Taylor Page’s Post

I've had two conversations in the past week about processor fees as a freelancer/business owner. Should you pass along that 2-3% cost for your clients who want to pay with a card or should you just absorb that cost yourself? You'll hear different people give different answers, but I always choose to absorb those costs. And here's why... I like to run my business in a way that I'm treating others how I'd like to be treated as a customer. That's why if I think something isn't fair or right, I won't operate that way. As a customer, I HATE when I get assessed an additional fee because I'm paying in a way that is most convenient to me. I've paid over $2k in these fees so far this year. But I've had to chase zero invoices (outside of some automatic reminders from my invoicing software). The convenience ensures that customers pay more easily and on time. So where does the money to cover those costs come from? Build that into the cost of running your business. There's an argument to be made for transparency pricing, but at the end of the day people don't want to see they're getting charged extra for a convenience. It's an expectation and a higher level of service. So I'd rather just set my pricing and my spending habits, with the idea in mind that I'm going to have to pay that fee. Because it's just the cost of doing business. As a business owner, I've assessed that this cost is a convenience my customers shouldn't have to think about and should be available to them. Do I love it then when someone skirts that and pays directly via a wire/ACH transfer or even a check? Sure! But I'm still going to offer the ability for customers to pay in a way that is most convenient for them. And I won't be charging them an extra fee to do it. I refuse to chase a couple bucks at the expense of making things more difficult or annoying for clients. It's the cost of doing business.