Continue to Site

Credit card fees

"Flat-fee membership processing is subscription-based, so customers pay a flat monthly membership fee to get access to paying direct cost for payment processing. "

Right off the bat I’m suspicious because they didn’t state exactly what membership/subscription fee is. The processing is at interchange +0, I understand - but what is the membership fee in order to get that?

Square used to have the same model - and the “membership fee” was $275.
Click to expand...
From what I can tell on their website the fee is 99.00 per month. It might be a good deal for businesses that are very high volume.
 
Last edited:
Well after much going around with “First Data” & Sams Club" I finally dropped “First Data” & signed up with a local guy, and now like it or not on my customers side I am passing the fees over on a surcharge which boils down to .20 cents for every $5…This is legal in MI & I am truly fed up with Visa & MC fees. I have had no negative feedback from my customers its been 3 weeks now & they are 100% ok with it. They feel for me & know how frustrated I was
 
Last edited:
daisy1 said:
Well after much going around with “First Data” & Sams Club" I finally dropped “First Data” & signed up with a local guy, and now like it or not on my customers side I am passing the fees over on a surcharge which boils down to .20 cents for every $5…This is legal in MI & I am truly fed up with Visa & MC fees. I have had no negative feedback from my customers its been 3 weeks now & they are 100% ok with it. They feel for me & know how frustrated I was
Click to expand...
Most customers that take issue with the surcharge will not take the time to complain…They will just “walk”…
 
Last edited:
Just a thought… that is a 4% fee which is quite a bit more than any credit costs that we incur. I would cut it in half.
 
Last edited:
royster13 said:
Most customers that take issue with the surcharge will not take the time to complain…They will just “walk”…
Click to expand...
I agree. & have not had any customers complain as of today & its been 3 weeks. Many of my customers about 89% are in here every week and most 2-3 times a week, and still using cc. Was also said to tell the ones who do complain to give them a discount, most all will take discount and be happy & return either using cc or most often with cash. I have not had one single person complain as of today
 
Last edited:
Are margins this bad out there for people that credit card fees are this much of a drain? When was the last time you raised your prices? You can probably find 5 to 10% or more on stuff that’s priced wrong. The next big wave is mobile pay and that will cost even more than credit cards now in terms of technology investment if you dont have a POS that can handle these sorts of payments already. You have to pay apple/google on top of visa/mastercard. Credit cards aren’t going away anytime soon but your customers will if you make them jump through hoops to give you money.
 
Last edited:
Are margins this bad out there for people that credit card fees are this much of a drain? When was the last time you raised your prices? You can probably find 5 to 10% or more on stuff that’s priced wrong. The next big wave is mobile pay and that will cost even more than credit cards now in terms of technology investment if you dont have a POS that can handle these sorts of payments already. You have to pay apple/google on top of visa/mastercard. Credit cards aren’t going away anytime soon but your customers will if you make them jump through hoops to give you money.
Click to expand...
I am in Flint MI & things are totally different here, and yes my prices are inline for my area, and no credit cards are not going away, but you are already paying different prices when it comes to paying at the gas pump, cc vs cash…My new terminal can handle the new apple pay & google pay. As stated above my customers are ok with it. We already have 100 or so businesses in the local area doing the same
 
Last edited:
Are margins this bad out there for people that credit card fees are this much of a drain? When was the last time you raised your prices? You can probably find 5 to 10% or more on stuff that’s priced wrong. The next big wave is mobile pay and that will cost even more than credit cards now in terms of technology investment if you dont have a POS that can handle these sorts of payments already. You have to pay apple/google on top of visa/mastercard. Credit cards aren’t going away anytime soon but your customers will if you make them jump through hoops to give you money.
Click to expand...
  1. Yes, margins are that bad. Giving upwards of 3% of our gross for moving the money around electronically is a rip-off. Look at it another way, if a small business owner makes 15% of gross sales the credit card company is making 20% of what the owner makes! That is nuts.
  2. Yes, credit cards are an unwarranted drain. Especially in that they keep raising the fees and forcing us to pay their marketing costs with the double and triple “points” they offer to attract consumers.
  3. My prices are fine. You are clueless about small business if you think many of us are leaving 5-10% on the table.
  4. To hell with apple pay.
 
Last edited:
Reading all this and getting ready to open our shop makes me want to search a shop location next to an ATM and go the cash/check only route. I grew up just outside NYC in NJ and the pizzerias I ate and worked in the 1970’s only took cash and some still do but most have gone credit card. Walter
 
Last edited:
bodegahwy said:
  1. Yes, margins are that bad. Giving upwards of 3% of our gross for moving the money around electronically is a rip-off. Look at it another way, if a small business owner makes 15% of gross sales the credit card company is making 20% of what the owner makes! That is nuts.
  2. Yes, credit cards are an unwarranted drain. Especially in that they keep raising the fees and forcing us to pay their marketing costs with the double and triple “points” they offer to attract consumers.
  3. My prices are fine. You are clueless about small business if you think many of us are leaving 5-10% on the table.
  4. To hell with apple pay.
Click to expand...
  1. To this point yeah its a massive chunk of profits and I feel it every month in my bank account just like everyone else here. But you have to weigh the opportunity costs as well. Unfortunately more and more middle and bottom earning people having less and less actual money in their account allowing them to purchase a pizza today they can pay for in 30 days when their credit card bill comes is due is sale you got today that they wouldn’t have been otherwise able to get.
  2. agreed
  3. I buy and fix broken small food businesses I think you may be clueless to how many bad operators are out there. Prices with no rhyme or reason to food costs, coupons that make no sense, dont even know the definition of product mix, prices that haven’t changed in years and years (too scared to raise prices and lose the few customers they have)
  4. I love anything where the employee doesn’t have to worry about payments handling.
 
Last edited:
I don’t see many people using credit cards because they can’t afford pizza today and are waiting to pay it off in 30 days. It’s a convenience thing. I know I rarely carry cash and very rarely enough to buy a pizza with. Rather, I use a check card. That is what the overwhelming number of my card sales are. I can see some people putting everything they buy on a credit card that accumulates points towards something, then paying it off.

@bodegahwy Nice answer, but I liked the one better before you edited it 😉
 
Last edited:
But you have to weigh the opportunity costs as well. Unfortunately more and more middle and bottom earning people having less and less actual money in their account allowing them to purchase a pizza today they can pay for in 30 days when their credit card bill comes is due is sale you got today that they wouldn’t have been otherwise able to get.
Click to expand...
Agreed on the opportunity costs… sort of. The old argument that accepting credit cards would get you additional sales has been turned on its head. Now you must take them or perish.

I do not agree on the 30 days deal for pizza. It is simply the fact that this is how things are purchased today. 75-80% of my restaurant sales and 95% of my retail store sales are by credit or debit card. Credit cards are now a financial utility and the fees should be regulated by the government after a review of the cost to provide the service just like the electric company. They sure as hell should not be able to pass their marketing offer costs through to me!
 
Last edited:
  1. I buy and fix broken small food businesses I think you may be clueless to how many bad operators are out there. Prices with no rhyme or reason to food costs, coupons that make no sense, dont even know the definition of product mix, prices that haven’t changed in years and years (too scared to raise prices and lose the few customers they have)
Click to expand...
As a business broker I see them too… but most of them have far greater problems than credit card fees…
 
Last edited:
It is my understanding that the Dodd-Frank law prohibits a payment card network such as Visa “from inhibiting the ability of anyone to provide a discount for payment by cash, checks, debit cards, or credit cards”. So it is my understanding that the law prevents any processor from preventing a store from offering a cash discount.

Not sure about other parts of the Country but in South Florida gas stations charge about .10 more per gallon of gas for using a credit card or debit card. The State is now requiring all gas stations to change their signs to post the price of card sales per gallon as well as the price of cash sales on their billboard signs. Gas stations would post the price per gallon at $x.xx and when you pulled into the pump and swiped the card the price jumped 10 cents per gallon. I hated the bait and switch and would pump $1.00 worth and drive off. Now I know going in I will have to have to pay $x.xx a gallon for using a card I don’t have a problem and gladly pump away. I don’t carry cash and use a debit card for all my purchases and when I put 25 gallons in my truck I could save $2.50 if I would go in and pay cash but it is not worth it to carry cash.

So my question is this. Why don’t the restaurants give a “cash” discount? If it is costing the restaurant 3% to 4% of the sale in processing fees why not add the 3% to 4% to the price of the food item and offer a 4% discount for using the card? Heck most Pizza joints around here are not bashful in tacking on a $2 delivery fee and people that want delivery will pay it.

I am sure there are some that will say that adding an extra 4% to the price of a pizza will drive the customer off and their customers will go to the competitor. Really? If you sell a quality pie for $15.50 and raise it to $15.98 is that really going to make the customer go to your competitor that does not serve the quality that you are known for? If the customer wants to save the $.48 and get the $15.50 price then they can pay cash for it. Heck it may be a positive way to promote the food instead of offering coupons. Raise the prices 4% and post a big sign and say we give a 5% discount on any item if paid by CASH.

I think I would much rather eat 15 cents for giving out an extra 1% on a $15.50 item than offering a coupon of buy one get one free or at ½ price.

It’s pretty easy to figure out the percentage to increase your prices. If you want to charge an extra 3% you take your regular price and divide it by 97%. $15.50/97% = $15.97. $15.97 X 3% = .478 or 48 cents. I would also add that most Pizza joints think their pies are the best around and proud of their product. If that is the case then charge for it. Let the competitor continue selling their pies and eat the 4% the card processors are charging.

Bottom line is the cashless society is here to stay and I think a business owner needs to figure out a way to cash in on it.

I have my hard hat on and got my eye protection on so I am ready for all of the rotten eggs that are headed my way.😉
 
Last edited:
Smokin said:
Heck most Pizza joints around here are not bashful in tacking on a $2 delivery fee and people that want delivery will pay it.
Click to expand...
I am going ignore all the other discussion as that is old stuff that has been hashed over here again and again. Regarding delivery though, $2 covers less than half the cost of delivery. I would be thrilled to recover 50% of on CC fees with a pass through fee like that but it is not legal here.
 
Last edited:
  1. I buy and fix broken small food businesses I think you may be clueless to how many bad operators are out there. Prices with no rhyme or reason to food costs, coupons that make no sense, dont even know the definition of product mix, prices that haven’t changed in years and years (too scared to raise prices and lose the few customers they have).
Click to expand...
I have been in this business for 30+ yrs and am never in fear of raising prices, heck Ive done it 2-4 in the past 8 years. As far as gas stations posting 2 different prices its been this way for at least 3-4 years here in mi. I would rather pay cash and have done so for many yrs. I only use my debit or credit card when making big purchases because what I do buy with the card its easier to get my money back incase of issues like returns and such
 
Last edited:
I recently check my statement and last month I paid 2.9% in credit card fees . About 3/4 of it is debit cards.

in my opinion, debit card % should be severely lower since it acts like cAsh. It’s immediately taken out of the customers account .

I had one visa reward card that took 4.29%. Crazy!
 
Last edited:
RobT said:
I had one visa reward card that took 4.29%. Crazy!
Click to expand...
Yup… the most expensive cards are NOT Amex. Rather than choosing which brands of cards to accept, I wish we could select by fees and, for instance decline to accept any card with a fee over 2%
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top