TOPIC: C/C discussion

Fee's are as follows:

Set up fee $100
Hosting fee $5/mth
authorization fee per item $0.35

Those were the main fee's, there are others, but some don't apply because we wouldn't use those features.

I also checked the fee's against my banks rates.  The setup fee was more here, but the monthly, and per transaction fee's were more with my bank.

I look at it like this, if you ever get a job that the only way they can pay is by c/c, you just paid for the service.  So far, all my jobs have paid by c/c since I started accepting them.

You also get tagged with a fee for the type of card; roughly about 2%.  I haven't increased the charge for the card but I have thought about passing the known fee to the client for using it.

Greg

You also get tagged with a fee for the type of card; roughly about 2%.  I haven't increased the charge for the card but I have thought about passing the known fee to the client for using it.

Greg

I wouldn't increase fees for using c/c's.  In my opinion that would make for negative feelings about your company.  That's the worst thing you can do to yourself in this industry!!!  Its only $5 per inspection (approx).  If you truly want to do something to make up for the loss, increase your rates across the board so everyone pays for it rather than just people who want to use c/c's.

You also get tagged with a fee for the type of card; roughly about 2%.  I haven't increased the charge for the card but I have thought about passing the known fee to the client for using it.

Greg

I wouldn't increase fees for using c/c's.  In my opinion that would make for negative feelings about your company.  That's the worst thing you can do to yourself in this industry!!!  Its only $5 per inspection (approx).  If you truly want to do something to make up for the loss, increase your rates across the board so everyone pays for it rather than just people who want to use c/c's.

Good call John.  That's exactly why I haven't charged the fee to the client--I did raise rates.  I had a "Summer Stimulus Price" July and August.  All houses were $280 regardless if they were old, had a crawl space, were huge, etc... I went up to $335 for the basic home inspection though some are lower (military and my neighborhood).  Now I'm working on my time at inspection and report time.  I may get to a point where I can print on site (if the business is that vast), but for now I'm "practicing makes perfect" my process.  By the way, no squawks about pricing--I'm middle road to slightly cheaper than middle road but quality is top-notch (IMHO).
Greg

I definitely need the practice makes perfect thing.  I did my inspections Thursday and it took me 3 hours for a house that was 1100SQFT.  That was the longest inspection for the size I've done.  Problem was I got to a slow start, trying to explain things to the buyer about the outside.  Everything sped up when I hit the roof. 

I also gave her a notepad and told her to write anything down she wanted to remember to ask me or for me to address.

Its illegal to charge more for people using cc cards. You csn though increase across the board and give a discount to someone paying cash.

Think of it this way. Like John mentioned (I'll add the math) If that credit card logo on your website gets you ONE inspection for your $300 you have covered the startup fee and the monthly fee for more than THREE years! It took 8 months to negotiate this deal. It kicks the pants off paypals 2.9-3.9% especially if you're paying $30 a month for their virtual terminal (which you get free). Plus I've set it up so you can process on an internet capable phone and it will soon be integrated into the report upload proecess (pay before view).