I’ve found that retailers have a hard time finding employees capable of taking cash and reliably handling the change accurately.
If you’re nerdy enough like me, throw a few pennies on the counter after the clerk has entered the payment in the register and see the look of panic set in.

quote:

Originally posted by 220-9er:
I’ve found that retailers have a hard time finding employees capable of taking cash and reliably handling the change accurately.
If you’re nerdy enough like me, throw a few pennies on the counter after the clerk has entered the payment in the register and see the look of panic set in.

My wife handed the kid at the drive thru $21 for a $15 and change bill so she would get a $5 back instead of a bunch of $1s. He was clueless. He kept trying to give he the $1 back. She had to explain it to him, twice. I was kind of embarrassed for the kid.

I gave the clerk 20.55 for a 10.55 purchase. She keyed the cash tendered as 205.50. She told me that she would have to get the manager to void the transaction or she would be out of balance? I said, just give me 10 back and we are good. She refused. The manager came over and I told him the solution. He looked at me like I was crazy and said he had to void out the transaction.......

Are people really that dense?

The company I work for pays roughly 350k per month in cc fees. Those pennies add up quickly.

quote:

Originally posted by konata88:
What I don't get is different prices for rewards vs non-rewards CC - do credit card companies charge businesses a different fee rate for rewards cards vs non-rewards cards?

Yes, they do. The most notable example is AMEX. Some retailers do not take that card due to the higher fees. Same with the high-reward credit cards like Chase Sapphire Reserve.

quote:

Originally posted by 220-9er:
I’ve found that retailers have a hard time finding employees capable of taking cash and reliably handling the change accurately.

If you’re nerdy enough like me, throw a few pennies on the counter after the clerk has entered the payment in the register and see the look of panic set in.

Not only that, cash ends up in the pockets of untrustworthy people who handle it merchants have to factor that into the cost as well has the handling of cash, counting, recounting, prepping for deposit balancing account deposits to the daily take.

Cash ain't cheap to handle, and while there isn't a merchant CC fee for it, it's not free it's cost is hidden in plain sight.

That being said lots of places are going cash free to eliminate all the work with dealing in cash as well as theft.

The reason why so few places accept AmEX. They have the highest fees to the retailer iirc

Interesting - I wonder how much the move to cash transactions will impact the penny shortage. A local supermarket chain is offering double back (in gift cards) on up to $100 in pennies brought to the store this month.

Market 32 Penny Exchange

SCHENECTADY, N.Y. (NEWS10) — Market 32 and Price Chopper is offering customers a chance to double the value of their spare change on November 16. That Sunday, the grocery stores will host a Double Exchange Day from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. where anyone can come in with their spare pennies and trade them in for double their value.
When shoppers come in with a minimum of 50 cents and a maximum of $100 in pennies, an employee will count the change and match it with a gift card reward on the spot worth twice the amount the person came in with. This comes amid a penny shortage as the U.S. Mint stops producing them.

Two years ago I switched my credit processing companies and now charge a 3% fee to use any credit card or a debit card. It saved me $7000 in fees the first year. Now if someone whips out a card for a $2 purchase, I gladly accept their card. There is a sign right on the counter that says pay Cash and save 3%. I encourage folks to write a check or pay cash on large amounts to save them the fee. I have had not one customer complain in two years. It's been great for me as I am trying to keep my prices down, while all my costs are going up.

quote:

Originally posted by ridewv:
Or perhaps the business is the one who should decide since that's who is having to pay 3% of the gross sale.

IMO the seller should have the choice of whether to absorb 3% or not. If they do, the 3rd party CC fee should be disclosed and only charged to those using cards, not cash or check. Consumers have the choice whether to buy from vendors that that won't absorb the fee or those that do.

I agree that the decision should be left to the business. And customer can choose to buy or not, or perhaps patronize a different vendor (unless there is commercial collusion).

That being said, I'm just wondering philosophically, outside the construct of rules, laws, and regulations, which party in general should pay the fee. The retailer or the customer.

Are the visa/mastercard gift cards (debit cards) subject to a transaction fee?

If not, then is that a potential middle ground - used like a CC but nobody pays transaction fees (like a pinless debit card)? Or is there going to be a fee for the purchase of the card (like today) AND 3% transaction fees to use the card? If so, gift cards will likely go down in demand / use.

Another of those times folks could just bump prices by 1.5-2% for all merch and nobody would squawk, but tack on a fee to cover that cost and people lose their ever-lovin' shit.

Probably less than that if average fee is 2% and charges are 2/3 or less of transactions.

My LGS has advertised a price and a cash price for as long as I can recall. I never thought to see if was a straight percentage. I’ll pay attention next time.
In response to bluecobra, no it’s not that people are dense, they just haven’t had the practice making change. I started working in an ice cream shop at around 12-13 in the 80’s so I got accustomed to it. You can trip almost anyone up asking them to do subtraction in their head if you put them on the spot. Remember the first day or two you drove a manual, changed the old man’s oil, or fired a handgun? No different.

quote:

Originally posted by Bluecobra:
I gave the clerk 20.55 for a 10.55 purchase. She keyed the cash tendered as 205.50. She told me that she would have to get the manager to void the transaction or she would be out of balance? I said, just give me 10 back and we are good. She refused. The manager came over and I told him the solution. He looked at me like I was crazy and said he had to void out the transaction.......

Are people really that dense?

You'd be good, but her drawer would have still been off by $195.50...because that's what she entered. So then they'd have to figure out some why to get that to balance out when she counted out.

The cleanest way to balance out the drawer would have been to void out the transaction and enter it correctly

quote:

Originally posted by snwghst:
The reason why so few places accept AmEX. They have the highest fees to the retailer iirc

That's why I always have my AMEX card ready to use when a merchant is less than helpful

quote:

Originally posted by konata88:
That being said, I'm just wondering philosophically, outside the construct of rules, laws, and regulations, which party in general should pay the fee. The retailer or the customer.

I've always thought the customer should pay it as they make a choice as to the method of payment they want to use

Thinking you’re not paying that fee is like saying renters don’t pay property tax. We switched to adding the fee to CC purchases to keep prices lower for our cash customers. We have signs and when someone calls for a price quote we tell them our quote is a cash price.

If consumers pay the fee, does that slow down the macroeconomic velocity of money? Again, ignoring a specific business as margins will vary across different industries. As a macroeconomic whole, which is better to bear the burden of the fee?

Again, just curious philosophically at a macro level. Not micro level or at the specific business level.

quote:

Originally posted by Bluecobra:
I gave the clerk 20.55 for a 10.55 purchase. She keyed the cash tendered as 205.50. She told me that she would have to get the manager to void the transaction or she would be out of balance? I said, just give me 10 back and we are good. She refused. The manager came over and I told him the solution. He looked at me like I was crazy and said he had to void out the transaction.......

Are people really that dense?

I'm afraid you're the dense person because according to their records you paid 205.50 instead of 20.55. If that isn't voided out and re-rung properly, Loss Prevention and the Cash Office are going to be all over them because according to their records the cashier stole $194.95 from you. Once the sale was completed with the wrong amount, it has to be voided so their records are correct.

Many persons believe they are getting a great deal as these "air miles" rack up. I recently went to the Costco merchant card system, it is working great. Customer pays 3%, I pay 0.5%. People understand that either the merchant will raise prices, or those that use cards will pay a small fee.

quote:

Originally posted by konata88:
If consumers pay the fee, does that slow down the macroeconomic velocity of money? Again, ignoring a specific business as margins will vary across different industries. As a macroeconomic whole, which is better to bear the burden of the fee?

No it doesn't have that effect at all. Most folks don't really pay that much attention, they just accept that it is an additional fee that has become the "new norm". It's like additional taxes on gasoline, folks just paid it as part of the cost of moving smoothly in society.

What does slow down the velocity of money is a cash business. Folks will go out of their way to avoid them because it isn't as convenient and will put off buying things if they don't have the case in hand