Buyers premium

Until recently my BiL owned a business that would sell tens of thousands of dollars worth of merchandise, both wholesale and retail, a day.
The bulk of sales and his prefered method of payment was card.
He happily absorbed the card cost as the saving on accounting and banking more than compensated for the added cost.
I've found most businesses, charging a card transaction fee, are mum and dad food outlets. Obviously encouraging cash (tax free) payment.

JOHN.K. wrote:

Everyone charges card transaction fees now,even Aldi ........moral of the story ....the banks get richer,you get poorer.

.

Aldi always have since they came to Australia

The fees that AMEX and Diners Club charge are the reason that most business do not use them. We did not when we were in business.
(One woman hit the roof when we would not accept her cheque and five minutes later she told us she ran a B&B and would not take cheques there, either)

Aldi did not accept any cards for about the first ten years they were here. The eventually realised how much business they were losing.

overnite wrote:

JOHN.K. wrote:

Everyone charges card transaction fees now,even Aldi ........moral of the story ....the banks get richer,you get poorer.

.

Aldi always have since they came to Australia

ALDI only charge a fee on Credit Cards .. Debit cards are still Fee Free... Or they are at our local ALDI..

Hi,

some of the fees, typically small ones like Morris mentioned, comes from the convenience of the internet through payment gateway services that allow 'mobile' terminals. They aren't credit card companies but internet based payment services that allow you buy things online such as you would via an online shop etc. So if you see someone using a portable terminal like a small ipad or phone on a stand at a market or a waiter/waitress who comes to your table then they are likely to be using an internet connected device that is using a payment service either from a bank or a 3rd party(paypal,stripe, eway, migs, or hundreds of others) which usually work on something like $0.30 + 1-3% per transaction which is why it is difficult tell you beforehand the exact amount you will be charged. There are also merchant fees involved paid monthly for the privilege and convenience by the seller.

So from the customer point of view it is a convenience tax, for the seller it is more or less a requirement to stay competitive and for the 3rd party service it can be very profitable.

Terry

JOHN.K. wrote:

Everyone charges card transaction fees now,even Aldi ........moral of the story ....the banks get richer,you get poorer.

Dee is a keen shopper to say the least and found out that Aldi indeed do charge for a credit card payment but NOT if it is a direct deposit.

Gryphon wrote:

Hi,

some of the fees, typically small ones like Morris mentioned, comes from the convenience of the internet through payment gateway services that allow 'mobile' terminals. They aren't credit card companies but internet based payment services that allow you buy things online such as you would via an online shop etc. So if you see someone using a portable terminal like a small ipad or phone on a stand at a market or a waiter/waitress who comes to your table then they are likely to be using an internet connected device that is using a payment service either from a bank or a 3rd party(paypal,stripe, eway, migs, or hundreds of others) which usually work on something like $0.30 + 1-3% per transaction which is why it is difficult tell you beforehand the exact amount you will be charged. There are also merchant fees involved paid monthly for the privilege and convenience by the seller.

So from the customer point of view it is a convenience tax, for the seller it is more or less a requirement to stay competitive and for the 3rd party service it can be very profitable.

Terry

The two instances were not portable devices but the main (only) one at the "customer interface"

Morris wrote:

Gryphon wrote:

Hi,

some of the fees, typically small ones like Morris mentioned, comes from the convenience of the internet through payment gateway services that allow 'mobile' terminals. They aren't credit card companies but internet based payment services that allow you buy things online such as you would via an online shop etc. So if you see someone using a portable terminal like a small ipad or phone on a stand at a market or a waiter/waitress who comes to your table then they are likely to be using an internet connected device that is using a payment service either from a bank or a 3rd party(paypal,stripe, eway, migs, or hundreds of others) which usually work on something like $0.30 + 1-3% per transaction which is why it is difficult tell you beforehand the exact amount you will be charged. There are also merchant fees involved paid monthly for the privilege and convenience by the seller.

So from the customer point of view it is a convenience tax, for the seller it is more or less a requirement to stay competitive and for the 3rd party service it can be very profitable.

Terry

The two instances were not portable devices but the main (only) one at the "customer interface"

That doesn't mean they weren't using an internet payment gateway as many stores are moving away from fixed line EFTpos machines with monthly rentals to a bank.

Terry

hayseed wrote:

overnite wrote:

JOHN.K. wrote:

Everyone charges card transaction fees now,even Aldi ........moral of the story ....the banks get richer,you get poorer.

.

Aldi always have since they came to Australia

ALDI only charge a fee on Credit Cards .. Debit cards are still Fee Free... Or they are at our local ALDI..

You are probably correct. I never use a debit card so I wouldn’t know. I use my Amex ( when accepted), and pay it out at the end of the month, so I get the maximum FF points.

Bloody buyers premiums... I hate em.
As a very small time dealer, buying from all the big auction places, the only reason they have buyers premiums, is because idiots like us keep supporting them.
The internet, and of course covid, have been a godsend for auctions- witness the plethora of auctions on the go, all the time. Now everything is on line, and you can't beat their marketing, it's everywhere. The amount of extra money they have made is mind boggling. In essence it's just like everything else, the end user can go direct to the supplier, and they take a lovely chip off you on the way.
So I find that when bidding, you might be bidding at say $9500 for sake of a figure, the invoice comes at $11200, subject to which auction house, and what they can get away with, and so on. It may well be $9500 + GST Plus buyers premium + GST + handling fee + gst.. bastards I reckon! Then they often charge you a credit card fee, and I've seen Manheim charge a 'cash handling fee"!
If anyone else charged fees on top of the supposed "price" like that, the ACCC would be right on to them. I certainly can't advertise things like that, as everyone has stated. It is illegal. Not to mention unethical. But of course auctions take advantage of rules that are archaic and no longer relevant, therefore they can do what they bloody well like, until forced to change their procedures. But who knows if and when that will ever happen.
It's bloody annoying though, you need to do the mental arithmetic on everything, and often all the fees can make the difference between making a quid on something, or not.
Putting a charge on a transaction, whether it's an auction, or a bank, or anything, is a brilliant business model, for the mob who can do it, and get away with it!
Can't say it makes me like them though.
Cheers!
Rich