re: 3% Credit Card Fee

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I think the credit cards lobbied to allow companies to offer a discount for paying in cash, but they couldn’t word it as a fee for using credit cards.

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I don’t know if they stil do this but gas stations sometimes would have a pump price and a pay inside with cash price.

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A lot of businesses are doing it, especially restaurants, with margins getting tighter. So either they are going to hide it and have a price increase, while others choose to charge the client and be upfront about it.

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Either way, the customers always end up eating the cost. We hear increase food cost, rent, utility, whatever. All passed down to the customers. Then the state’s got to get their cut. On top of that, customers expected to pay 20% tip of inflated costs + cc fees + taxes. Call me poor, but I pretty much eliminated eating out because I don’t feel like I’m getting my money’s worth.

Most places I see that have this policy I just don't patron in the future.

The acceptance of credit cards is to increase their profits. Passing on expenses to me so they can increase revenue isn't my cup of tea. It's just lazy.

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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.

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This guy gets it.

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So you wanna use credit, gain cash back, place a burden on the business...and think is unfair they uocharge you for a service they pay dor...extra, on top of their cash price? People suck

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Imagine charging 3% more to access a substantial amount of potential customers. Businesses around the world found a way to make ends meet and then some for decades without the fees, but now they’re required to survive? It’s a lazy cash grab under the woe is me umbrella.

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I think it’s wrong that places do this. It’s the cost of doing business. A the store owner, you either eat the cost or factor it into your price of your product

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So it’s wrong to breakout the charge separately but fine to have the charge buried in a price increase? Why would you want to pay for this fee when paying cash?

I am actually happy they're doing this, because they are taking cash again.

I don't have a problem with it.

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Think about what you just said. Especially the last part.

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I’m not arguing that there’s zero value for the merchant to accept credit cards. I’m arguing that the cost of collections plays very little role in that value.

A gas station doesn’t accept credit cards to outsource the cost of credit. They accept credit cards because customers expect to be able to use their credit cards everywhere. I thought I made that pretty clear.

Yes - there is still a mutual benefit because the merchant will lose business without accepting credit cards. But the value for the merchant in most cases isn’t any different than the value of accepting debit cards, which have lower merchant fees. I would guess that the average merchant actually has more debit transactions, but that’s just a guess.

At the end of the day the merchant is going to cover their costs one way or another, and the customers are going to pay the costs one way or another. The only questions are 1) who pays for the costs (all customers vs. only credit customers) and 2) where the fees are paid (point of sale vs. direct with the bank).

My opinion is that the entire system would be a lot cleaner if debit and credit fees were uniform, and the additional costs associated with credit were built into the cardholder interest rates and/or monthly fees. This would probably reduce the number of $0 monthly fee cards with cash back / miles / whatever, but would also mean that other customers would no longer be subsidizing those rewards.

It’s easy….go somewhere else. Problem solved. Orrrrrrrr, you can understand how credit card fees work and see why more and more businesses are opting to not cover it for you anymore.