I've got a lead on a used Unitec (Wash Select II, I think). It is not set up to accept credit cards. Can it be updated for CC acceptance at a reasonable cost?
I guess it depends on what you think is reasonable....I am sure it can be upgraded. My units already take credit cards but have the old style acceptor that only takes the care one direction...i recently asked what I needed to upgrade to the new style that would accept cards in both directions...was told i needed to change the motherboard and then buy the new acceptor. Don't remember the exact cost but I think it was about $1700 to upgrade. Now for you .... you would also need a new door....one that has the opening for the credit card acceptor....so I imagine you are looking at about 2k....if you call unitec and tell them what you have they will tell you the part numbers and the cost of each item...you have to order thru a distributor as they don't sell direct.
I probably should have added....about 60% of the business in my automatics is via credit card transactions..in my market if you don't take credit cards you are losing business to the competition....in my opinion...credit card acceptance is mandatory........if you have no competition then it may not be an issue as customers realize you don't take them and likely come prepared with cash but otherwise you need to have it. Of course you will also have merchant fees and phone line fees if you don't already have a phone line on site.
I probably should have added....about 60% of the business in my automatics is via credit card transactions..in my market if you don't take credit cards you are losing business to the competition....in my opinion...credit card acceptance is mandatory........
I agree! I'm seeing somewhere between 50 and 60%. I've had quite a few customers that have told me that's why they use my automatic instead of the competition.