[78-L] OFF TOPIC: Convenience Fees

[Kurt Nauck]

You needn't remember - the charge is always detailed on the invoice 
so there are no surprises.

At 09:07 PM 8/10/2014, you wrote:

>If I ever spend more than $100, I'll have to remember to pay by check.
>
>Ron L
>
>-----Original Message-----
>From: 78-l-bounces at klickitat.78online.com
>[mailto:78-l-bounces at klickitat.78online.com] On Behalf Of Kurt Nauck
>Sent: Sunday, August 10, 2014 5:06 PM
>To: 78-L Mail List
>Subject: [78-L] OFF TOPIC: Convenience Fees
>
>
>Hey there Darren
>
>Just a couple of comments regarding your posts. So that others will
>understand what your comments referred to, the "Convenience Fee" is a charge
>we add to a purchase that is paid for by credit card or Paypal to cover the
>fees assessed by the card processor on our end. (We do not charge any fee to
>persons spending under $100.)
>
>In days of old, people would send checks to cover their wins and purchases,
>which we would then deposit into our bank account. Simple, straightforward
>and no charges involved. But as time went by, more and more people began
>paying by cc or pp. For a long time we absorbed those charges, but it
>finally reached a point at which we could no longer do so.
>
>Now most companies build these sorts of charges into the price structure of
>their product; however, we sell mainly by auction so that is not possible.
>(Which is why most auction houses also charge for payment by these methods.)
>The only way we could build this in would be to add it to the shipping and
>packing charges, which would have been a reasonable solution. However, I
>didn't wish to penalize bidders who preferred to pay by check.
>
>So the fairest method - as it always is - was to give customers a choice.
>Send me cash or check with no fee, or pay the fee to use a cc or pp. To me
>it makes no difference, because the fee is not profit generating; it only
>covers processing costs. (By the way, processing foreign transactions such
>as yours is much more expensive than US
>transactions.)
>
>Like you, I agree that the phrase "Convenience Fee" is annoying.
>However, there is (or was) a legal reason for that terminology. My processor
>wouldn't allow me to simply say something like "add 3-5% to your order if
>paying by cc." These companies fought long and hard to prevent businesses
>from steering customers away from using plastic.
>But if a vendor established a rate schedule (not a percentage) and called it
>a "Convenience Fee," then it was allowed. So that's what I had to do to
>remain in compliance.
>
>This has now changed, and I can use a percentage and call it what I like.
>And perhaps eventually I will, but I have more important things to attend to
>at the moment. Once I've created a process, it is difficult (for many
>different reasons) to change it.
>
>I trust that this sheds more light on our decision-making process. I spend
>many hours and a great deal of thought on how to better serve our customers
>and keep their costs down. Those efforts brought you things like a bidding
>protocol that awards you records at 10% over the next highest bidder (or for
>the MB amount if you are the only bidder), and much lower shipping costs for
>foreign customers. These savings more than compensate for a voluntary
>payment fee.
>
>Thanks for all your past business, and for being such a good and loyal
>customer!
>
>Kurt Nauck
>c/o Nauck's Vintage Records & Texas Ready
>22004 Sherrod Ln.
>Spring, Texas  77389
>
>www.78rpm.com  |  www.TexasReady.net
>www.MDADA.org  |  www.NewPledge.org
>
>E-Mail: nauck at 78rpm.com
>Phone: (281) 288-7826  |  Fax: (425) 930-6862
>
>
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Kurt Nauck
c/o Nauck's Vintage Records & Texas Ready
22004 Sherrod Ln.
Spring, Texas  77389

www.78rpm.com  |  www.TexasReady.net
www.MDADA.org  |  www.NewPledge.org

E-Mail: nauck at 78rpm.com
Phone: (281) 288-7826  |  Fax: (425) 930-6862