I can think of a few reasons to take cc's IF I had a bar (which I don't) and a few reasons NOT to take them
pros: you of course get a lot more business, then again, if you cant pay cash for drinks you probably shouldn't be drinking , but the owner of a bar is not a nanny or financial advisor
con: chargeback liability.....specially if you get lots of customers from abroad
pro: you don't carry a lot of cash in the store (which is also king for the thieves)
con: you have to be pretty 'religious' with your taxes
pro: less likely for you to 'spend' money that you should pay in taxes (As the cc company withholds a % of that)
con: you risk having employees that try sneaky things with the cc's of your customers
bottom line: I don't use my cc at a bar or gas station (I sometimes do at the shell stations that have the wireless machine) ........and I never pay attention to the interest rates on my cards because I pay the balance each month
pros: you of course get a lot more business, then again, if you cant pay cash for drinks you probably shouldn't be drinking , but the owner of a bar is not a nanny or financial advisor
con: chargeback liability.....specially if you get lots of customers from abroad
pro: you don't carry a lot of cash in the store (which is also king for the thieves)
con: you have to be pretty 'religious' with your taxes
pro: less likely for you to 'spend' money that you should pay in taxes (As the cc company withholds a % of that)
con: you risk having employees that try sneaky things with the cc's of your customers
bottom line: I don't use my cc at a bar or gas station (I sometimes do at the shell stations that have the wireless machine) ........and I never pay attention to the interest rates on my cards because I pay the balance each month
Yeah I've seen his business, I had to walk 500 meters to find a working ATM.
No interest on debit cards, and no interest on credit cards if you pay the balance off every month.
TOT isn't willing to pay merchant fees of 8% on my bill (let's say it was c10,000, so c800 = $1.60), and would rather I walk to an ATM (and probably pay a $2 ATM fee) myself?
Bad business decision. Raise the prices by 8% and offer a 10% discount for cash, if you want to; but cash also has its own overhead.
Tell me, what sportsbook is going to refuse to accept a payment method their customers want to use to deposit, only because the fees are a few percent higher?
The sandwiches and drinks might be good, but not that much better than TGIF or Tony Romas.
Of course Sandwich Guys has probably never run a business before. GL.
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How many Ticos or for that matter Americans, pay their credit card off every month?
How is that 18 dollar burger and 23 dollar potatoe skins at TGIF?
Tell me how that service is at Tony Romas...although there are a few good servers...
And those guys at TOT have run a sucessful business before they came to Costa Rica...
And how about the excess surcharges on your restaurant bills? None on the TOT tab....
Business is good at TOT...so good that they gave away my VIP parking space...and you really don't want to compare the quality of food there with any of your lunch spots...
How is that 18 dollar burger and 23 dollar potatoe skins at TGIF?
Tell me how that service is at Tony Romas...although there are a few good servers...
And those guys at TOT have run a sucessful business before they came to Costa Rica...
And how about the excess surcharges on your restaurant bills? None on the TOT tab....
Business is good at TOT...so good that they gave away my VIP parking space...and you really don't want to compare the quality of food there with any of your lunch spots...
I only use a card at one place in Costa Rica (when I golf at valle del sol, apparantly they don't take cash). Otherwise for the last 4 years it's been cash-only, no matter where I'm going or what I'm buying.
That being said, it is a pretty bad business decision to not accept cards, and the only reason in the most cases is the business owner is too cheap to pay credomatics ridiculous merchant fees.
That being said, it is a pretty bad business decision to not accept cards, and the only reason in the most cases is the business owner is too cheap to pay credomatics ridiculous merchant fees.
The new "Weekends by Friday's" (TGIF??) in Heredia is pretty good. Didn't try the potato skins, but they were ~c4500.
fuzebox is right re: credit card acceptance. Rationalize all you want (credit cards are bad for people, food is better, etc) it's strictly an accounting question -- what % of sales do you lose... (whether someone didn't buy a fifth beer because they ran out of cash, or whether someone went to find a bank ATM and didn't come back).
It's cheap. I pay for convenience. Put a 10% surcharge on credit card bills if you desire, but trying to rationalize the decision as being better for your customers is stupid.
fuzebox is right re: credit card acceptance. Rationalize all you want (credit cards are bad for people, food is better, etc) it's strictly an accounting question -- what % of sales do you lose... (whether someone didn't buy a fifth beer because they ran out of cash, or whether someone went to find a bank ATM and didn't come back).
It's cheap. I pay for convenience. Put a 10% surcharge on credit card bills if you desire, but trying to rationalize the decision as being better for your customers is stupid.
