Rebates or rewards of various kinds such as cash, tickets etc are forms of advertising not unlike an add in he paper. I use credit cards for most everything and pay the balances monthly. We also use membership cards to places like Safeway that offer discounts. I probably got $700 in cash from credit cards last year, Safeway gives 3 cents off on a gallon of gas plus if I use an americaan express card I get 3 cents per dollar back from amex. So that is 15 cents at even $2.00 a gallon.
Seems to make good sense to me.
And here is a semi safety tip: I used about $900 in fuel going from texas to Oregon last spring. I don't feel good carrying around over $1000 to pay for fuel. I feel much better with peices of plastic.
Mac USAF retired
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The merchant pays for the benefits directly which means the consumer pays for them indirectly. While the person who pays his charges in full monthly thinks they are "getting by with something", they simply are paying more for what they buy. Merchants are now actually charged surcharges when accepting credit cards with premiums.
JALLEN4 wrote: The merchant pays for the benefits directly which means the consumer pays for them indirectly. While the person who pays his charges in full monthly thinks they are "getting by with something", they simply are paying more for what they buy. Merchants are now actually charged surcharges when accepting credit cards with premiums.
Maybe I missed something here, unless you get a cash discount, you pay the same price wheather using a Credit Card or by Cash. It is true that merchants charge a fee for using a card but if you get that fee back or part of it then where did you pay. I follow prices pretty good and most of the stations (gas) here charge the same Credit Card or Cash. Merchants do give up some of their %(percentage) when U use the Rewards Card but they have the paying customer and the advantage of the money going straight to their account., no keeping up with deposit slips and the chance of Robbery...So in my opinion they they still have and advantage...
A friend of mine used to own a comedy club. As a merchant, he preferred that his customers used a credit card instead of cash because:
1) the less cash he has on hand the lower the loss in a robbery or burglary or employee theft
2) he got really nice reports showing how often each credit card customer came in, how often, how much they spend, what day of the week did they usually come in. He used this information to structure his marketing plan.
As I recall, he was paying 3 percent of the charges. But, he saved money in his marketing, because the cost of getting these reports any other way was high. So the 3 percent fee is actually saving the merchant money when compared to the alternative.
A merchant that never does marketing and never does data mining has no use for these reports.
A different merchant would be able to use these reports to determine what types of products you buy. If you never buy any golf supplies then it would be a waste of paper and postage to mail you the flyer for the two day golf sale.
Form many, but perhaps not all, merchants, the 3 percent fee represents value added.
Wayne in San Jose
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JALLEN4 wrote: The merchant pays for the benefits directly which means the consumer pays for them indirectly. While the person who pays his charges in full monthly thinks they are "getting by with something", they simply are paying more for what they buy...
Everyone pays the same price cash or credit card at all the retailers that I shop at. Retailers for the most part have found that the percentage they have to pay is well worth it. Customers with credit cards make impulse purchases that many cash customers will not and cannot make. The overall sales figures increase substantially when a retailer accepts credit cards. That makes it a good deal for the retailer.
I have considered starting to use primarily cash in order to find out if I actually spend less over the course of a month. We often don't think of using the card the same way as if we have to count out the money. Statistically people using credit cards spend more.
Tim
"Okay, I admit it, the only thing I'm really good at is being me."
JALLEN4 wrote: The merchant pays for the benefits directly which means the consumer pays for them indirectly. While the person who pays his charges in full monthly thinks they are "getting by with something", they simply are paying more for what they buy...
Everyone pays the same price cash or credit card at all the retailers that I shop at. Retailers for the most part have found that the percentage they have to pay is well worth it. Customers with credit cards make impulse purchases that many cash customers will not and cannot make. The overall sales figures increase substantially when a retailer accepts credit cards. That makes it a good deal for the retailer.
I have considered starting to use primarily cash in order to find out if I actually spend less over the course of a month. We often don't think of using the card the same way as if we have to count out the money. Statistically people using credit cards spend more.
It does require control, I have not carried a balance on a CC in more than 20yrs. and we must have 8or10 Cards, some with very large limits, Its kinda like the mortgage, you have to know what you can afford to pay over all, not just this month, once U have Control of your spending U will not have a problem paying off your CC each Month, and a good rule of thumb is to look at what it cost you over a period of time vs a standard loan, if you need credit...
I have considered starting to use primarily cash in order to find out if I actually spend less over the course of a month...
It does require control...you have to know what you can afford to pay over all...once U have Control of your spending U will not have a problem paying off your CC each Month...
I think you misunderstand my point. I am debt free and have no problem paying the balance in full every month. The point is that statistically people spend more money when using a credit card. You know, all those impulse purchases that you could easily have done without. If you only have enough cash in your pocket for hamburger you won't be tempted to buy that T-bone. If you are using a credit card you won't even think about it.
Since this is an RV forum, I completed a couple of projects on my trailer this past weekend and am going camping this coming weekend. Yeah! Even gas prices have been dropping, regular is $2.699 here locally.
I think there is a lot of "strange information" out there about credit cards.
Indeed merchants pay a fee to accept cards. Credit cards accrue one fee, atm/debit cards another. BUT the acceptance of either is a marketing issue. If you pay no fee to hold a given card you pay no more on a transaction than a cash customer. Many cards use rebates or rewards to get folks to use a given card, again marketing. If you read ads weekly and buy from the best deal it's about like using the card with the best deal. If merchant "a" charges $1.00 for a widget and merchant "B" charges $.95 and paid the same for the widget then merchant "b" invested $.05 in marketing. Not so unlike the charge paid to allow customers to use a card.
You will find very few merchants that do not accept credit cards, again it's marketing.
macira wrote: Rebates or rewards of various kinds such as cash, tickets etc are forms of advertising not unlike an add in he paper. I use credit cards for most everything and pay the balances monthly. We also use membership cards to places like Safeway that offer discounts. I probably got $700 in cash from credit cards last year, Safeway gives 3 cents off on a gallon of gas plus if I use an americaan express card I get 3 cents per dollar back from amex. So that is 15 cents at even $2.00 a gallon.
Seems to make good sense to me.
And here is a semi safety tip: I used about $900 in fuel going from texas to Oregon last spring. I don't feel good carrying around over $1000 to pay for fuel. I feel much better with pieces of plastic.
Are you aware even with a Safeway discount of .03 cents, you may be paying more than at the closest ARCO station. ARCO does not import oil, so their prices are almost always the lowest. Ive at times paid .05 - .10 cents less per gallon at ARCO, than at Safeway. Resulting in a greater cents per gallon savings. If you shop in Safeway, and build up your card they give a greater discount.
BUT Supercenters grocery prices are quite a bit lower than Safeway. Many have pumps and _also_ give .03 off on gas. Fred Meyer stores start with cheaper gas price than Safeway, and give you a discount also.
Many SAM's stores also have lower gas prices.
For those with a GPS or DeLorme & MS Street Maps, the Icons at this link: Discovery Lists
They make it very easy to find Murphy's, Walmarts, Supercenter Fuel, Sam's Fuel, and the truck stop stations or any you wish to download. We have all the Campgrounds also, it makes it easy to look at the map, and pick our your route, with the places you want to stop.
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