As I’m sure most people would, I almost just hit Checkout but happened to see the text below. I am also sure I would have caught/removed it from the check-out page but maybe not. I did complete my order without ‘package protection’ but am sending an email and probably won’t order again unless their response is acceptable.
Edit: I’ll probably send the email after I get shipping confirmation :)
Its not your until it is received, what is package protection?
Essentially a bunch of retailers decided they don’t want to absorb “the costs of doing business” anymore so they now charge $1-5 fees to cover when they have to replace a package that is damaged or lost in shipping. They sell it as “package insurance” but it’s once again consumers getting shafted to offset what was typically seen as a potential liability in running a business based around shipping. As a bonus if you don’t pay their extortion and your package is lost or damaged they will tell you to go fuck yourself
See also: merchants charging a ~3% fee if you use a credit card because similarly covering the cost of a payment processor is increasingly becoming a cost that is not absorbed. Even with medical practices!
The Credit Card fee makes sense if they accept non-card payments. If they just build the 3% into all prices, then they’re effectively collecting the fee for people who pay via other means as well.
In the US at least, this is why you use a credit card. If your package gets lost in transit and the merchant refuses to remedy the issue, that’s a easy dispute for merchandise not received. It doesn’t matter what the merchant tells you, it’s their responsibility to ensure the merchandise arrives.
That being said, every shipping protection scheme I’ve personally seen is billed as a convenience feature - “less hassle”.
And then the 3% surcharge is tacked on
At least this is easy to understand, though. Credit card processor charges us X% so we’re passing that on. We used to eat it or fold it into business costs, but with the economy doing it’s slow-death we can’t anymore.
What really gets me, especially with large purchases like a medical bill or a transmission replacement for example is that 3 or more % quickly becomes advantageous for the processor. On a $10,000 that 3% becomes $300, and it did not get $297 more expensive to wiggle some bits around over a $100 payment’s $3. Then, some businesses decide that the best way to offset that cost is something akin to an ACH transfer…just hand over your bank account information and don’t worry about it!
Yea, this is a conversation I’ve had with plenty of small businesses owners now. There was this mom and pop sandwich shop that was used to a bunch of blue collar workers and day laborers paying in cash. Their clientele shifted once big companies started moving in and a lot of people are paying with card. Then over the years the percent of card purchases climbs to 90%. People are coming in for a coffee and they’re paying in card so they eventually come up with a card minimum and everyone gets upset because they don’t carry cash so they stop going. I guess people are averse to using their debit cards due to fraud. They then just tack on a card fee instead and that’s that. I appreciate that approach because then people can still make a choice and it’s not raising prices across the board.
I mostly do B2B stuff now and ACH is pretty standard, though I still have some using checks.
Definitely and the processor makes sure the floor is covered; my processor has 2.7%+ 15 cents per transaction to ensure they make a minimum amount per transaction, but there is no ceiling with any processor that I’m aware of
What’s also interesting is that with most processors the fee varies for in person and online with online being notably higher (1.5 vs 2.7% with mine). I suppose because online transactions are more likely to be fraudulent or something but ultimately the processing of the payment shouldn’t change between the settings
I eat the fee fwiw
Nobody’s in business to lose money.
I can see that. I’ve been lucky enough to only see two cases of stolen card numbers, and in both cases there was a small purchase (to verify the number), and then largish purchases I guess to see if merchandise can get delivered before the fraud is noticed. I wonder if they write off on their taxes the fees on those largish, fraudulent purchases they catch.
I guess with the costs of running all the servers to look for fraud, security on the whole works, hot backups, cold backups, etc, that 3% doesn’t look so bad for all that goes on behind the scenes, but it also doesn’t look like their stock prices are hurting (what the heck happened to Fiserv that owns Clover that they dropped 50%?).
Do you also take American Express? Is there any difference on your end between Visa/Mastercard/AMEX? I’m genuinely curious since I remember all the old commercials.
Gloves for using the bathroom after handling their products.