Do you charge your clients extra to pay by card?

[FlawlessBeauty]

Hi Geeks,

I'm just getting all my info ready to set up a mobile card terminal and thought of a question.
Do you think you should charge your clients extra if they are paying by card?
I'm not sure whether to charge extra or if this will just put ppl off, epecially since retail tends to increase when they have this option. If yes, a set price or a % ?

I sincerely appreciate any advice you can offer me xxx

 

[weezie]

How would you feel if you were charged to pay by card? I doubt you would be very impressed. I am sure someone can recommend a terminal with low charges. :hug: I just accept cash and cheques, no one expects mobiles to have card facilities x

 

[FlawlessBeauty]

Thanks for your v speedy reply : )
I couldn't find a thread on this earlier but have just found one, lol.

I don't think i'm gonna charge, but if anyone does, please let me know if it has worked for or against you xx

 

[lushtan&beauty]

Hi, who are you going through for the card machine, ive had the docs through from silver pay and i was wondering the same thing. do i charge the customer 5% or do i pay the 5% charge.
i was thinking its only 50p in every £10 im sure the customer wouldn't mind that much. i wouldnt.

xxxxx

 

[weezie]

I have been told in some shops/bars that they won't accept cards for transactions under £5 but I would include the card machine cost in my prices if I wanted to charge for them and people that don't use card would just be paying this without knowing. It's probably a better way to cover the cost without putting the client out!

 

[bombini]

I would look at it from the clients point of view. As a client I would not expect to have an additional charge on top of my treatment simply for paying by card when pretty much every shop in the land takes card. I never carry cash and usually pay by credit card so I can collect loyalty points.

I had a silverpay machine and I would not reccommend charging the 50p per every £10 spent, Imagine if you spent £50 then got asked for a £2.50 charge on top, I would NOT be impressed.

Another thing to bear in mind is if you do charge for the card machine clients may either go elsewhere OR start paying by cash which then defeats the point of having a card machine so you will be paying a monthly rental yet not having enough transactions go through to justify the cost of the terminal.

 

[Martin Duffy]

I use a card terminal & would never dream of charging anything for transactions, instead I soak it up as part of the general 'costs' of having a business & factor what it has cost into my treatment prices as I would electricity, water, the phone bill etc. Although it costs a % per transaction having card facilities does help facilitate increased sales.

 

[FlawlessBeauty]

Thanks for all the info!!!

Um, no sure who i'm going with yet, been getting quotes all day but i know you're supposed to haggle with them. Maybe cardsave. Quoted £29.95pm c/c 2.5% d/c 35p

 

[Lynne Baker]

If you join the FSB you get a much better interchange rate and the first 3 months terminal rental is free.
I think it's a big fat no-no charging your clients to use a card. I would be seriously unimpressed if they charged me to use it and I wouldn't return. You should be factoring this into your charges: it's part of the cost of sale. The average value of each of my clients on each visit is between £100 and £250. Can you imagine carrying that amount of cash around?
It also looks horribly unprofessional if you charge your poor client to pay you!

 

[SunSpray]

I must be an easy touch then. I ordered a couple of things over the phone today. The lady (company owner) asked whether I was paying by debit or credit card. When I told her by MasterCard she said "oh I'll have to add an extra 2% on then, is that OK?" and I immediately said "sure, no problem".

It meant my bill went from £25 something to £26 something. She explained that there would be no charge if I paid by debit card, but as this was something that the husband is paying for, I didn't want it touching my debit card (ha ha ha - he pays the credit card bill). Anyway, I really didn't see it as a problem and happily agreed to pay. Maybe I was too quick to agree!!

 

[smcconnell1989]

Hi,

I had a card machine in my salon and i find most of my clients pay on it, sometimes there is no cash at all! However I do say there is a minimum of £20 and anything less must be cash or cheque. This has never caused me any problems and sometimes you find people buy a product aswell or pay for their next treatment in advance if say it's only an eyebrow wax and then you know they are going to come back!

Sarah x

 

[lizzie27]

to be honest i think its your benefit to have a card payment service, the charges are usually so small i wouldnt worry about it just to have the extra benefit to your clients, i have one and wouldnt do without it, plus atleast you no that amount is going into your bank, and any cash is yours to spend on supplys or wages etc....x

 

[Prionace]

I'll be having an ATM machine at my shop when it opens, and i'm not even dreaming of charging anything extra for that type of payment. Even thow i do have to pay a monthly fee and transaction fees, I see it kind like having to pay the phone bill to receive phone calls for appointments...
I also belive it improves retail sales and saves the time of going to the bank for deposits as often.

 

[buck]

look round for companies that offer free credit card processing bill! there some out there, RMS do, but check if the rental charges and card charges are low enough to for the amount you will process,

 

[smartbookings]

Don't do it, it will put people off for sure!

 

[daisyl]

Why have a minimum charge for paying by card for anything over £5. It is easier for you all round - no banking to worry about, actually cheaper than business rates for cheques, you are better off!

When I opened a merchant account I was advised that it is actually illegal to add charges (not sure how accurate this is as a lot of companies do it)! It should be factored into your costs. I think if you did charge, you run the risk of actually losing business - I know what I would do if I had to pay a surcharge!

 

[lancashirelass]

I find it very beneficial to have a card machine and I dont charge anything to the client. I only take cash or cards I dont take cheques and try to get everyone to pay via card as it goes straight to my bank account and no messing about having cash around.