To those of you who have made the move to accept credit cards, do you feel that it has increased the amount of money your clients are willing to spend on packages significantly? Obviously, the fees associated with credit card transactions for a business with low transaction volume are not insignificant (typically around 2%), so accepting credit cards must improve one's sales figures in order to be worthwhile. What are your experiences?
i cannot say if it has in fact increased my clients spending, but it definitely looks more professional then sending them a Paypal link...IMHO. also...not sure the rules now, but Paypal would only allow up to $2000 on a single transaction...so as my pricing was increasing this wasn't enough for the initial deposit...so it became a real pain the ass to split up deposits just to get my initial retainer. now what ever the amount it's no problem.
if a client is spending $4000, $5000, $7000 sometimes $10,000+ you better take Visa, Mastercard, Amex and not have to send them to Paypal.
Just for some insight, about two weeks after I made that thread I signed up for credit card processing. I took the time to integrate it into my order forms and contracts, making it very clear that credit cards were an accepted payment method. I would also verbally bring it up during my meetings with clients.
Results? In the 7 weddings I've closed out and the 9 weddings I've booked in the last three months, I've only gotten one person to utilize the service. A girl who booked me for a wedding next year used her CC for the deposit. All of the rest of my sales (albums, books, etc) have been made with cash or check.
Now in full disclosure, my post weddings sales are pretty miserable. It seems like once people purchase the initial wedding package they just don't buy anything else - period. No matter how hard I try to up-sale and make additional profit after the wedding, it just has not come to fruitation. My initial thought was that by offering CC processing, I could get more post wedding sales going. This has not been the case at all.
Not offering credit card option is like saying "No" to money. More options always means more flood gates for the cash flow.
-Consumers do spend more statistically when using plastic.
-Consumers have incentives on the back-end from the CC via cash back rewards, miles, points, etc
-Credit card transaction fees should be built into pricing.
-Credit allows clients with less cash in the bank to finance their packages, hence spending 'more' than original budget.
I prefer Google Checkout at this time. No limits. No issues. Clients appreciate the online secure transactions.
The problem you can have with CC is client's cancellation. If they decide to cancel your services, they can very well go to Visa/MC and do a chargeback. I've heard that before and you don't always win. The issue is that you did not provide any services yet and since nothing was delivered to your client, CC feel as your clients should have their money. That's the only reason I am staying away for now.
We get about 50/50 people using credit cards vs not. Some notes on our experience:
- When parents are paying, it's more commonly check.
- When bride/groom are paying, it's more commonly credit cards.
- Smaller shoots, such as senior portraits, are most commonly credit cards with a mix of checks and cash for the rest
- No indication that not accepting credit cards would have any bearing on bookings of weddings or not
We have never had a chargeback to date, and we keep good enough records to contest one well should it ever come up. Our merchant accounts are tied into our online print ordering, and in the future I would like to provide the capacity to issue invoices and collect on them through our site as well.
I have iSwipe on my iPod Touch for remote transactions if needed. It ties into our Authorize.net account. Be wary of most of those types of products though — many try to sell you the processing service with the app. This one does not.
Evan Baines wrote:
Obviously, the fees associated with credit card transactions for a business with low transaction volume are not insignificant (typically around 2%)
I believe you're a PPA member? One of their member benefits is credit card processing, and they have a rate of 1.55% + $0.20 for card present transactions. Card-not-present transactions tend to run 2.2-3.1% depending on card type, volume, and how will your CCV and AVS data validates.
Not offering credit card option is like saying "No" to money. More options always means more flood gates for the cash flow.
-Consumers do spend more statistically when using plastic.
-Consumers have incentives on the back-end from the CC via cash back rewards, miles, points, etc
-Credit card transaction fees should be built into pricing.
-Credit allows clients with less cash in the bank to finance their packages, hence spending 'more' than original budget.
I prefer Google Checkout at this time. No limits. No issues. Clients appreciate the online secure transactions.
/asim
+1
Convenience and options, that's what it's all about.
YES! Our clients spend WAY more through CC. Most of our clients keep a card on file with us and just tell us to charge it when they want something. I can't imagine why you wouldn't want to accept CC.
Our experience has been the same as TRR. Many of our clients keep credit cards on file with us as well and have us run it when the next payment is due...so much easier. In terms of the couple coming up with the deposit, I believe that in a few instances accepting credit cards has has allowed our couples to go with a larger package than they may have ordinarily if they were faced with writing a check for that large of an amount.
I do a lot of Dance Studios, Dance Competitions, Little League and Private schools. I accept credit card on location with my wireless terminal, but when it comes to wedding I take check for deposit and they can pay with CC for the balance. My customers spend more money when they use CC.
Without a doubt, credit card acceptance is huge. I paid my whole wedding on a credit card so I could get the miles for a second vacation. I encourage all my brides to do the same.
It's part of doing business, I think its essential to accept credit cards. If clients want to pay, make it as easy as possible for them to fork out the dough.
I would HIGLY recommend using Authorize.net. It's the most widely accepted platform for developers (even ShootQ) to link online shopping carts with your merchant account.
Also, if you want a guy that will take care of you forever and ever, talk with Chuck Shultz at Midwest Transaction Group (with whom the PPA is affiliated). He's the bomb. I pay a $5 a month fee for the Authorize.net account, no other fees except the 2.2% transactions (which is my average).
And for iPhone, there is a FREE iPhone CC app that uses Authorize.net, called Transactions Lite. They have a paid version and a free version. The free version only allows 2 transactions every 12 hrs, so its perfect for me.
Yes! Client I booked on Wednesday jumped for joy at the option of paying with her cards to get points out of it. She even paid in full! I've been booking higher packages since I started accepting them....or it could have just been serendipitous. But I think it does have to do with me accepting cards.
