If you build it...
mara06 (2549 pencils) | Fri, 2008-05-23 15:36...they will come. Be careful what you wish for, because you WILL get it. Enter your favorite similar cliché here: __________.
Just this past week, I got set up with a merchant account that allows me to accept Visa and MasterCard (I mean not just through PayPal, but the old-fashioend way). It's really pretty cheap and you don't have to have the credit rating of Warren Buffet to qualify. In the two days since I've actually been up and running with the equipment (rents for $11 a month), I've run about $4,000 in payments through the system that I'd otherwise have had to wait for. Clients are loving this. Me too!
I can't believe it's taken me this long to do this. I'd like to encourage anyone who thinks they're not "big time" enough for this to give it some thought. (Suzanne, are you listening?) Oftentimes, the bank you're already working with can set you up. This might be a good option if you haven't been in business a long time and you think that might have a negative impact on your cred. In my case, I think I did fine by going with an independent place (they're related to COSTCO somehow) that actually has an office within 50 miles of me with real people in it.
Mara
Mara
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I include a line in my contracts that the quoted price includes a 3% cash discount. If my clients pay with credit card, they also pay the credit card fees for the convenience.
I do a cash discount thing, also. It'll be on my new Web site. So you do it by adding the 3% as a sort of surcharge for paying by credit card, huh? That doesn't have a chilling effect on someone who might pull a job back if they can't use their credit card? I thought it might be better to knock something OFF the price for cash.
Mara
That is essentially what I am doing, it is all in the way you phrase it. Whatever works for you. It is pretty prominent (not small type or anything), so it is understood from the outset.
I think in todays day and age, people understand that accepting credit cards has a price attached to it for the vendor (me), and if I am going to offer to take credit cards, I have to recoup my expenses. If you think about it, retail stores do it also, they just charge everyone the credit card price.
For decades, I've heard some variation of the expression "Do you give a discount for cash?" -- more in New York (home of "the Educated Consumer") than in places such as the small Virginia town where I now ply my trade. It appears to be a relatively novel concept here.
I think people are indeed getting smarter about negotiating prices. Maybe it's just wishful thinking, but I believe those of us who have small businesses, or freelancers, can use this to our advantage to get work away from the larger outfits, who may have less flexibility because of their overhead. For me, so far, so good :-)
Mara