Minimum purchase of $10 to use your credit card

[CJMickeyMouse]

Another retailer perspective here....

We do NOT accept credit or debit cards. Why? Because insurance companies tell us what we charge for prescriptions. Sometimes that number is dangerously close to our cost of acquisition.

If we took plastic, we risk losing a little on every sale. If every person that came through the door bought 10 greeting cards, we would be fine. Obviously that is not going to happen.

NOT worth it for us. We choose to allow charges - on kind of a one strike you are out basis - and it has worked well. This would not fly in a big city - but it works here in our rural area.

If it matters - I do use credit cards.... but typically not for a purchase under $50 or so. Ca$h is king when it comes to small purchases.

Edited to add... if a retailer has a posted policy that I don't like.... I simply won't shop there. I just don't get the whole "run them out of business philosophy". The people that run around screaming that a 50 cent charge is illegal and waving contracts are the kind of customers that many businesses can do without anyhow.

 

[CarolA]

Wow! That's mean. Intentionally causing them to lose money. It's not a stunt. It's just a policy like no cash refunds. Why is everyone so hung up on the contract thing? How many things have signed in your life? I would be willing to bet that most of the people never even have that explained to them by the visa rep who just wants a quick signature from them. Visa doesn't care. That's why they don't make a big deal out of it

So he gets to raise MY cost because I only spent 9.99 but you who spent 10.01 get the "discount"

Uh NO!

I am sorry but if you sing an contract without reading it, then that's not my fault either. For the blame there, look in a mirror.

 

[MKCP5]

So he gets to raise MY cost because I only spent 9.99 but you who spent 10.01 get the "discount"

Uh NO!

I am sorry but if you sing an contract without reading it, then that's not my fault either. For the blame there, look in a mirror.

There's no discount!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Whatever. It's really easy for people to stand in their houses and make judgements. trying to understand both sides is alot harder. That's obviously not going to happen

 

[parkers*momma]

Some just don't get it. And your right about being that mean (making the sandwich), it's just totally uncalled for. If a customer has a problem with guidelines, service, whatever with a business, then it is much easier not to partonize that business than to be out and out hateful and order it knowing the minimum amount and they had no intention of paying for it. Just shows how obnoxious some ppl can be! And honestly, there are ppl who do things like that just to be smug and prove their point.

Honestly, in one days time, before the rule, one customer came in 4 different times and purchased no more than $1.00 at time. Once a newspaper, then a bag of .99 chips, a can of pop, and lastly, a candy bar. For the entire day, he spent $2.99 but it cost the business approximately $5.50. This is when I had to draw the line. When I personally explained to him the new policy, he didn't have a problem. He now just gets everything in one trip, saves him gas running to the shop 4 times a day and saves me in CC fees...lol

Volume...nawwww......that isn't even a factor to those in small towns, rural communities. Now if we were a Wal-Mart, Penneys, Sears, we wouldn't even be talking about this. But for the small business owner every penny counts. I would rather keep my prices down for everyone's sake than to raise my prices across the board to offer the service of accepting CC cards and give more of money to the CC companies. I've been lucky, my customers complete understand and I haven't lost a sale from it. Has my profits increased because I take CC's? Nope, but it's still a service I offer to accommidate the few ppl who never have cash on them. And in reality, if the $5.00 minimum means the difference in someone getting a gallon of milk for their family or not, we wave it. It isn't a steadfast rule.

And your are right, it is your choice to patronize where ever you chose. And being my business, I have the right to choose the guidelines that benefit all of my customers. Let it be checks, CC cards, debit cards, or policies in general. And as I said, My contract with the third party company doesn't say anything about NOT allowing minimum purchases.

 

[markmyboy]

The people that think the rules don't ever apply to them will always think that the rules don't apply to them.

Those that do follow rules will never understand how non rule followers think.

I've discovered through frustrating years of "research" that these two sides will NEVER agree!

About the CC fee...I would suck it up the first time, then I would either not shop there again or make sure I had cash if I really needed to shop there.

 

[ajk912]

The fees mentioned for small business owners seems really high- 75 cents plus 2%? I am just thinking that within the last few years Dollar Tree has started accepting credit cards. They don't have a minimum, either, so everything is a dollar there- they could lose money pretty badly, since not everyone goes in and spends $5-$10. I use my debit/credit card there and never think twice!

Luckily, for the most part, I shop at the big box stores so I don't really feel bad for charging my $3 purchase. I don't carry cash..sorry. It's a cashless society anymore, it seems! Even McDonalds takes credit anymore! I don't see a lot of people charging $10 there either..unless they are taking their family, but when I go 75% of the other patrons are people like me, just ordering for themselves (especially at the drivethrough) probably spending well under $10.

 

[CJMickeyMouse]

It's a cashless society anymore, it seems! Even McDonalds takes credit anymore! I don't see a lot of people charging $10 there either..unless they are taking their family, but when I go 75% of the other patrons are people like me, just ordering for themselves (especially at the drivethrough) probably spending well under $10.

Which I am sure is contributing heavily to the death of the dollar menu. I guess as a society if we expect that kind of convenience (not having to carry cash at all) then we should expect prices to go up.

 

[Calliaz]

There's no discount!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Whatever. It's really easy for people to stand in their houses and make judgements. trying to understand both sides is alot harder. That's obviously not going to happen

I don't think anyone has not understood the other side in this case. We just don't agree. I didn't attack you personally or call you judgemental. You can disagree with my position all you want, but attacking the people stating their opinions really isn't necessary.

I don't think the fees charged to merchants are right--they are too high. For those merchants who have signed a contract, I still think they have to follow the rules. For the merchant here who has no such restriction, I'm happy.

If we have a problem with the way charges are levied, as customers and business owners, we need to object with our wallets and not by ignoring a legal contract. I think that customers are more likely than not to help out a merchant when they understand the issue. Education is important.

I don't think purposely causing a merchant to lose money through product loss is a good idea. If they don't have the sign posted until the register and you didn't know--that's another story. I'd probably pay once and not go back, personally.

 

[jellybeans0607]

That is just semantics. It's exactly the same thing

that was my point.

 

[jellybeans0607]

O.K., so I just finished reading the the thread, and i'm a bit confused. This isn't a law right? It's a policy that the credit cards made. The credit cards who made the policy afe now deciding to ignore their own policy, which is making people mad. O.K., so I dont get it? If the credit card companies arent choosing to enforce their own policy, its a non issue.

 

[CJMickeyMouse]

? If the credit card companies arent choosing to enforce their own policy, its a non issue.

That about sums it up!

 

[here757]

the way i read it ....
the store owner has an agreement with the 3rd party. the 3rd party doesnt have any such agreement about mini charges.
bigger stores just add the cost of the credit card transaction into the cost of the item.
the money paid to the credit card processor is just built into the cost of business. just as an employees wage would be.. right?

 

[santa's surpriz]

And yet asking for ID is also a violation of the CC agreement that the merchant signed.

So I reserve the right to get annoyed when Walmart cashier holds out her hand and wants my ID.

I apologize in advance, but this is the way I look at...I have one theortical question...what is your credit card limit? Not that I want to know the answer, but say your limit is $5,000. That's 5,000 reasons that you should be asked to show your ID!

(Even though there is protection against fraud it is not easy to clean up the mess it causes, plus the impact it can have on your credit. Credit Bureaus aren't exactly consumer friendly to deal with.)

 

[MrsPooh]

I was the person responsible for signing the "contract" for accepting Mastercard and Visa at my former employer. Generally the fees are not set by MC or Visa themselves, the contracts are written and the fees charged by whatever company is doing the processing of the charges. That could be a local bank or a large company.

The fee structures I saw when shopping around for a contract varied but were all high for a small business. There was always a per transaction fee. The percentage fee varied based on the volume your store would process in a month, the average amount charged and the number of returns your store processed. A small volume, a low average amount and/or a high number of returns would cause your rate to skyrocket.

Unfortunately for us we were a specialty auto parts store. Because the items we sold were rebuildable we always charged a deposit fee that was refunded when the customer brought back the old one. Kind of like a deposit on plastic bottles or aluminum cans. Part of the contract required that if a transaction were originally put on a credit card than the refund must be also handled on the credit card. This made our refund rate very high and hurt us when getting our processing rate.

Unfortunatley, most of the contracts not agreed to with small, local banks also have a huge fee to end the contract.

The credit industry is killing our country slowing with fees to consumers and businesses. Our family no longer uses credit cards (we have one for emergencies). We are cash only. It also costs businesses a ton for check guarantee services or for lost money on bad checks. We choose to allow the businesses to their profits rather than sharing them with a company that already makes too much off consumers.

Sorry, just my two cents.

 

[delmar411]

I apologize in advance, but this is the way I look at...I have one theortical question...what is your credit card limit? Not that I want to know the answer, but say your limit is $5,000. That's 5,000 reasons that you should be asked to show your ID!

(Even though there is protection against fraud it is not easy to clean up the mess it causes, plus the impact it can have on your credit. Credit Bureaus aren't exactly consumer friendly to deal with.)

I completely understand a lot of ppl's fear over fraud but I keep myself protected in other ways. A cashier handling my id and my CC number and my DL around makes me much more at risk for those that steal identities by snapping pictures of the cards. I'd prefer they do what they are supposed to do and compare signatures.

 

[eliza61]

http://usa.visa.com/about_visa/ask_visa/index.html#anchor_4[/URL]

So, I contacted my Credit Card company (Capital One) as per the Visa website and they wanted no part of it. I argued with the woman telling her that the merchant is in violation with Visa but they didn't want to help me. I just sent an e-mail to an e-mail address listed on Visa.com but I doubt I will ever get a response.

Why doesn't Visa seem to care about these violations? I see these type of signs all over the places - nail salons, coffee shops, etc. But, this is the first time I ever saw a service fee for using my credit card!! Has anyone ever gone through with a complaint on this? Any advice? Thank you for letting me vent.

Because Visa only makes money if the small business keeps accepting their cards.

My family is in the restuarant business. Credit card fees are killers and unfortunately it is not as easy as saying "run a cash only business" . I know all the fine folks here on the dis don't use credit but the rest of the world very much runs on credit cards so if my family wants to stay in business it has no choice but to accept cards.

While it is illegal for us to collect fees, it is not illegal for us to have a minimim dollar amount for charges ($30 bucks)

Customers actually have more flexibility, if you want to avoid the charge use cash or don't buy from the establishment.

 

[eliza61]

I agree.

No reason to accept CC's if you want to have a min. Just simply don't accept them.

You can have a minimum, you can't charge the customer a fee for using a cc.

 

[mrsg00fy]

I don't get upset about the minimums. It does cost the establishment a lot of money to process credit card transactions. If it did bother me, I would probably just vote with my feet.

As for the earlier post about making the sandwich and then walking out.....that is plain mean.

I don't use credit cards for purchases under $10. I don't carry much cash....but always have at least $10...

 

[delmar411]

You can have a minimum, you can't charge the customer a fee for using a cc.

I guess you didn't read the CC merchant agreements posted. Mins are not allowed. Nor are fees.

 

[Aristomommy]

Because Visa only makes money if the small business keeps accepting their cards.

My family is in the restuarant business. Credit card fees are killers and unfortunately it is not as easy as saying "run a cash only business" . I know all the fine folks here on the dis don't use credit but the rest of the world very much runs on credit cards so if my family wants to stay in business it has no choice but to accept cards.

While it is illegal for us to collect fees, it is not illegal for us to have a minimim dollar amount for charges ($30 bucks)

Customers actually have more flexibility, if you want to avoid the charge use cash or don't buy from the establishment.

Most of the time when I have been at one of these establishments that have a minimum or charge a fee, I find out about it as they take the card at the register. I have already placed an order for a pizza, a sandwich etc that is being prepared specifically to my taste. I feel trapped because I wouldn't have the nerve just to walk away. If the sign was at the spot where the order is taken, that's one thing, but in my experience many times it's not. Also our local chinese take out doesn't mention this when you call in an order. We are usually over their minimum, so it's not an issue for me. If an establishment is cash only, they have to be a really good place for me to go there. I put most of my purchases on my rewards card, which benefits me.