Credit Card Fees

[Earl Weiss]

Out of curiosity, I wonder if you guys who are extra deep into credit card sales have customers with prepaid &/or rewards cards who don't always know what the balance is? Is there some delays at the pump or at the gas station pay counters because of it? I would think it could even affect the self service with delays to some extent. Maybe it is not significant ... I really am not sure.

mike

I sell gasoline. We have well over 100 customers a day who pay at te pump.

This issue is not significant. A couple of times a year a newbie doesn't understand that if they choose a fillup there is a hold on the card for a day for the max auth.

The costlier issue is chargebacks for a pay at te pump where the customer later claims it was a fraudulent or stolen charge. This happens once a month or so. It's a big wack considering gross margins.

 

[Dcalhoun]

I think Mr. Walsh has a very significant point concerning the amount of control cc companies have over our everyday business decisions. I for one am getting very leery of VISA and Google et al demanding I comply with how they want me to do business. While we cannot escape the amount of market influence they have we would be ill served to continue to allow them such free reign in dictating fees and connectivity. Each day we become more beholden to them and their machinations which end up with us giving more of our profits to them. There is only so much elasticity among the buying public and if they keep taking more of it we are left with less.

Certainly, I do not have the answers, but it seems important we not just let them take, take, take without some sort of response or push back. Thanks Mr. Walsh for bringing this important point to the discussion.

 

[mac]

Something has gotten out of control. I'm an industry supplier. You guys are my customers. We accept credit cards for the few who buy their supplies with them, but we're phasing it out. We only average maybe 4 to 6 transactions per month, and our average monthly fees are a little over $70 per month. For 4 to 6 transactions. One guy bought about $800 of parts on his card, then returned them all. Cost us about $100 for that.

 

[bighead]

I don't things are as bad as they have been. They passed that debit card law about a year ago, and since then my fees have dropped. On my other businesses, my fees are about half of what they were 4 years ago. The nice thing is that my processor automatically lowered my rates.

But i wouldn't know that those rates are lower if I wasn't shopping them around. Its just like all of other suppliers, we need to compare prices every now and again. I pay a little more to be with one of the "big names" but their systems are preferable to some of the small guys I dealt with over the years. I'm more upset about the cable/water/power monopolies whose prices are what they are, and there is nothing you can do to change that.

If I had any sort of mobile service business I would use square with smart phones. Get your money right away, don't have to chase after anyone, and if they are going to stiff anyone, let them stiff the credit card company. They are like a 2.75% flat fee no matter what...

And if I had people returning stuff charged to their CC, I'd invent a "restocking fee" to account for those things.

Just some thoughts...

 

[Earl Weiss]

With the exception of car rentals, the cash option still seems to be available for purchases. No one forces anyone to use a credit card. No one forces merchants to accept credit cards.

We were a relatively late adopter for pay at the pump. Around 2002 or so.
The margins and fees are brutal, yet you need to give the customer what they want.

The cargebacks are the worst. If someone steals your wallet and spends the cash, the merchant doesn't have to fok over the cash if it could be traced to theft, yet if they get your card and pay at the pump that's what happens. JUst respnded to 4 fraud inquiries. 2 people paid in the store and signed slips so I should be protected. 2 were pay at the pump and I'll get shafted.

The sad part is that technology is in place with the form of PIN entry to eliminate this. The zip code PIN is BS because most have te cards billed to their home and if the wallet is stolen, the ID with the home address and zip is tere as well.

 

[Randy]

We are evaluating whether or not we are going start charging a fee for credit cards. In the State of Washington we have to pay sales tax on all sales at the car wash, all Vending, Vacuums, Bay time, with the exception of the Wax cycle is all taxed at 9.6% in my area.

 

[2Biz]

WOW, how on earth do you make anything at all paying this much in taxes?

In Ohio, only Full Service Car Washes are taxed because they have a "Person" prepping-drying the cars. The only thing I have to pay sales tax on at my SS is vending and pop machines. Basically the way the IRS in Ohio looks at it, is the customer is renting the bay from me. There is no sales tax on rental income. At least thats what my tax preparer tells me!