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Paying by credit card

  • Thread starter Thread starter MikeF00
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Looked on the web site address in the mag. It is being advertised as a pay as you go service.
 
julesverne said:
So whats are the costs with the dedicated machine?
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Click on the Cardsave logo on the forum, they have a discount for forum members. When it comes to getting paid and taking peoples money, I'd much prefer to have a proper machine that takes payments without hassle
 
Clicked on link and just spiel about being less than a pound a day but cant find anymention transaction fees or exact costs

Other web site does detail costs

65 pence per debit card transavction
3.3% per credit card transaction
Plus no monthly fee
 
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If you contact Cards Save and tell them it's the forum discount, they will tell you. I'd rather use aproper machines like theres, when taking large payments worth thousands of pounds. The Worldpay option might be ok if you only use it very occasionally for small payments.
 
Thanks a lot system3 for this wonderfull information.

I know I am late in getting involved, but out o curiousity, is there any chance I can get the service?


Thanks
 
system3 said:
If you contact Cards Save and tell them it's the forum discount, they will tell you. I'd rather use aproper machines like theres, when taking large payments worth thousands of pounds. The Worldpay option might be ok if you only use it very occasionally for small payments.
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Perhaps the dedicated, expensive to rent machines are your cup of tea, but I looked at all the current providers and could find none which were viable for a small business like mine. If you are taking multiple thousand pound bills every day that's great, but most of u are taking smaller amounts & I simply cannot justify the ongoing monthly expense as well as the per transaction costs of these schemes. It makes me chuckle when the reps turn up in sharp suits in BMWs and expect me to believe that their company is being run for anyone's financial benefit other than their own!!

Look at it from a maths point of view. I would probably use it maybe 10 times a month as a fair few customers still like paying in cash, cheque or are happy with bank transfer. An average transaction might be £80 or so, hence it would cost £22 to use it. This is significantly less than many of the main companies charge just for their rental charge let alone their per transaction charges. Given the cost of the keypad at £59.99 inc VAT, this equates to about 2 months of rental charges, so this will start saving after 90 days, and just keep saving compared to the rental devices.

For me it makes sense to use the cheapest option to carry out the same task, but if you are taking large volumes of smaller transactions, then a dedicated machine may work out cheaper.

Perhaps, System3, you could allow others to do the maths and work out which is best for them, not just champion the option that you chose (to be fair it sounded very defensive, as if you felt you had to defend your decision to pay more money where there was a cheaper option!!). I had customers like you when I sold gas door-to-door, even when given the BG price and the company I worked for's price for the same gas coming through the same pipes, they still didn't want to know. Each to their own I guess!!
 
Sorry, I typed for ages then lost it all and had to re-write it! I was going with Worldpay, and have just found out that if you are referred by a current customer then the device is £39.99. If you look at the devices, compare iZettle and Worldpay and the Worldpay one looks far more like a rental machine and hence is less likely to put off customers: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iAV0RLYRPUU&feature=player_embedded compared with the iZettle chip & pin: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AocYz7ADFmw which looks a lot more dodgy & homemade for nearly twice the price.

I'm sure each system suits different businesses, it just seems that until now there was no cost effective way of accepting cards for a very new bsiness, you just had to bite the bullet and get rental machine and pay through the nose even if you didn't use the machine much, with this is is truly affordable and no monthly cost - what's not to like as a young business that can't afford to splash out without good returns?
 
Who would think this question would start 16 pages of posts!
We have taken card payments for years.
We usually add on 3% for credit cards but nothing for debit cards.
We use STREAMLINE - that was definitely the cheapest for us when we started but might not be now.
And at the time when I shopped around the differences in charges from different card operators was huge.
I think some customers like to pay by card because of the insurance it gives them.

MOST of our customers transfer funds direct into our bank account - how easy is that!
 
Let's face it, as Mrs Tara Plumbi says bank transfers are so easy, and people can even do them from their phones now, I don't really see the future in cards for a lot longer, but I'd like to be able to accept them on occasion.

A bit like CDs giving way to MP3 downloads people are by nature lazy - trust me, in Bosnia we were only aware we were about to stray into a minefield because the men who'd laid it had left the empty boxes nearby as they couldn't be bothered to dispose of them!!

If anyone else is a Worldpay client I'd love to get referred by you to save the £20 on the unit, you'll get a £15 Amazon voucher!! Anyone interested?!?
 
Im also thinking of going with Worldpay. If the same person who refers Drip Doctor can refer me Id appreciate it. £30 in Amazon vouchers too! Blimey, if this carries on somebody will be having a bumper christmas
 
Drip Doctor said:
Let's face it, as Mrs Tara Plumbi says bank transfers are so easy, and people can even do them from their phones now, I don't really see the future in cards for a lot longer, but I'd like to be able to accept them on occasion.

A bit like CDs giving way to MP3 downloads people are by nature lazy - trust me, in Bosnia we were only aware we were about to stray into a minefield because the men who'd laid it had left the empty boxes nearby as they couldn't be bothered to dispose of them!!

If anyone else is a Worldpay client I'd love to get referred by you to save the £20 on the unit, you'll get a £15 Amazon voucher!! Anyone interested?!?
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I replaced a badly fitted bath tub and sink for a landlord customer about 3 weeks ago. On completion, he asked how much he owed for the job? £620, I says. ''OK, the money is winging its way to you right now''.
He was entering the information on his phone as I was heading for my van. By the time I got to the van, I received a message saying something in the lines of: Visa payment from .....
About 10 mins later, I got a similar message. Being the fool that I am, I left it at that, believing I had been paid. Then a week later, I got another message from Visa, saying because I had not collected the money within & days, it had expired?
So I phoned customer and asked him to just transfer money into my account as usual.

He is a contractor in Kenya. Tells me one of his staff in Kenya approached him and requested to be paid by phone? Since then, all his staff are now paid by phone. They also shop by phone, just transfering funds to various merchants by touch of a button. And I thought we were supposed to be more advanced than this 3rd world countries?
 
Don't mind me while I bump some threads in the plumbing forum category. This thread might not be a current topic, if it isn't, just let it drop off the list.

If you DO want to reply to it, go ahead, that's fine. Your post might add some value to the thread and help newer members in the future.
 
Don't mind me while I reply to a few of the threads. We need the new thread pages to be picked up correctly. If this thread isn't current, just visit the plumbing forum and post your own new thread or checkout the other existing threads.
 
MikeF00 said:
Hello. Is it considered unusual or 'a bit off ' to ask a plumber if he would accept a credit card payment before he starts the job.

I'm getting central heating system put in.

Quite a big lucrative job , surely he would insure the 3 or 4 % cost of credit card Payment ?
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No not at all many tradesmen now have chip n pin machines. As long as they are told in advance.
 
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I take credit/debit cards, quick and easy but also like to take cash with some jobs for obvious reasons. 😉
 
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