Hi there @Tallowgirl.. Maybe it would help to reframe your question and to ask a few other questions. For example, is rent killing you? What about license fees, utilities and other expenses? In reality, card processing fees are absolutely no different than any other expense you incur in your business. So, how do you make money no matter whether you are a "tiny market girl" or an established business like mine that is going into its 13th year and making a solid profit? The answer is that you set your prices for your products and services so that you CAN make a profit, eventually. Card processing fees are just another expense. Here's how I made those fees a non-issue.
Thirteen years ago when I was starting my ice cream shop, I knew one thing -- customers definitely do not care about the expenses that we have. Customer don't want to hear about our perceived problems. If they want to buy our product/service they will do so. But they definitely do not want to be made to feel guilty for paying with a card, and they also don't want to be treated differently because they pay with a card. So, I decided to build the card processing fees into my prices.
I started out adding 3% to my cost-basis and pricing based on that. Now that number is around 4%. Everyone pays it when they buy something from me -- just like everyone pays towards my rent, utilities, labor costs and all other expenses that I have. My products are priced to make a profit every time. Since cash-paying customers also pay a little more, I'm actually making money on those fees because cash-paying customers don't incur processing fees for my business. So, it's a win-win.
In thirteen years, no one has ever asked me for a "discount" for paying with cash. If they did, I wouldn't give them one and wouldn't mind losing that customer because requests like that are entitled and impertinent. I also learned many years ago that by doing what I do, my business has gained a reputation of being honest and upfront. When customers as me what payment method I prefer, I get to tell them confidently that "at Piper's we accept all payments gladly. All we care is that you spend some of your hard-earned money with us, and you'll never hear us complain about how you choose to spend that money." Believe me when I say that always earns me a lot of respect.
Your question can only be answered with "yes, we just have to suck it up," just like we have to suck up all of our expenses. That is the flip side of being in business -- it's hard, it's expensive, it's a challenge every day. The key to making money is to charge a fair price that covers our expenses and also, eventually, makes us money. If you do that consistently, you will eventually make money. Just remember that making a profit doesn't happen immediately. For every business I've ever started and run, it took a few years to start making a solid, consistent profit. That's why being a business owner is not for every person. It takes patience, dedication and the ability to ride it out to start.
My experience tells me that you are asking the wrong question. The fees aren't killing you, any more than your other expenses are killing you. The real question is "what do I need to charge to make a profit sometime in the future?" If you start there, and include your fees in your calculations, eventually it will happen. Fees are just another cost of doing business, period.
Chip A.
Square Expert & Innovator and member of the Square Champions group. (But NOT a Square employee, just a seller like you)
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