Hi there @ANDREROMANO. So let me give you more background about the current state of surcharging. But I want to clarify one thing — currently there is absolutely no surcharging allowed period in the Square ecosystem. If you are adding a surcharge in-person, you should disable it immediately or risk having your account frozen. Please don’t think you can get by here — there are no exceptions right now.
This is, because of the restrictions placed on Square by the card companies (Mastercard, etc), some cards are not allowed to be surcharged to recoup service fees — specifically debit cards, prepaid cards and gift cards. See screen shot below from the Square help document on service charges. It seems that Square is working on a solution that will satisfy the card issuers, but it’s not ready yet.
In order to ensure that customers are paying those fees, most of us just add a flat percentage to our prices. I add 3% when I’m figuring out my costs to arrive at a sales price. And, yes, this means that cash paying customers pay these fees, too. In 10 years of doing this, not one customer has ever said a word. I usually come out a little ahead because of this — and that is the reason we are in business, eh? The best part about doing this is this is how we cost in everything else. People expect it. You do have the option (in most states, be sure to check your state’s laws) to discount customer who pay cash. But even if your state allows that, you have to post signs and notices, which usually makes card paying customers angry and feeling like second-class citizens. But, of course, that is your call.
Let me know if you have any other questions. Honestly, even when Square does implement surcharging, I will never use it. This is because I refuse to patronize businesses who add line items like these that say “convenience fees, etc.” I’d rather that businesses just charge a fair price that makes them money, and not make me have to worry about it or know about it. I can’t count the number of businesses that lost me the first time I saw card surcharges. But, that’s me.
Let me know if you have any other questions.
Hi there @ANDREROMANO. So let me give you more background about the current state of surcharging. But I want to clarify one thing — currently there is absolutely no surcharging allowed period in the Square ecosystem. If you are adding a surcharge in-person, you should disable it immediately or risk having your account frozen. Please don’t think you can get by here — there are no exceptions right now.
This is, because of the restrictions placed on Square by the card companies (Mastercard, etc), some cards are not allowed to be surcharged to recoup service fees — specifically debit cards, prepaid cards and gift cards. See screen shot below from the Square help document on service charges. It seems that Square is working on a solution that will satisfy the card issuers, but it’s not ready yet.
In order to ensure that customers are paying those fees, most of us just add a flat percentage to our prices. I add 3% when I’m figuring out my costs to arrive at a sales price. And, yes, this means that cash paying customers pay these fees, too. In 10 years of doing this, not one customer has ever said a word. I usually come out a little ahead because of this — and that is the reason we are in business, eh? The best part about doing this is this is how we cost in everything else. People expect it. You do have the option (in most states, be sure to check your state’s laws) to discount customer who pay cash. But even if your state allows that, you have to post signs and notices, which usually makes card paying customers angry and feeling like second-class citizens. But, of course, that is your call.
Let me know if you have any other questions. Honestly, even when Square does implement surcharging, I will never use it. This is because I refuse to patronize businesses who add line items like these that say “convenience fees, etc.” I’d rather that businesses just charge a fair price that makes them money, and not make me have to worry about it or know about it. I can’t count the number of businesses that lost me the first time I saw card surcharges. But, that’s me.
Let me know if you have any other questions.
