Vehicle tax - £2.50 to use a credit card

tripled

eskbanker said:

dcfc67 said:

some small firms try to charge you a fee for low purchase amounts which is against the law.
on the flip side they work on small margins so taking a card payment for say £1.80 will take a big chunk out of profit margins.

AIUI most merchant agreements entail straight percentage-based charges for credit card payments, so the chunk of margin lost should be exactly the same for small payments as large ones in percentage terms (and obviously smaller in absolute terms).

Certainly not the case for online payments, the ones available to small businesses at least, they usually charge a fixed fee of between 20p and 30p, plus a percentage on top.

cannugec5

For my very small business I take payments by Stripe, PayPal and Zettle. They each take a very small percentage only, not a fixed fee. I can’t recall the exact figures off the top of my head, but it is still worth having even if the customer only buys a single jar of jam, 

Fingerbobs

MalMonroe said:

Deleted_User said:

Still plenty of firms out there pushing their luck. Local sandwich van that turns up at work wants to charge extra 20p if you use a card under £3.

I don't blame them. Would you REALLY use your card for a sandwich costing less than £3? Or even £3? I'd be too embarrassed but that may just be me. Plus they probably don't make much profit anyway. I'd say they were canny, not pushing their luck at all. It's not a very nice job at the best of times.

I think that's pretty-much just you. I pay by card for absolutely everything, unless there is no choice. Any merchant is free to not allow card payments below a certain transaction amount. If they choose to accept card payments, the cost of doing so is built into their business model.

I keep some cash in my wallet for those "just in case" scenarios, but I think the same notes have been in there for over a year now

eskbanker

tripled said:

eskbanker said:

dcfc67 said:

some small firms try to charge you a fee for low purchase amounts which is against the law.
on the flip side they work on small margins so taking a card payment for say £1.80 will take a big chunk out of profit margins.

AIUI most merchant agreements entail straight percentage-based charges for credit card payments, so the chunk of margin lost should be exactly the same for small payments as large ones in percentage terms (and obviously smaller in absolute terms).

Certainly not the case for online payments, the ones available to small businesses at least, they usually charge a fixed fee of between 20p and 30p, plus a percentage on top.

I did say 'most', not 'all', and likewise don't believe that you can legitimately generalise that online payments for small businesses 'certainly' entail fixed charges....

zagfles

Another reason may be tax fraud, a dodgy business may encourage cash payments so they don't go "through the books".

[Deleted User]

Deleted_User said:

MalMonroe said:

Deleted_User said:

Still plenty of firms out there pushing their luck. Local sandwich van that turns up at work wants to charge extra 20p if you use a card under £3.

I don't blame them. Would you REALLY use your card for a sandwich costing less than £3? Or even £3? I'd be too embarrassed but that may just be me. Plus they probably don't make much profit anyway. I'd say they were canny, not pushing their luck at all. It's not a very nice job at the best of times.

That's just you. It's 2021 and contactless payments are the norm. Also with everywhere closed due to government incompetence where is one to get a readily supply of change from? I go to work and go home again, I can't go out anywhere to socialise (and get change) due to everywhere being closed. And banks are only open limited hours which always fall within my working hours.

I didn't pay the sandwich van the extra 20p, I just swapped out my sandwich for one worth £3 instead.

Oh and I'll say they will make plenty of profit as with everything to do with bread baking and pie making carries a high profit margin.

You really have no idea about their profit margin as they'll have fixed costs and variable ones like wastage etc

They may even be operate at a loss for periods of time - all unknown to you.

Mickey666

Fingerbobs said:

MalMonroe said:

Deleted_User said:

Still plenty of firms out there pushing their luck. Local sandwich van that turns up at work wants to charge extra 20p if you use a card under £3.

I don't blame them. Would you REALLY use your card for a sandwich costing less than £3? Or even £3? I'd be too embarrassed but that may just be me. Plus they probably don't make much profit anyway. I'd say they were canny, not pushing their luck at all. It's not a very nice job at the best of times.

I think that's pretty-much just you. I pay by card for absolutely everything, unless there is no choice. Any merchant is free to not allow card payments below a certain transaction amount. If they choose to accept card payments, the cost of doing so is built into their business model.

I keep some cash in my wallet for those "just in case" scenarios, but I think the same notes have been in there for over a year now

Ditto - if the merchant will take it I'll use my CC.  Why on earth should I be embarrassed about it?

Last time I stopped for a bacon roll and tea at one of those roadside vendors, they not only accepted CCs but also had a neat little contactless widget as well.  I asked about it and they said they prefer card payments as it means not having to manage loads of cash - sorting it, counting it, taking it to the bank, etc.

ratechaser

Mickey666 said:

Fingerbobs said:

MalMonroe said:

Deleted_User said:

Still plenty of firms out there pushing their luck. Local sandwich van that turns up at work wants to charge extra 20p if you use a card under £3.

I don't blame them. Would you REALLY use your card for a sandwich costing less than £3? Or even £3? I'd be too embarrassed but that may just be me. Plus they probably don't make much profit anyway. I'd say they were canny, not pushing their luck at all. It's not a very nice job at the best of times.

I think that's pretty-much just you. I pay by card for absolutely everything, unless there is no choice. Any merchant is free to not allow card payments below a certain transaction amount. If they choose to accept card payments, the cost of doing so is built into their business model.

I keep some cash in my wallet for those "just in case" scenarios, but I think the same notes have been in there for over a year now

Ditto - if the merchant will take it I'll use my CC.  Why on earth should I be embarrassed about it?

Last time I stopped for a bacon roll and tea at one of those roadside vendors, they not only accepted CCs but also had a neat little contactless widget as well.  I asked about it and they said they prefer card payments as it means not having to manage loads of cash - sorting it, counting it, taking it to the bank, etc.

And that's the trade off - lots of comments about the administration costs to retailers of using cards, but processing cash through a typical business bank account also costs money. Swings and roundabouts.

[Deleted User]

Deleted User said:

Deleted_User said:

MalMonroe said:

Deleted_User said:

Still plenty of firms out there pushing their luck. Local sandwich van that turns up at work wants to charge extra 20p if you use a card under £3.

I don't blame them. Would you REALLY use your card for a sandwich costing less than £3? Or even £3? I'd be too embarrassed but that may just be me. Plus they probably don't make much profit anyway. I'd say they were canny, not pushing their luck at all. It's not a very nice job at the best of times.

That's just you. It's 2021 and contactless payments are the norm. Also with everywhere closed due to government incompetence where is one to get a readily supply of change from? I go to work and go home again, I can't go out anywhere to socialise (and get change) due to everywhere being closed. And banks are only open limited hours which always fall within my working hours.

I didn't pay the sandwich van the extra 20p, I just swapped out my sandwich for one worth £3 instead.

Oh and I'll say they will make plenty of profit as with everything to do with bread baking and pie making carries a high profit margin.

You really have no idea about their profit margin as they'll have fixed costs and variable ones like wastage etc

They may even be operate at a loss for periods of time - all unknown to you.

They run a chain of shops and a fleet of vans so stop trying to make up excuses for them.

Middle_Sister

pjgraves said:

Just renewed by vehicle tax (note no longer road tax as most of us still call it), but there is an extra £2.50 if I want to pay with a credit card.

I though these extra charges had been stopped and the cost for using a credit or debit card was the same. I am sure there is a simple response, but how can the government make an extra charge yet tell everyone else they cannot?

I agree with you. I also thought they would charge £2.50 for using a credit card so paid by direct debit.  Their website must be unclear on this otherwise why would the £2.50 pop up.  DVLA needs to make it clear that there is no £2.50 charge for paying by credit card.