re: 3% Credit Card Fee

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That's usually against the ToS of their credit card processing provider

I know when I owned a gas station my processor was very clear that you aren't allowed to do that

Maybe things have changed or they don't care but it's a cost of doing business and seems petty to pass it down to the consumer

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This is no longer the case. The VISA/MC agreements once prohibited the surcharge, in fact they would fine the bank of the merchant who surcharged to get the bank to come down on the merchant.

AmEx allowed the surcharges and VISA/MC followed them.

My problem with this is that the merchant is allowed to offer credit without having to have a credit and collection department. Accepting CC is outsourcing the credit function to increase sales, yet now the merchant does want to pay the outsourcing fee that helps them increase sales.

Payroll is another function that can be completed in-house that is often outsourced to a 3rd party provider, yet companies don't surcharge their employees for payroll processing.

I'm a 30 year bank auditor married to a 30 year veteran of the payment processing industry. We've seen the change and don't agree that it's good for the consumer. However the small business has a better lobby than the consumer and was able to get the change.

I avoid it whenever I can because it is a cost of doing business. I don't charge it to my clients, and avoid paying it at all costs.

I've seen many merchants take advantage of a 3% processing fee and surcharge 4.5%, blaming the banks, but the merchants have gotten greedy and don't want to incur legit costs of offering credit.