chiyo - 1:21 pm on Jan 18, 2003 (gmt 0)

OK brendan you were only joking about AMEX users.. No problem.

>>If someone came to me and said they would only pay me if they could do it on AMEX I would say ok fine and add a 5% surcharge then I have no problem accepting it.<<

That's illegal in most countries, though its a common practice...

>>If a merchant is stupid enough to pay AMEX 4% of their sale value<<

So, Brett Tabke is stupid (see top right of page), and millions of merchants worldwide?

Or maybe they know something you dont?

I do agree with you that the comm is high, and i know many merchants who complain from my local resturant to hotels and such. When the new cards came on line 20/35 years again that was their "killer" advantage to users. However for some reason many people do offer AMEX, and I often have to make my decisions on what hotels or restuarants or web sites to frequent/give money to based on whether they off AMEX payment or not.

So you wouldnt get my money, and i wouldnt pay your 5%, especially as you just added a 3 to 4% percent for yourself compared to visa/mc/diners users, and i wouldnt think of using your service again. I would get the feeling you were a shark.

"stupid" is not a great word i think.

When you are the only shop in town you can charge what you like with whatever method you like.

But if you're not, you need to come to a measured decision based on how much custom you lose, vs how much margins you lose. Based on your product and service i would say, and just good business.