@longtimelurker wrote:
@DrZoidberg wrote:I find it hard to believe the merchant fees are a "major cost to a business" when only 17% of consumers use credit as a form of payment. Cash and debit account for 65% of transaction payment types.
Where is that from? I found a very different breakdown (although this seems to be a small sample):
Where does bitcoin fit in this model????
@sarge12 wrote:
@longtimelurker wrote:
@DrZoidberg wrote:I find it hard to believe the merchant fees are a "major cost to a business" when only 17% of consumers use credit as a form of payment. Cash and debit account for 65% of transaction payment types.
Where is that from? I found a very different breakdown (although this seems to be a small sample):
Where does bitcoin fit in this model????
Towards the y axis in every category! I also don't know what they mean by using paypal at restaurants or department stores (apart from Paypal debit/credit cards)
@Anonymous wrote:
I think the cottage industry and internet only help if you have an interest in buying what the small business is selling. My husband and I really don't need more "things" cluttering up our house. We travel, eat out, purchase groceries, and buy premium clothing from specific retailers that have brands we like (i..e, Hugo Boss).
I support the idea of small, personal businesses, there just isn't anything they are selling that I want.
Nothing wrong with that IMO! I really only buy from one "small" business because it's specialized (I collect silver bullion and coins) and it's not something I can buy in a big box store!
To answer the question - no I don't feel bad using a card at a store. Merchants should work in the swipe fees in their pricing. I worked for a small business and we did. Swipe fees weren't the issue for us; it was the chargebacks! However, I can understand and respect minimums. One small cafe I used to go to all the time where I used to work had a $5 card minimum (never a problem since lunch was always $10+) and I always spent enough. Likewise, if a merchant doesn't accept one card type (for whatever reason), I would just use another.
I like the idea of small businesses but they have to have something I want. I don't go to small business's for the sake of it but will use them if they have something I will buy.
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@longtimelurker wrote:
@DrZoidberg wrote:I find it hard to believe the merchant fees are a "major cost to a business" when only 17% of consumers use credit as a form of payment. Cash and debit account for 65% of transaction payment types.
Where is that from? I found a very different breakdown (although this seems to be a small sample):
Maybe it's area based but when I worked at Super Target as a cashier, the vast majority of transactions were debit card. There were some credit cards too but I feel like a lot of people now are afraid of credit cards and would rather just their debit cards. I would say cash/checks were only about 10-20% of my transactions.
@Anonymous wrote:I don't feel guilty at all. When I owned a small business, I strongly preferred it when customers paid by credit card. Sure, the merchant fees were no fun, but I'd rather pay Visa or MasterCard than have the hassle of handling cash. With cash, we had to put it in a deposit bag, fill out a deposit slip, go to the bank every night and worry about theft or loss. (One of my employees pocketed some of his cash sales, to boot).
My attitude on credit card payments has changed over the years. When I first started using credit and debit cards in 2000, there were far more businesses that were cash-only than there are today (namely, fast food restaurants and parking garages). Now I very rarely need to pay cash for anything.
I wonder if the advent of stuff like Square helped with that. I remember card acceptance being sort of a pain before that point (my parents, for instance, simply didn't bother for a long time when they still owned a store--and then only started accepting debit with those square looking Verifone terminals not too long before they sold).
A fair number of places were also still cash-only around me until a few years ago--In-N-Out being the most famous example. Now they take AmEx, which I never thought would happen. 