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Reliable Roof Cleaning Jacksonville FL · Guest

Credit Cards

RCIA Founder

We have a credit card machine in the office.
But for all you guys just starting out, here is what we suggest.
Get a Verified PayPal account.
Your customers can simply use their credit cards on PaY pAL TO SEND YOU THE MONEY

garyw · Nov 6, 2009

cweman wrote:

I did a search for credit card and didn't find a thread on the subject so I decided to start one.

How many of you accept credit cards?
What % of your sales are paid by credit cards?
Do you add a surcharge to cover the cost of offering credit cards?
How do you enter the credit card information?
Do you run the approval before the job or after completion of the job?

Any other information about accepting credit cards would be appreciated.

Thanks.

Charles

If you run the approval AFTER you complete the job, you may get screwed if the card and charges are declined. Better to get approval before hand. There is available wireless terminals that operate of off wi-fi areas. You can also call the card issuer for approval from your cell phone. Protect yourself.

Guest

If you are really worried about it, you can take your credit card machine with you to the job. Just plug it into the customer's phone jack, plug it into the wall and swipe it as usual. It will work just fine that way.

Brian

H2OCleaning · Guest

ive never had a problem just taking checks never had one bounce credit cards just seems like to much hassel

Ohio Roof Cleaning · Guest

The credit card option is just another tool in your toolbox. I don't push it too hard but what is the biggest reason for not getting a job? Money. When they "don't have the money right now", I can at least let them know that we accept credit cards. It has sealed the deal more than once.

H2OCleaning · Guest

since i dont advertise most of my work comes from referel so they have an idea of price before they even call. probably why i havent had that problem yet good info though

Guest

I used my sams club member ship and went thru them, got a wireless credit card swipe machine. I just charge it and take it with me. You can swipe a card or manually put it in. It gives you approval on the spot. Check into it, you will have a percentage for using it, or you can also do the pay pal payment option also.

Pressure Washer Products · Guest

Ghheeezzz! You guys are very resourceful.

It is a great idea to charge something before you attack the job. We found out that is ILLEGAL to charge a surcharge for using a credit card. You can't require a minimum charge either. Charging a fee is 'fine-able' by the credit card companies. All of those gas stations that require you to buy $7-10 worth of goods can actually be hit with some steep fines.

I know it sounds crazy. Read through the information supplied by your merchant account. It is a lot of reading and quite dry. Great bedtime reading.

Credit cards do EAT UP THE MONEY quickly. If you accept credit cards, keep an eye on the fees increasing after you sign up. You have many companies to go with. We use three. PayPal is easy. We use two more merchant accounts through our transition to new bookkeeping and invoicing software. Doesn't google offer something?

Great suggestion on the CC link!

Lori

PowerClean · Guest

Apple Roof Cleaning Tampa FL (813) 655-8777 wrote:

We have a credit card machine in the office.
But for all you guys just starting out, here is what we suggest.
Get a Verified PayPal account.
Your customers can simply use their credit cards on PaY pAL TO SEND YOU THE MONEY

I did that. We can run it from our office too if my network is down. Otherwise, I like to get my money fast so I just punch it in my cell and it's instant.

Some customers actually prefer to use PayPal so we send them a link to our account and it walks them through their purchase.

Chesapeake · Guest

I started accepting them this year. I went through paypal because its simple and there's no monthly charge. I thought accepting credit cards would really be helpful, but I've only had one customer use a card all year.

PowerClean · Guest

Chesapeake wrote:

I started accepting them this year. I went through paypal because its simple and there's no monthly charge. I thought accepting credit cards would really be helpful, but I've only had one customer use a card all year.

More will come in time, so you picked the better option. PayPal is a great place to start if you don't run that many cards. I know guys been in business for 15 years who still don't accept them!

Like I told my friend who owns his own business:

Never make it difficult for a customer to pay you. Not all of us can justify it, but merchants have made it easier for small biz owners like us (for obvious reasons) to accept cards. I got in on it years ago and I've heard some guys have been put through the ringer recently with rates, transaction fees, deposit withholdings etc... but I'm guessing their credit scores were low.

I didn't want to spend $600-$800 on a mobile card swipe, so I use my phone or have them call in for "security" purposes since I don't want to carry their CC info with me.

Mobile Prowash · Guest

Chesapeake wrote:

I started accepting them this year. I went through paypal because its simple and there's no monthly charge. I thought accepting credit cards would really be helpful, but I've only had one customer use a card all year.

Same with me this year only had 1 pay through PayPal with CC all the rest were cash or check.

Guest

I have a credt card machine, but prefer to get paid in checks. They are free to cash and easy to keep track of. I never worry about not getting paid after the job is completed. You just have to trust the customer. And if they dont pay you then take the sorry sob to court.

Reliable Roof Cleaning Jacksonville FL · Guest

I wish I had looked at PayPal before I opened a merchant account. Unless you are getting a good number of credit card sales each month, the fees of a merchant account will become very expensive.

Chris was right (as usual). New companies starting small should go the PayPal route to allow customers to use their credit card.

I'm just glad I was smart enough to not sign a 1 year contract. Mine was setup on a month to month basis. This will be my last month with a merchant account. I opened a PayPal business account and will offer it in the future.

Charles

Roof Cleaning Collegeville PA · Guest

I didn't see any mention of pay pal fees. Is there a % or some kind of sign-up fee?

Reliable Roof Cleaning Jacksonville FL · Guest

Woodytwin

There is no fee to set up a PayPal business account. There are a number of different ways to recieve money via PayPal.

I am going to use the email invoicing method. This allows me to send an invoice to the customer via email. The customer can pay using a credit card or their bank account. PayPal will then charge me a fee of 2.9% + .30 transaction fee. So if I bill $400 and the customer pays via PayPal I will be charged $11.90.

I will only give this option to customers who want to pay with a credit card. If they plan to use their bank account I'll just ask for a check.

Charles

Guest

cweman wrote:

I did a search for credit card and didn't find a thread on the subject so I decided to start one.

How many of you accept credit cards?
What % of your sales are paid by credit cards?
Do you add a surcharge to cover the cost of offering credit cards?
How do you enter the credit card information?
Do you run the approval before the job or after completion of the job?

Any other information about accepting credit cards would be appreciated.

Thanks.

Charles

We use a company called global transport. You can do everything online and you don't need the card either. We have internet on our phones so we can process the card right there. As long as your cleaning contracts are solid it doesn't matter if their card flops, you can still get their money. If interested anyone can message me and I'll get them set up. We cleaned the owners roof a while back so were cool. And the fees don't suck like normal swipe machine companies.

RCIA Founder

Roof Rejuvenators Roof Cleaning Wilmington, NC (888) 366-3051 wrote:

cweman wrote:

I did a search for credit card and didn't find a thread on the subject so I decided to start one.

How many of you accept credit cards?
What % of your sales are paid by credit cards?
Do you add a surcharge to cover the cost of offering credit cards?
How do you enter the credit card information?
Do you run the approval before the job or after completion of the job?

Any other information about accepting credit cards would be appreciated.

Thanks.

Charles

We use a company called global transport. You can do everything online and you don't need the card either. We have internet on our phones so we can process the card right there. As long as your cleaning contracts are solid it doesn't matter if their card flops, you can still get their money. If interested anyone can message me and I'll get them set up. We cleaned the owners roof a while back so were cool. And the fees don't suck like normal swipe machine companies.

Great Post, really good information Roy!

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