Accepting credit cards

[mikewhite85]

Don't know if this is already one here somewhere but I thought I'd ask what service is best to go with when accepting credit cards?

At any given point, customers typically owe me between 10-25k. It's really annoying when I have a big worker's comp bill to pay and my customers have not paid me yet. I'd love to be able to just call them all and get their card numbers over the phone and be done with it.

THAT SAID I do occasionally use square up, which charges 3.5%.

I don't mind using it for smaller jobs or customers that I know I am going to have a hard time getting to pay me- but I certainly don't want to use it constantly. As you guys know the overhead is so high that I might take home 20% of my gross if I am lucky- so If I am getting charged 3.5% that's a pretty significant chunk of my net, let alone the fact that I am taxed on all of that too.

I don't want an actual reader that requires the physical presence of the card. That defeats the purpose since I could just a get a check from the customer if I am with them. The beauty of it for me is just being able to get a credit card number over the phone and not have to wait for 2 months for the customer to send a check. Way less hassle and annoyance. What do you guys use?

 

[stltreedr]

I use the square reader, but for you, you would probably save a little money using a service through your bank. When I checked into it, the percentages were lower, by about 1%, but there was also a monthly fee. If you're doing a bunch of volume, the monthly fee is way cheaper than the extra 1%.

I like the square because it is easy and I don't have to use it that often. Check with your bank and they should have good options for you.

 

[ATH]

You might look into Amazon or Google Checkout or even Paypal as well. I haven't done that, but did look into it a couple of years ago. I think the cost was 2.5% (but I might be wrong???). One advantage of that would be you don't need to take the numbers and worry about protecting the client's information. In those cases, the customer would just pay online. Of course that is still expecting more than them just reading you the number when you call to let them know they need to pay...

 

[jonee 70]

Accepting credit cards is a fundamental part of business today for shippers who need to be aggressive in their business sector and develop their business to its most fantastic successe....

 

[D&B Mack]

Charge the additional percentage if they are paying by CC. I found since the the economic downturn, people are actually more accepting of this. I think they realize your margins just aren't there anymore.

But I did it selling bundled firewood mostly wholesale; never tried it in the tree business.

 

[ATH]

If people aren't accepting of increased fee for credit card, discount cash payments. Give them your quote, and add a line below that lists a price 2% lower if they pay cash or check (just make this price what you would have quoted pre-cc).

 

[summit583guy]

My average invoice for residential customers is most likely around $700-$1000. How are most of your clients spending $10-$25k??? if thats the case you deffiently dont want to pay 1-3% on those transactions that is serious money out of your pocket. Do you do mostly commercial work? If so I can understand where the big dollar cheques are coming from.

 

[stltreedr]

My average invoice for residential customers is most likely around $700-$1000. How are most of your clients spending $10-$25k??? if thats the case you deffiently dont want to pay 1-3% on those transactions that is serious money out of your pocket. Do you do mostly commercial work? If so I can understand where the big dollar cheques are coming from.

I believe he is talking about all of his accounts receivable at any given point in time. Correct me if I'm wrong.