[78-L] OFF TOPIC: Convenience Fees

[Darren Ingram]

Hi Kurt.

Well my original note was clear, it (the fees) are an annoyance rather than
a show-stopper. I could no doubt find a lot to "rant about" it but that
wouldn't change anything. Naturally how you run your business and the
contracts you negotiate is down to you. You've found a good niche and are
driving it so far, so I won't be giving you advice from the peanut gallery.
Even if I possibly disagree with elements of your previous justification.

At the end of the day I just factor the "sum total" to my decision-making
process and then decide "is X worth it?". You already have enough on your
plate with the costs of shipping going up for everyone, whether domestic or
international.  You can't control foreign bidders having to pay
eye-watering taxes and fees either upon receipt - adding in our case over a
quarter to the price already paid since the Finnish government happily will
take 24% sales tax on the entire value of a purchase (goods AND shipping)
and enjoy adding a few percentage points for the duty dependent on the
exact nature and classification. Yep, paying tax on the shipping is a real
kick in the guts that many still don't understand.

I can see many reasons why many non-U.S. people might not want to be
involved though, and that has nothing to do with your "strident" opinions.
I'm not offended by them. Their occasional presence is a "quirk" rather
than a "red flag".

Kind regards, Darren



¦ D P Ingram




On 11 August 2014 00:05, Kurt Nauck <nauck at 78rpm.com.invalid> wrote:

>
> 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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