Thank you all for the comments!
I don’t believe there was a single comment indicating they would have a problem with the price difference between cash and card, as long as there was an option to pay cash.
There were some good points about offering a cash discount vs. up-charging for credit cards. For my business, the up-charge would work much better because the payment processor software would automatically calculate it and add it on.
The problem with me offering a 3% discount is that it gets into a lot of calculation and doesn’t really fit into our streamlined checkout.
It may seem kind of strange, if you aren’t used to it, but I we use a lot of “approximations” when we check out customers, for the sake of efficiency and goodwill.
For example, yesterday we were selling Upick tart cherries at $5 per lb. So when a customer comes up with their 1 or 2 gal. buckets (we have both) I pull the liners/bags out of their buckets put them on the scale. Lets say they had two bags of cherries they picked. I weigh each bag individually, one bag weighs 6.28 lbs. and the other bag weighs 5.53. I ignore the hundredths decimal, so that would add to 11.7 lbs. total. At $5 per lb. that would total $58.50 in cherries.
It’s easy enough math, you can just do it in your head (although if I have time I use a calculator because some customers can’t follow the math in their head, and I want them to feel comfortable I’m not ripping them off. They trust the total more if they see I’m using a calculator.)
I pay the sales tax, so there is no sales tax to figure on individual sales.
Not only is it very speedy that way, but it provides goodwill. What I mean is that new customers frequently will put their fruit on the scale and then watch the scale like a hawk, as if they expect me to overcharge them. I’ll generally ask them to read me the weight on the scale. They will call out something like 5.86 lbs. and I say something like, “We’ll round down 5.8 lbs. is that alright?”. Or, “We’ll call it 5.8 lbs. I ignore that hundredths decimal. This ain’t Walmart.”
Most of the time, I can visually see the customer relax. Sometimes they even smile. It reminds them they are not in a supermarket, but on a real farm with a real farmer. I train my help who sometimes help me work the stand to do the same thing. I don’t even use any change smaller than a quarter to give back change for cash sales.
So let’s say a customer is buying peaches or tomatoes (which we charged $3 per lb. for last season). Let’s say the scale showed 8.24 lbs. total, since they are the same price and can be weighed together. I round down to 8.2. The quick math is $24.60 total. I say, “We’ll call it $24.50. I don’t do any coins but quarters.”
Again it’s a goodwill thing, and it makes for a very speedy checkout if I have to do cash. Plus, it just fits my personality.
There are even cases, where if it’s really busy, and I am getting behind and have all my help picking, so I am running the stand by myself, I have customers start weighing their own fruits and just telling me what the scale says, since I have two scales. Then I calculate the dollar amount in my head and tell them what they owe me. Sort of a partial self-checkout I guess. But customers seem happy to do it, because they get checked out faster, and it shows I trust them with the weights.
Anyway that’s kind of the vibe I have at my stand. I try to keep it very down home and country like. No fancy registers. Even the pistol I wear on my hip, although not always visible, sort of reminds most folks they are in the country when they see it.
I hope that sort of explains why I have been concerned about up-charging people who use credit cards. If I put a sign up telling informing customers of the up-charge (and I wouldn’t do the up-charge without informing them) does that take away from the country like atmosphere I work to create?
And, since the the credit card processor only up-charges the customer for the exact fees their particular credit card charges, the up-charge isn’t even a flat fee. It’s anywhere from 2.7 to 3.2%. That further complicates things. I’m not even sure how to explain that on a sign because most people probably don’t even realize there are different transaction fees for different credit cards.
That’s a good point. I’ve had a few people ask if I do Venmo. I haven’t used them yet because so far, young people who come to the orchard either have a card, or have Apple pay, or Google pay. My portable terminal can accept either of those, as well as a card.
Since I already accept cash, check, card, and Apple/Google pay, I’ve been reluctant to add yet another form of payment, unless I start running into customers who don’t have one of the forms of payment mentioned above. But you are right to note that times are always changing.
