How is everyone handling square raising prices a few times a year.

[kermat13]

Square announced another price increase for invoice payments this time.  After the increase in Afterpay, and what seems like elimination if Paypal( cause I couldn't find it).  The excuse I got was " square is in lne with competitor's"   that's cool, don't be better, just in line.  My customers don't want yo pay more just cause that other store charges too much.

[PartyManiaMD]

I typically don't see an issue with paying more for Square each year as that's the cost of operating a business increases each year due to inflation anyways. Thus my prices increase, my rent increases, all my vendors increase their prices, etc.

I do dislike the idea of normalizing stuff like afterpay because I feel anything over 2% and change is borderline gouging. Keep in mind that if my prices are increasing every year Square is still seeing an increase in revenue, 6% for afterpay is just insanity and unreasonable. Anyone using it is basically normalizing higher percentages and thus the entire industry could shift to higher % for processing. 

Again, Square is a business and thus their prices should go up slightly each year due to inflation, but there is a point where the value proposition starts to dim and for me that's stuff like paypal and afterpay because they become less price transparent (one of the main reasons I switched to Square was because they're extremely transparent with fees and percentages for processing, adding tons of new percentages starts to make it less transparent.)

[JK_Fiber_Art]

Hi Kermat13,

I agree with @PartyManiaMD.

Just my thoughts of course:

Probably the better question should be "How is everyone handling their price increases and/or business costs on everything throughout the year?"  From my internet access, to materials (fabric, beads, thread, frames, etc.), packaging supplies, reusable bags, getting my sewing machine serviced (which is a major deal these days), business insurance and even my business license, each year my expenses go up.  Not to mention other expenses like electric and trash removal.  Then there's rent (landlords are brutal) or Business HOA dues depending on your situation.  Unfortunately, like any other business, I have to adjust my prices accordingly which gets passed on to our customers.  It's all part of being in business - some owners are creative while others give up - you should see the business turnover in a Mountain Resort Town - it's quite an education.

jk

[PartyManiaMD]

Ugh, you could have just said rent. Rent alone is the biggest issue facing most businesses and increasing each year makes it a huge percentage of a business. I'm actually looking at possibly calling it quits by the end of the year because our landlord is just not working with us. 12 empty commercial retail spaces on our street, tons in the surrounding area. This area is supposedly under heavy construction with new apartment buildings going up in like 4 blocks, but it's still like a ghost town most days with volume at half of what it was pre-covid.

Not sure I'm going to bother going for another year even if I can make it work with my landlord because the stress makes it just not worth it. I'm making less owning a retail store in a "prominent" retail area than I would serving tables.

[Doran]

I agree with both of you.  This year especially everyone seems to raise prices so I had a feeling a few of the Square services would go up too.  My skincare supplies have gone up 3% every year since I signed with them back in 2010 so I'm just kinda of conditioned to expect everyone to raise prices each year.  That obviously forces me to raise prices too.  In the past, I kept longtime clients at their original price for a facial but I couldn't make rent that way and had to do a blanket price increase each Spring. 

This year, I've really price-shopped EVERYTHING I carry and use in my business including Square.  I've switched a few things around to help with costs but ultimately stayed with Square.  I've had them since 2010-ish and my business is so integrated with all their services that switching to someone new would be more hassle than any saved money.  

I suggest doing a deep dive into all your business expenses and see where you can save and improve things.