THis is the answer. Retailers have figured out they they are throwing money away on every transaction.
I've had people want to put entire cars on their card and then pay it off so they can get the points.
4% on $40,000 adds up.

It used to be ONLY gun stores did it a few years ago. Now a lot more do. Contractors, the DMV, my accountant, etc.

No, they offer a 6% discount if you pay cash.

The auto mechanic I use started charging a CC fee last year.

I had to dust off the ol' checkbook to pay him for work and he doesn't charge the CC fee.

It's not a discount when the stated price for a burrito is $10 and they add $0.60 to the bill.

That is the way I remember it also. Bonus for cash was ok, but they didnt want you penalizing people for using their card.
Guessing they arent worried about it anymore with how common it is now.

The ones that intrigue me are the "cash only" places that own the atm machine next to the counter.
Nice that the fees are all up front, and guessing there are other benefits down the line

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Last year either DTE or Consumers I forget which, stopped taking CC as a payment option altogether for commercial accounts. I don’t imagine the other will be far behind.

The only option is ACH or sending a physical check monthly.

This isn’t strictly a firearm issue.

Durbin-Marshall bill pending:

Durbin-Marshall Credit Card Bill Shifts Costs to Small Businesses and Consumers

Supporters of a new bill in Congress like to tout that they are doing it for small businesses and the American people. But in reality, that’s not at all who will benefit from the new credit card mandates they are pushing in the name of increased competition.

In actuality, the mandates in Sens. Dick Durbin and Roger Marshall’s latest credit card bill will only line the pockets of the largest corporate mega-stores.

They argue the bill will boost competition by fundamentally changing the safe, secure, and hassle-free current credit card system by allowing your credit card to be routed on untested alternative networks. The theory is that these untested networks will be cheaper, and the savings will get passed along to consumers.

But a recent report from the University of Miami revealed the disturbing reality of the legislation’s consequences: small businesses are set to bear the brunt of the proposed changes, while mega-stores like Walmart and Target reap immense benefits.

The study found that the nation’s top 100 retailers could see a benefit of nearly $3 billion, with $1.2 billion going to just the top five largest corporations alone. Businesses with less than $500 million in sales … well, they likely will not see any savings from this monumental change.

While Durbin and Marshall may tell you this legislation benefits small businesses and local communities, the report’s facts are clear. The largest U.S. retailers would effectively receive a transfer of approximately $2.9 billion from issuers and cardholders impacted by the legislation. In contrast, small businesses would save significantly less, if anything, despite their already-existing competitive disadvantage against larger businesses.

The report also found that small businesses would likely lose out on their own rewards, as small business operators receive roughly $12 billion in credit card rewards when they make purchases on credit themselves.

Consumers would lose out on their rewards, too. The costs associated with participation in credit rewards programs would skyrocket, threatening both the existence of airline rewards points and credit card rewards programs in general. The loss of these rewards would make it even more difficult for Americans to afford groceries and basic necessities.


https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2024/03/07/durbin-marshall-credit-card-bill-shifts-costs-to-small-businesses-and-consumers/

I've seen it in multiple states.

My main LGS does this now, 3% if you use a card. Look at it like this, 500 buck gun that he decided he needs to make 50 bucks on. So he marks it up to 550, some one uses a card he gets hit for 16.50 in fees, now he only made 33.50 he just lost 33% of his profit in fees. Sure he could mark the gun up to 600 to cover this, or he can say $550 if you pay cash. The disclaimer is regular customers he only marks up guns 50 bucks, he does list for msrp but drops it for people who ask what can he do on the price.

Not really.

"Cash Back" "Mileage" and "Rewards" cards can charge the vendor up to 8%.

Yes 8%.

I charged anyone using a card 5% at my business.  I preferred checks.  I eventually stopped accepting cards all together.

Supported a local business for years then they started doing this a few months ago. So now I shop at a national chain and instead get cash back using their CC. I know small businesses are in a bad spot with it but...

Even my eye doctor charges 3% if I use a cc.  I always pay cash.

Everyone it seems here charges a 1.5-3%fee for using a card. It pisses me off.

yes.  I've seen it a lot more as inflation and interest rates climb too.  Those things squeeze profit margins, so small businesses can't afford to absorb the fees as much any more.

I believe Med-Express a local health clinic, asks if you are using a debit card or credit card for this reason.

Over the past 2 months, this has popped up every single place I use my card, except wal mart.

I’m not going to be surprised when I see it at Wal mart.

Inflation is down tho..so that’s nice

It’s one more way the big guy gets his 10%.

This...

I don't know if its just a rural area thing or just a small business thing.

When I lived in St. Louis, Mo.  I never once saw this.
Once I moved down here to the country, I started seeing this at Gun shops, small (non or small chain restaurants), and other small businesses...  

Walmart, Pizza Hut, Lil Caesars, McDonald's, major gas stations, etc, etc.. do not do this.
I think bigger businesses either just absorb and write it off somehow, or bake it into the prices and just don't make mention of it.

Especially on guns which have incredibly low margins anyway.

+1
a $100 bill after it changes hands 50x is still $100 in someone's hands
$100 after it changes hands 50x digitally is now $100 in the credit processors pockets and $0 in a buyer or sellers hands

The plumber and an auto repair shop and my snow removal all charge 3-3.5% for using a card.  Or -pay cash or check and avoid the charge.  
Some utilities like the water company are charging some payment fee but they are using a payment service.  I was going to get bill pay going on my checking but they had so many security questions like "what color was your first dog?"  Another day.

Guess I am getting the short end of the stick, as nowhere around me (that I have been to) offers a "cash discount".
It is always the same price no matter how you pay.
If there was a cash discount, I might be more inclined to keep cash on me.

It's a combination of that and their processing fee structure is probably lower because of the volume they do.

I have a store and you can think of it as saving the 3 percent if you pay cash, but I do charge the customer for the card purchase. They like carrying a card for the convenience and perks, but no way I am gonna eat that fee.

Many cars processors charge extra when you manually enter the card number.

Its funny how the government wants to protect you from junk fees , yet they charge an extra 3% to pay pretty much any government fees or taxes with CC
many times forcing you to only be able to pay online so no way to avoid it

I pay cash locally or on road trips, costs less.
Cash price vs card price, I will save money with cash anytime I can.
I wish all local stores had a cash price.

If you don’t like it take your business elsewhere or use cash.

It's hit or miss.  Relatively rare for a brick and mortar store to do it.  More common in the online world, and seems especially common in the firearms industry.  I've never seen it in any of the other online places I shop, it's only the gun guys and mostly the ones on Gunbroker.

Frankly it annoys me and I tend to avoid places that do it.

Laughs in debit card.

It’s been pretty funny over the years listening to arfcommers say “you are stupid if you don’t use CC.   Dave Ramsey is an idiot. Muh free money miles cash back.  And of course I never pay interest”.  Those credit card companies make billions and you think you are pulling a fast one over them?

Local Stihl dealer buying new saw, counter gal pointed at their newly hung sign.
I smiled and said be back in a few minutes with cash.
I was not gonna pay 3% on a $1500 saw.

And I understand why they do it.
Cash is still king.

Never put a barrier between you and the customer’s ability to pay you. Cash and check have indirect costs that small businesses tend not to think about. Including reconciliation, theft, counterfeit l/bounced checks bank runs etc. Cash in the bank the next day with less chance for theft is an easy decision compared to calling mailing customers to cut a check for your services.

What really boggles my mind is that we still pay 3% for a CC swipe.

It’s crazy that we can’t get that down to 1% or so.

So you're NOT ok with a business being up front about their cost of business by saying "it costs 3% for you to pay this way (and get those rewards points / miles / etc) but we also accept cash if you'd like to avoid that."

But you ARE ok with asking for someone to sell you something, say 3% cheaper, explicitly due to your age?

No offense, but that's like me offering anybody below 35 a discount on their bill because I don't have to put time into them being unable to figure out how to pay us the same bill they've been paying for years via this new fancy internet.

It costs man hours to be on the phone with Grandpa answering the same questions over and over every month. I charge $10 for a monthly paper statement mailed to your house, so you can mail us back a check, and we can drop it off with the next deposit like it's 1974, man hours in that also.

Or we take visa, mastercard, discover, amex, diners, ach, cash app, venmo, zelle, your bank's bill pay, google pay, apple pay and probably a few more I'm unaware of.

Guess which age group isn't a part of our 97.2% enrollment in autopay and gets paper statements mailed every month?

If those customers are easier to deal with, charging them less isn't a bad idea from where I'm sitting.

Company that supplies heating oil, charges 3%, when you're paying more than $1000 for a tank full, that 3% is a slap in the face.

No discount for cash either, they're a bunch of cunts.

This.  I've done a lot of cash handling in my career.  It's a pain in the ass.  It has to be counted every time someone touches it.  It's often filthy.  It's a temptation for theft.  It has to be secured.  Checks?  Good luck finding a place that will take one.  Becoming very common to see the "No Checks" sign.  The credit card fee is just overhead.  Do you charge an extra 3% for rent, insurance, or utilities?

It can be, but it can also be much more.

The actual interchange fees vary by the specific type of card being run. Higher "tier" cards that come with more rewards and other benefits to the cardholder tend to have higher fees, to offset the cost of providing these benefits. Other cards with minimal benefits may have a very low fee. Debit cards tend to have extremely low fees, to the point of being negligible on everyday transactions.

Many retailers use payment processors that charge flat rates - the processing companies betting on the difference in rates, hoping that most cards will be low fee types. However, you can also use processors that charge interchange plus - meaning the true transaction fee plus a much smaller amount to the processor. These are far more advantageous if you do have mainly low fee cards being processed, but are harder to get and may have minimum volume requirements.

It’s the cost of doing business. cc fees suck for the retailer, even worse when you get a chargeback that is not in your control.

Don’t like it, pay with cash or take a few seconds to write a check.

What's worse is how those scenarios play into a potential dispute as well.

It only took one circumstance of me having a fraudulent purchase charge back on a hand keyed CC transaction to vow to never key in another card number at the terminal again.

Customer claimed they'd never shopped there, never heard of us, somebody must have stolen their card, etc, they knew what they were doing disputing a hand keyed transaction.

CC company claimed they were "unable to positively identify our customer from the security image and signature provided" during the dispute.

Makes sense I suppose, I don't recall ever giving my picture to AMEX either.....

Yep

After accepting credit/debit cards for 12 years I stopped 2 years ago.  The fees are usurious and I refuse to play that game anymore.  Maybe I lose a little business because of it but I bet it is less than the fees I was paying to the CC companies.

Just about everywhere around me charges 3%.

How much bad debt are CC companies carrying these days...?

You are willing to accept the unknown because you believe the known cost of accepting customer cash was too much? Thats an odd trade.

I had a business tell me yesterday his merchant fees were 5.9%. I wasnt buying anything to make him say that, infact he was paying me.

Welcome to the 1970s, OP, back when they were using these:

Its unlikely anybody is truly eating the fee.....its usually built in or not. Disclosed or not.  Cash "discounted" or not.  I suppose if the company has enough meat built in to other stuff, or they do so much volume...than maybe they are ok paying more for the service of getting paid right then and their.

Many restaurants around here have started doing it, varying from a percentage to just a flat couple of bucks, I’m not pleased about it. They are just nickel and diming people, the fees are built in.  But, it is what it is, I take it out of the tip.

Most trade services (plumbing, hvac, etc) have been doing it for a long time.

The amusing thing about the former, I remember years ago when businesses were discussion going all credit/debit because then they didn’t have to handle cash (theft, bank trips, accounting), they sure did a turn aroubd on that one.



That is advanced stupid.



Then why are you using your debt card! The money comes directly out of your account when you make a charge… Then you raise the issue of “rampant CC fraud.”

I have a friend who thinks all discombobulated like you, I warned him. His debit card got skimmed, he learned his lesson when he tried to withdraw money on a Friday night and didn’t have any. The bank doesn’t automatically put the money back in your account. Get a CC, let any fraud be the CC’s problem.

I raised my labor rates in January for the first time in 4 years.  I raised them more than I planned to just to offset the credit card fees.  I'm still cheaper than a lot of shops in the area. I will honor a cash discount if I'm asked but I don't advertise it.