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Credit Card surcharges

jeffrosguns
[:(!]
A little bit of a gripe/whine, but I'll attempt to be nice & not sling mud....
What's with all the sellers that charge a "surcharge" for the use of credit card/debit card? I know that some offer a "cash discount", which is forfeited/surrendered/waived when paying with a credit card, but it all amounts to the same thing.
Last time I checked, it was not only in violation of visa's & mastercard's merchant agreement, but illegal in all states, as well.
Remember how you used to be able to get a "cash discount" at the gas station? wonder why you don't any longer? it was determined that you couldn't charge people for a certain kind of payment/give discounts for certain payment types.
Personally, I've found severl nice rifles and handguns that I've simply been unwilling to "pull the trigger on" (pun intended) for the simple fact that MOST want to charge a friggin' surcharge & I, for one, refuse to do business with such establishments.
Just M2CW, FWIW
[:(!]
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Comments

6 comments

Date Votes
  • jeffrosguns
    From Mastercard's merchant rules - Visa has similar wording in their agreement.

    5.9.2 Charges to Cardholders

    A Merchant must not directly or indirectly require any Cardholder to pay a surcharge or any part of any Merchant discount or any contemporaneous finance charge in connection with a Transaction. A Merchant may provide a discount to its customers for cash payments. A Merchant is permitted to charge a fee (such as a bona fide commission, postage, expedited service or convenience fees, and the like) if the fee is imposed on all like transactions regardless of the form of payment used, or as the Corporation has expressly permitted in writing. For purposes of this Rule:

    1. A surcharge is any fee charged in connection with a Transaction that is not charged if another payment method is used.

    2. The Merchant discount fee is any fee a Merchant pays to an Acquirer so that the Acquirer will acquire the Transactions of the Merchant.

    10A.3 Charges to Cardholders

    If a Merchant applies a surcharge for payment by Card, the amount or method of calculation of the surcharge must be clearly indicated to the Cardholder at the POI location and must bear a reasonable relationship to the Merchant's cost of accepting Cards.


    I just read my merchant member agreement with V/MC and it states No, the merchants may not impose any sort of fee. This is a Visa/MasterCard regulation that clearly states that merchants may not impose any surcharges or minimums or maximums.


    SO Many GB Merchants are in Violation.
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  • dlrjj
    Credit card companies charge the sellers for the service when it is used. I believe that the most common rate is 3%, but I'm not going to bet my house on that one.

    Many small merchants will adjust their prices based on that charge that they have to pay for the use of the collection service.[:)]
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  • Mercury
    Credit card surcharges are done by people who have NO CLUE about business. There are a LOT of people who won't buy just because of that 3% surcharge. Do you want to make a sale, or not? If that 3% is going to hurt you that bad, you aren't doing something right.......


    Merc
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  • Daddie_Tom
    This guy charges a paypal fee if you use paypal..http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ih=005&sspagename=STRK:MEWA:IT&viewitem=&item=150103234180&rd=1&rd=1
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  • scottm21166
    I accept credit cards and never charge a fee...I pay 5.5 % when I run a credit card remotely I absorb that cost as a service to my customers the same as I would if they walked into the store.
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  • Mercury
    Scott,
    If you are paying 5.5%, you are paying WAY TOO MUCH!!!!! Check around, you can find rates MUCH lower.

    I'm paying 1.6%, plus $.20 per transaction right now. I know it is a little higher for guns.

    Merc
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