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We run 2 vans in Portland, OR and we run credit cards maybe 60-75% of the time. For us it’s a matter of convienience and the cost is minimal at best. Our average job is around $170 and we are getting charged around 1.6% to 1.8%, I belive, when the card isn’t present to swipe. If we swipe a card (which we do most of the time) the cost goes down to something like 26 cents for MC. At the end of the day, the 50 or 70 bucks a month we spend on merchant services far offsets the time to make deposits and the risk of bounced checks, not to mention the convenience that is afforded to customers who don’t have to be present to pay at a vacancy or while they’re at work. The customer convenience is HUGE.
We have never refused a credit card nor lost a single customer to that issue. I have had a sum total of 4 checks bounce since Aug 03 and all 4 were made good within a week. (1 was from a millionaire…wrote against wrong account)
When asked if we accept credit cards, I always say I prefer cash or check…as long as they don’t bounce…always said laughingly, making a joke of it and always works. All past credit cards were run through Cody, all 6-7 of them.
My bank of 23 years is located up against my back yard and is about a 150-200 foot walk from my side door…not a problem to make a deposit at all and we get credited that day. No float and immediately accessible.
I guess we are just blessed here that people either pay for services in cash or check. And here, cash or check are better any day than credit. We have PayPal for the occasional credit card and are covered.
Wish we didn’t have to do any credit at all…
I am a new operator but in the 300+ jobs I have done so far only 2 have wanted to pay by credit card. They paid by check, no bouced checks either to date. At some time I will most likely do the plastic thing but for now I am holding off.
I get at the most 10 to 12 per year. Most are in the summer when the students are moving out of their college apartments and must have the carpets cleaned professionaly. So far to date I have had one customer ask about credit cards.
I have been in the same boat as most. I have never taken credit cards in the past and always explained that we just did not except them. We have never lost a job yet. The only question is how many jobs could I have gained by offering credit cards. How much add on upholstery did I not clean because we cleaned at the end of a pay period. We have been looking into the credit card for the past month. I finally picked a company that gave the best rates and service. We are going with a machine that has the capability to swipe on site and then we down load at the end of the day. I believe it is called swipe and go. The advantage is lower rates and no service charges for wireless. The company is http://www.bestmerchantrates.com. We are doing this now because all of our yellow page profs are due. We are going to advertise that we take credit cards. I wont know if we will get more jobs for some time.
Just as a side note when I dont have cash on hand and need to buy something on credit I always look for the visa logo in the window before I go in.
In Southern Calif. A good percentage of people don’t use cash at all. I am getting about 500 – 700 a month in credit card sales. The cost for that is about 10% when you factor all the fees. As I mentioned in Vegas I am targeting the high end customers so in my area I don’t see that I have a choice but to take them. I expect that this trend will continue, that is more and more people will want to use ATM/Credit Cards.
Accepting CC’s will increase your business. Especially if you advertise that you accept them. People may not always have the cash flow when a cleaning is needed or wanted, so they tap into their credit. Also, now days a lot of people use their CC’s over cash to gain airline miles, points, cash back rewards, etc. If you’re not accepting CC’s, you’re probably losing money.
This is a tricky question however because of demographics. You have to decide what type of customers you want. I have found that customers in better homes – top end of the market – never ask to use a credit card, they always write checks. Whereas people in the lower middle class are credit card junkies (at least here in Texas) and always have dirtier, more difficult cleaning jobs because of lifestyle and long periods of time between cleanings. I decided to only accept cash or check to try and avoid that market.
I agree with jeff to a point. In my area the high end do write checks but they also use credit cards. Most wealthy people will pay off their CC’s at the end of every billing cycle to take advantage of the bonuses I listed before. The biggest reason to accept cards really is if you are trying to grow your business. There are more middle class/family homes out there than high end millionair homes. Middle class America is a gold mine. You may have to break out the pro spot or the fast acting enzyme every once and a while but you charge extra for it. Plus, If they’re paying with a card they are usually going to spend more than if it was cash or check (That’s a proven fact). I still think if you’re not accepting CC’s you’re losing money.
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