A little rant

[Silver R/T]

So I've been buying paint supplies, autobody tools, etc from this one local place. Other day I stop in to get a can of paint and I went to check out and owner starts bitching how he's losing money when I don't buy certain amount. I was using my debit card. Said how he's losing $.80c or something that processing company is charging him.
I wasn't aware of the fact that I have to buy certain amount with my debit card. Then I've been buying from him for years. After like 5 minutes of listening to him bitch I just pulled out some cash I had on me, paid him and left.
There's a few places I can buy my supplies from, I'm kinda pissed about him making big deal out of the whole .80c deal. Maybe he wasn't in best mood or something but why do I have to deal with it. This other place has hot girls working there instead of grumpy old man with a talking parakeet.

[tricky lugnuts]

Hmm... That other place sure sounds nice. Hard to beat hot girls. . .

Per the owner of the store, it kind of sounds like he should implement a "minimum debit or credit purchase" policy like they have in some bars, etc. if he's so worried about it, rather than bitch to people buying his merchandise. That's just rude.

But it sounds like you did the right thing to drive your point home - pay with cash like that.

[ChgrSteve67]

If he expects people to buy a specific amount in order to use a credit or debit card he should post it for customers to see.
Or charge for using credit or debit cards.
I have seen some stores offer a cash discount.

Debit transactions cost the merchants less per transaction than credit cards thats why they ask you credit or debit when you hand them your card.

Personally I would go to the store with the hot chicks unless I need something only the grumpy old man has.
People return to stores they feel comfortable going to.
He may or may not learn that prior to going out of business.

[BrianShaughnessy]

Personally I would go to the store with the hot chicks unless I need something only the grumpy old man has.

[nh_mopar_fan]

Credit card companies forbid vendors having a minimum charge in order to use their card.

The sign will stop 99% of those transactions but if someone really wants to be an a-hole, they can call the card company and report them and they could get their agreement pulled.

Myself, I'm not the type. But, I used to know a guy that did it all the time. He charged every single penny he spent.

[BrianShaughnessy]

Myself, I'm not the type. But, I used to know a guy that did it all the time. He charged every single penny he spent.

I don't ever carry much cash.  I use cards most of the time except for small purchases.

I do know people that charge EVERYTHING tho.    Aside from one person that I know that does it because he's a financial idiot and probably going bankrupt as I type this...   the others do it as they have cash back bonus cards.

[69DodgeCharger]

Personally I would go to the store with the hot chicks unless I need something only the grumpy old man has.

If they're selling the same product at a comparable, price well then....

[nh_mopar_fan]

Myself, I'm not the type. But, I used to know a guy that did it all the time. He charged every single penny he spent.

I don't ever carry much cash.  I use cards most of the time except for small purchases.

I do know people that charge EVERYTHING tho.    Aside from one person that I know that does it because he's a financial idiot and probably going bankrupt as I type this...   the others do it as they have cash back bonus cards.

Oh, I charge everything as well. I meant that I'm not the type to fight these min charge things. I do it with my AMEX card. Good for $700-$900 rebate every year and since we pay it off every month, that's free money.

[Silver R/T]

Credit card companies forbid vendors having a minimum charge in order to use their card.

The sign will stop 99% of those transactions but if someone really wants to be an a-hole, they can call the card company and report them and they could get their agreement pulled.

Myself, I'm not the type. But, I used to know a guy that did it all the time. He charged every single penny he spent.

It was my debit card. I don't have any credit cards

[Ponch ®]

So I've been buying paint supplies, autobody tools, etc from this one local place. Other day I stop in to get a can of paint and I went to check out and owner starts bitching how he's losing money when I don't buy certain amount. I was using my debit card. Said how he's losing $.80c or something that processing company is charging him.
I wasn't aware of the fact that I have to buy certain amount with my debit card. Then I've been buying from him for years. After like 5 minutes of listening to him bitch I just pulled out some cash I had on me, paid him and left.
There's a few places I can buy my supplies from, I'm kinda pissed about him making big deal out of the whole .80c deal. Maybe he wasn't in best mood or something but why do I have to deal with it. This other place has hot girls working there instead of grumpy old man with a talking parakeet.

so he bitches about the fee, and in turn you bitch about him bitching about the fee. who's the whiny douche again?




btw...what the hell is ".80c"? As I'm reading it, it looks to me like 8/10 of a cent...

[PocketThunder]

btw...what the hell is ".80c"? As I'm reading it, it looks to me like 8/10 of a cent...

Yep.  I was being a smart ass in Math Class in HS and my teacher docked me 2 points on a test for writing $0.80¢ instead of $0.80 or 80¢.   

[GPULLER]

Hmm... That other place sure sounds nice. Hard to beat hot girls. . .

It's easier when they are tied up, wearing leather and begging for it...

(No women were touched or injured in replying to this post.)

[66FBCharger]

Any pictures of the hot girls?

[Manfred318]

Hmm... That other place sure sounds nice. Hard to beat hot girls. . .

It's easier when they are tied up, wearing leather and begging for it...

(No women were touched or injured in replying to this post.)

BAHAHAHAHA  

[Old Moparz]

Hot chicks are awesome, but if I were you, I'd keep going back to the store with the grumpy old guy & work on teaching the parakeet to say stuff. 

[dodgecharger-fan]

The grumpy old guy needs to work those transaction costs into his cost of doing business and write it off.
Treat them the same way he would treat the cost of maintaining a cash register.
They are a business expense.

He also needs to consider one of the very early marketing campaigns around debit cards - "Make it more convenient for people to buy from you instead of your competitor and you'll be rewarded with more business."

That has less impact these days when just about everyone can process a debit transaction, but for some people, if a business doesn't take debit, they'll look elsewhere.
If he makes it an issue to process debit (or credit) transactions, people are going to learn that it's less aggravation to shop somewhere else.

Debit is HUGE in Canada. At one point, and maybe still, Canada was rated the highest at adopting the debit card system.
I would say that 95% of what my household purchases in a year is done with a debit card. If I'm wrong, it's still more than 90%..

[chargergirl]

Hmm... That other place sure sounds nice. Hard to beat hot girls. . .

It's easier when they are tied up, wearing leather and begging for it...

(No women were touched or injured in replying to this post.)

BAHAHAHAHA  

[dstryr]

Do CC companies charge a minimum transaction fee to the merchant or just a flat %?  I can see if he's getting hit with a minimum it might cost him more but if it is 3-5% on the transaction value then who cares if it is a $1 or $1000 purchase? 

[Dodge Don]

Typically each transaction has a % called interchange that flows to the card issuer. There is also usually a transaction fee that gets paid to the acquirer (the one servicing the merchant and processing the transaction).

For the value card payments bring to merchants the cost is very minor and in fact any merchant with an ounce of smarts has already factored in these costs into the price of goods (like utilities, rent, staff, insurance etc etc etc).

In actuality for most retailers the cost of handling cash is in fact greater than cards. It is not free by a long shot. There have been several cost of cash studies done that show when you factor all the costs of cash they outweigh card acceptance costs.

Oh and yes merchants are free to discount for cash transactions however are prohibited from surcharging anyone using a card. They also are not permitted to establish minimum or maximum transaction amounts. If they are caught, typically by cardholders complaining to their card issuers who alert the card networks, they face serious penalties and in many cases lose their ability to accept cards.....which they soon learn to regret as it puts that merchant at a competitive disadvantage versus their competitors who still take the consumers preferred payment method...cards.

[Brock Lee]

It can be tough for small businesses these days. They usually pay more for their product as wholesalers reward volume purchasers with lower prices. So the small business has a slimmer profit margin, and the card charges just eat into that.