By Rich Osborne, Owner, ALL THINGS RICH at the Waterfront Market @ Ruston
Fifteen years ago, I started taking credit cards. It seemed like a good idea at the time. I engaged a local processor. I bought a card reader to plug into my cell phone, and away I went. Within weeks I started having problems. The server would go down. The network would go offline. The damn thing ran at the dazzling speed of the Rainier Glacier. So I changed companies. Higher cost but lower service. And changed companies again and again, for nine years.
Six years ago, a friend who was getting out of retail sales sold me a used terminal from a large company. They were nice. Organized. Efficient. They offered me a stable rate of 3% of sales. They also offered me a “no-swipe charge” alternative for an additional 0.15%.
I thought “Great!” and went with it. Things were good for four years.
Then one day, in early 2025, I checked my statement and there were those damn swipe charges. I called them, pointing out that we had a contract. I was told that they had “Sunset That Program” in late 2024, sending me a bulletin in my statement, couched in incomprehensible, illegible legalese.
When I asked about my 0.15% added charge, they explained that 3% was a “Special Introductory Rate.” I was then handed off to Chad, my “Customer Relations Expert,” for the most insulting conversation of my life. Chad (possibly AI) explained to me how to add the swipe charge to my customer’s bill. He/it told me, “It doesn’t affect your bottom line. It’s only 15 cents. Customers don’t care about 15 cents.”
I thanked him for explaining how gravity works and hung up. I then called the other four large credit card processing companies. It turns out that they are all playing the same grift, screwing over the customers while forcing the merchants to do their dirty work for them.
I thought about it and remembered what I have been reading about this issue in, among other sources, “The Vashon Loop.” I concluded that my customers are not idiots, can do math, and understand that $0.15 times a thousand purchases a year adds up to $150, enough to take one’s partner out to a nice dinner at a nice restaurant, even at today’s prices. So, I tried my own idea.
I started my “Cash is Queen” program. I posted the following note at my ALL THINGS RICH booth at the Waterfront Market @ Ruston.
Cash is Queen
Our credit card processing company recently added a “transaction fee.” Please use cash if you have it. This will keep our prices where they are, not passing credit charges through to you. Thanks, Rich
Then I watched. Over the next six months, my percentage of cash sales doubled.
This 3% reduction in charges more than covers the swipe charge for people who don’t carry cash. So I am saving money. My customers appreciate saving the swipe charge. They appreciate that I am looking out for their interests. Customer loyalty is a real thing. The only loser is the processing company. And I’m okay with that.
