AMEX not accepted or surcharge

[SOPOOR]

Yep regularly we receive Money Orders in mail from customers ranging from $10 to $3,0000 - most here would not understand just how many Senior Australians and those with some 'challenge' still do not have a CC.

My first job when I return to MEL is drive one hour and drop off an item to an older gentleman and collect $2,500 cash - original price was $2,799 but we offer 10% RACV Mship disc and he was a nice old guy so I rounded down to $2.500 - FF pts? I don't think he has ever heard of them.

But this is getting a bit OT - fact of life not all businesss accept AMEX - your choice to shop elsewhere if you can source what you desire at price you want to pay - it ain't complicated.

what sort of business is it , if I can ask?

 

[Cruiser Elite]

what sort of business is it , if I can ask?

Of course you can ask - it's a very good business - it makes no money - it pays me no salary - it gives me ~12 inter trips per year - 90% in F - it stumps me up in 5* hotels - I get to make tea/coffee and lunch for my small band of merry men - and it allows me to access AFF any time I desire. Glamorous? Nope! cough load fun? You betcha!

 

[cove]

Wow CE our businesses sound quite similar. No salary, great staff and everyone thinks we are lucky. No one drinks my tea or coffee. Amex does not feature in our business as their processing fees are too high. We do take Visa and MasterCard. Our business has a Qantas points loyalty programme

 

[SOPOOR]

Wow CE our businesses sound quite similar. No salary, great staff and everyone thinks we are lucky. No one drinks my tea or coffee. Amex does not feature in our business as their processing fees are too high. We do take Visa and MasterCard. Our business has a Qantas points loyalty programme

Umm mm. I'm very slow today.... Or permanently. I

I must be missing the joke

I judt wanted to know what sort of business. But if it's a secret then that's all good

 

[prozac]

Umm mm. I'm very slow today.... Or permanently. I

I must be missing the joke

I judt wanted to know what sort of business. But if it's a secret then that's all good

When they say it is not about the money, it's about the money SOPOOR.
Some businesses are run so well that they simply don't seem to make anything, but the benefits offer up a great lifestyle. Drive a nice vehicle, travel alot, entertain a bit. At least I think that is how it works.
The business expense goes a long way to cancelling any profit.
You could run a little fine food shop and have lots of spoilage, with a limited liquor license stock the best wine but have a few breakages. Aim to make little but live life large.

 

[SOPOOR]

When they say it is not about the money, it's about the money SOPOOR.
Some businesses are run so well that they simply don't seem to make anything, but the benefits offer up a great lifestyle. Drive a nice vehicle, travel alot, entertain a bit. At least I think that is how it works.
The business expense goes a long way to cancelling any profit.
You could run a little fine food shop and have lots of spoilage, with a limited liquor license stock the best wine but have a few breakages. Aim to make little but live life large.

Ahhh I get. It. Just like how some people delibateratrlt run businesses at a loss for TX benefits etc.

All good.. I just thought there was a system that people had in regards to points that can give off 12 first class trips per year with no financial outlay..... That's what I see collecting points to be... And I love the challenge and finding loop holes

I too hope to be able to generate that many points consistently

 

[cove]

Actually I learnt that profit was good in 1978. Amex transaction fees are too high for wholesalers to accept in most cases.

 

[yohy?!]

Everyone with a backup visa or mc to their Amex is shuddering every time they have to pull it out and feeling the loss of points, then actively seeking out competitors who will take them. You do feel for business owners but at the end of the day it's either money in their pocket or points in yours.

 

[prozerran]

I just don't understand why business owners just don't factor in the cost of credit card transactions to the shelf price? Most of the transactions nowadays are by electronic forms ranging from a couple of cents for EFTPOS to 3% with credit cards. Why don't they just add say 1.5% extra to all their products and write one price?? And don't forget to factor in the cost of cash - having to go do banking and keeping cash on hand (safety, etc).

This surcharging just pisses me off. Just one price for all transactions - if you want to discount for cash then discount for cash.

Also, in some countries (eg USA), the shelf price is never the price you pay. Just have to add tax + service + tip. Why don't they just write one price !!

They seem to do this as a form of drip pricing. They get your attention then the final price is +++. If their final prices are unattractive then they have a service issue.

 

[HeavyElectricity]

When I work on freelance projects, I use the "Stripe.com" service to take payments.

All domestic Australian credit/debit cards at charged at 1.75% + $0.30, it makes it easy for me to get paid, and I can either charge automatically from customer's stored card details, or request a shorter payment timeframe when I invoice (they can get their precious 30 days from their credit card ). Things get a bit more pricey when accepting international cards, but there is still no differentiation between Visa/MasterCard/Amex.

To me, the % charge is worth it for not having to chase payments etc. Stripe is easy for any business to sign up to, unless charging low amounts I'm not sure why businesses are having to suffer with these apparent 3% charges, seems like a bad deal. Cash is awful to handle. Counting money and going to the bank easily costs more than the credit card acceptance fee.

 

[cove]

I tend to use an Amex card at faceless vendors that have loaded their prices for the processing cost. I wouldn't do that to a friend.
We are trying to eliminate cheques, don't take cash and prefer to receive bank transfers.

 

[firstclasser]

To all of the business owners, you do realise that you can negotiate the merchant fee for amex right??
I own a pharmac_ and I have got it down from 2.8% to start with, to 1.8% now. I'm pretty sure if I press them harder then I can get even a better rate, such as ~1.2%, which is the rate one of my friends has, with a different business though.

 

[cove]

Quite a few retailers accept "After Pay" so that their customer can walk out with the goods and a loan. I believe that costs 6% or so and the retailer gets the sale rather than a walk out. It is a modern day rejig of lay buy but the customer leaves with the goods.
In wholesaling we really don't have retailers gross profit margins so losing say 2% off our turnover would really hurt profitability. No need to invent a cost.

 

[Franky]

We havent had a credit card for 20+ years, and have just picked up a couple of AMEX Qantas Ultimate cards. Somewhere above I believe it was said that many small businesses levy a surcharge for this card. Mrs Franky bought an item at JBHFI yesterday, around $50 or so, and there was a sign at the counter stating there was a 'surcharge' of 2.?% on Amex transactions. I would'nt call JBHFI a small business, so should we expect similar at other larger businesses?

 

[albyd]

In my experience, most large businesses don't levy a surcharge on any card as they've negotiated some good rates (with Coles and Woolies accepting everything as they process their own transactions). JB Hi Fi seem to be the exception rather than the rule.

 

[Mr_Orange]

We havent had a credit card for 20+ years, and have just picked up a couple of AMEX Qantas Ultimate cards. Somewhere above I believe it was said that many small businesses levy a surcharge for this card. Mrs Franky bought an item at JBHFI yesterday, around $50 or so, and there was a sign at the counter stating there was a 'surcharge' of 2.?% on Amex transactions. I would'nt call JBHFI a small business, so should we expect similar at other larger businesses?

Except for Aussie hotels, no, larger stores and chains do not surcharge.

 

[Cruiser Elite]

We havent had a credit card for 20+ years

Any Credit Card or just Amex Card?

 

[whatmeworry]

Except for Aussie hotels, no, larger stores and chains do not surcharge.

IIRC Harris Scarfe charge a surcharge on AMEX.

 

[Mr_Orange]

IIRC Harris Scarfe charge a surcharge on AMEX.

Nope, they just don't accept it, full stop.

 

[hummel]

Nope, they just don't accept it, full stop.

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Bit of a joke really isn't it!