Venue hire charging 2.5% for credit card payment

Lgreater mimic on 08/12/2018 - 10:32
Last edited 10/12/2018 - 12:37

Hey guys,

I'm organising some venue hire which comes out to a couple of k. The two payment options are bank transfer and credit card, but the credit card option has a 2.5% surcharge which comes to about $50 extra. I would like to pay by credit card because I'm a good OzBargainer who opens cards for the bonus points, but the charge is a little high.

The ACCC states it's not lawful to charge a surcharge higher than the cost of payment, which is normally around 1% to 1.5%.

Should I ask the venue why the surcharge is so high, or is it possible that the cost of processing a credit card is in fact 2.5%? Any advice on how I should handle this, if at all?

Edit: I should mention that it's a 2k deposit now, another 2k a couple weeks before the hire date, and 1k in a security bond also a couple weeks before the hire date, so the surcharge does add up a bit.

Edit 2: after reading some comments, I'll probably pay by bank transfer anyway, the cost of surcharge isn't worth it, and I'll probably be able to reach the min spend on the card without this anyway.

Edit 3: I may be changing venues for an unrelated reason, so there may be no resolution to this sorry guys! I'll see what the new venue's credit card surcharge is and update this thread accordingly haha

Financial

Comments

  • George Washington on 08/12/2018 - 10:36
    +3

    book another place

    • whooah1979 on 08/12/2018 - 10:46

      2.5% is more than reasonable to cover the cost of the transaction. Pay the $50 on top the $2k and have a great time, or hire venue that one may not like for save $50.

      • George Washington on 08/12/2018 - 10:50
        +1

        but bringing up the fees, just creates an argument. and a bit of a battle. best thing to do is find another place and let it be

      • [Deactivated] on 08/12/2018 - 13:18
        +1

        Yeah, but, "reasonable" is different to "lawful"

        • whooah1979 on 08/12/2018 - 13:27

          Who is to say that 2.5% is unlawful? Not the ACCC, that's for sure.

          • [Deactivated] on 08/12/2018 - 13:41
            +1

            @whooah1979: That depends on their cost of processing credit card payments.

    • greater mimic on 08/12/2018 - 10:53
      +3

      I do really like this place and it is quite affordable compared to similar venues I've looked at. And if a normal surcharge is 1.5%, that means I'm only paying $20 more for the excessive surcharge. I'll much rather pay the $20 than look for another venue.

      • whooah1979 on 08/12/2018 - 11:31
        +7

        You're spending ~$2k. What's another $20 if this is the right venue for the event?

        • greater mimic on 08/12/2018 - 12:43

          Yeah I agree on that statement.

        • MathNerd on 08/12/2018 - 18:20
          +1

          I dunno, the OzBargain level of some people on here is pretty high…

  • payton on 08/12/2018 - 10:43
    +2

    can't hurt to ask and bring up relevant laws

  • foxmulder on 08/12/2018 - 10:57
    +1

    Most likely they have a uniform rate across creist card covering enough for higher Amex fees? Visa and MasterCard should be around 1%. Even 1% fees the benefit of saving that 1% still out weight the benefit of card bonus point.

    • greater mimic on 08/12/2018 - 11:04
      +2

      That's true, it is around 2.5% for AMEX isn't it? I might email saying I'm planning to pay with Visa and ask if the surcharge is lower because of that, and possibly cite ACCC.

      Some rough calcs show that paying it by bank transfer from my offset will cost about $8 in higher interest costs for the month, so you're right it does cost more to pay by card. But if I can get the surcharge low enough I don't think I'll mind paying a few dollars more on card. Something for me to think about though.

  • garetz on 08/12/2018 - 11:02
    +2

    report em to accc, you might lose $50, but they might be fined alot more and that may teach them a lesson.

    • whooah1979 on 08/12/2018 - 11:33
      +1

      report em to accc,

      Perhaps a call from the ACCC, but not a fine.

  • srsparky on 08/12/2018 - 11:03
    -1

    Our surcharge is 2.85%, which is within the laws. It is so high because we don't do too many credit card transactions (business to business).

    Ask them if you are unsure, but it may be valid percentage.

    • greater mimic on 08/12/2018 - 11:17

      That's interesting, thanks for your input. I admit I don't much about credit card processing fees within a business so I don't know what dictates the cost, but I'm guessing it's more than just a percentage paid to visa/MC?

      • srsparky on 08/12/2018 - 11:26

        There are fees by visa/mastercard, and then fees from the bank for providing the service.

        Consumer stuff should be cheaper, simply because of volume.

        • greater mimic on 08/12/2018 - 12:48

          Oh right I see. This place also functions as a cafe and holds workshops, so I imagine they would have a high volume of transactions from that, but maybe the method of processing for venue higher is different?

    • tomsco on 09/12/2018 - 18:48

      Have you looked at stuff like Square? As far as I’m aware, those options cap at 1.9%

  • netjock on 08/12/2018 - 11:11

    Surcharges are only worthwhile if it is less than the value of points. Don't spend just for the sake of getting bonus points. You might as well stock up on woolies gift vouchers to avoid surcharging.

  • Trying2SaveABuck on 08/12/2018 - 12:00

    Pay cash ask for a discount on the GST brah!

  • slknv on 08/12/2018 - 12:02
    +2

    I've got two different EFTPOS machines, and the merchant fees vary quite a bit depending on which machine, which card, and how much value is processed in a month. 2.5% is believable as a merchant fee.

    • greater mimic on 08/12/2018 - 12:45

      That's interesting. This place also functions as a cafe and plant shop, so they would have a highish volume of low value transactions there. Do you think the venue higher would be under different books and therefore the charge is higher?

  • original15 on 08/12/2018 - 12:39
    +1

    OUR wedding venue tried to apply a 4% cc surcharge but we challenged it and there was no fee
    Ask them to drop it

    • greater mimic on 08/12/2018 - 12:47
      +2

      4% is ridiculous, that's fair enough to challenge. I don't know if 2.5% is high enough to be considered too unreasonable. I'll inquire about using visa first and see what they come back with.

      • Baysew on 08/12/2018 - 12:54
        +3

        jKerrigan I would have thought you would have told them that they are dreaming!

  • Davo1111 on 08/12/2018 - 13:59

    https://www.paypal.com/au/webapps/mpp/paypal-seller-fees
    PayPal Here – manual entry 2.9% + $0.30

    https://www.anz.com.au/content/dam/anzcomau/documents/pdf/me…
    2.3% + $10/mo + $5/mo

    It's plausible

  • try2bhelpful on 08/12/2018 - 14:15
    +2

    I would be sticking with the credit card payment; so if the venue shuts down on you then you might have a chance of getting your money back.

    https://www.news.com.au/finance/money/costs/heartbreak-for-c…

    • greater mimic on 10/12/2018 - 12:35

      Didn't even think of this, thanks for the advice.

  • imcjb on 08/12/2018 - 15:53

    I organised venue hire for our Xmas Party and was charged a flat 1% fee for MC/Visa. I didn't bother asking about Amex. The venue did add the surcharge to our bar tab which was nice of them.

  • HeWhoKnows on 09/12/2018 - 11:45
    -3

    Does OP live in Australia?
    My god, everyone is doing this now.
    What sort of post is this????

    • greater mimic on 09/12/2018 - 13:35

      Sorry?

    • Samsungnote10 on 09/12/2018 - 21:41
      +1

      Yeah ive heard that in some countries they do weddings too

      What an absurd phenomenon

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