system.

A complete POS system includes at least software, hardware, setup, training, and support. You may be able to get this software for free, but you may not be able to get free for free.

Now, if you are lucky, you will already have POS hardware in your stores and the new open source epos

 will work with this hardware. It's what you have to investigate

If you do not have any hardware yet, you obviously have to buy it. If you look around you may be able to buy second hand cheaper. Retail stores are going all the time at all times.

You may be able to get some or all of the other services for free. Most of the open source projects include information about the installation and use of a website or wiki available. The quality of this information depends on the open source project. The amount of information you need depends on how technical you and your staff are

These projects usually offer assistance through a community forum. When you have questions, you post there and other users will reply to you. These forums may or may not be helpful You can usually sign up and ask questions before you start using the software. This is probably a great idea. If you want to receive personal help by email or phone, then you may have to pay someone for a supported counter. It is suspect that no one will be able to provide free 24/7 help.

Ultimately, as long as the system does not come with all of the functions you need, you have to pay to customize it for anyone. It can be very expensive. Because the software is open source, however, at least this is a possibility it is not really a big deal, because you have to pay someone to optimize a POS system. Nobody is free for that unless a lot of people ask for the same functionality. Developers can add it to the next version of the system if it is so.