Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. Flexible and made to last.

Meet the Other Phone.
Flexible and made to last.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To refuse to shop in places with a minimum card spend?

181 replies

kenchurch · 28/03/2018 18:16

Not sure if I am being unreasonable or not.

It's 2018 and almost everyone used a debit (or credit) card to buy things.
I very rarely carry cash on me.

I point blank refuse to shop anywhere with a minimum total spend to be able to use my card.

Example; I'd fancied a specific type of chocolate all day and had a fairly rubbishy day. Went to shop with £1.05 in change (!). This chocolate is usually £1. It was £1.20, so I went to use my card, but no, minimum £5 spend. So I put the chocolate back, and the guy said he had other types for £1, but instead of giving in and getting one, I just said no thanks and left.

I'm sorry that it costs you to have a card reader etc, but other business also have extra costs associated with the modern age, such as WIFI or other softwares.

It's part of the cost of running a shop so face it and swallow it.

AIBU?

OP posts:
SpringNowPlease2018 · 28/03/2018 18:30

shop wherever you like

it depends whether you care about small businesses I guess. Some people seem to actively prefer that everywhere is a chain, I'm guessing you are one of them.

Schie · 28/03/2018 18:35

Up to you where you shop, I don’t really shop at any cash only shops nowadays as I never really have cash, if there’s a minimum spend depends how badly I want x as to whether I will buy more to bump the price or not bother.

RedHelenB · 28/03/2018 18:41

But if you're charged 2.75% for each transaction then there is no difference in whether a customer spends 1 pound or ten pounds surely? The only way a £1 spend would be less worth it was if there was a flat rate fee.

splendide · 28/03/2018 18:45

I suppose margins are smaller on smaller transactions?

Viviennemary · 28/03/2018 18:49

I think it's quite cheeky to pay by card for a small amount. DH does this sometimes for three or four pounds and I usually tell him off. So it does cost small shops money and time to process these payments so they will have to raise their prices accordingly so other cash paying customers suffer. YABU.

peacheachpearplum · 28/03/2018 18:51

Wow, what a moral victory. You are truly like Joan of Arc. That made me laugh.

FleeBee · 28/03/2018 18:52

Yeah it's 2.75% on a certain amount taken. Once a payment threshold was met it was reduced on a sliding scale depending on how much was taken on the card machine that month.
Anyway I got rid of that provider & now I no longer work for myself

Neverender · 28/03/2018 18:57

Small independent retailers even under so much pressure to financially succeed and often they employ lots of their family. I actively try and use cash as then they don't have transaction charges and get to keep more of the money instead of Lloyds Cardnet skimming some off.

Aeroflotgirl · 28/03/2018 18:58

I would have done the same, I don't want other chocolate, and don't want to spend on what I don't need, so would have walked. If there was a cash machine near, I would have used that, and get cash out. If not, then they don't get my business.

Alabama3 · 28/03/2018 18:58

It was costing me 2.75% per transaction when someone used their card so I did cringe a bit when it was for £1.

But if you're charged 2.75% for each transaction then there is no difference in whether a customer spends 1 pound or ten pounds surely? The only way a £1 spend would be less worth it was if there was a flat rate fee.

this?

blaaake · 28/03/2018 18:59

YANBU I hate carrying cash, generally only have my card and my phone for Apple Pay. I'd have left too, don't see why others think you're unreasonable

Eveforever · 28/03/2018 18:59

You are not being unreasonable for refusing to shop in places with a minimum total spend. It's your money, so you're free to spend it where you choose. You are being unreasonable to expect shops, in particular small shops that are the ones that tend to have these restrictions, to swallow the cost of paying for small transactions. It's their business and they can run it as they choose, normally they do so with the aim of making a profit and therefore a living!

ItsuAddict · 28/03/2018 19:02

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

bruffin · 28/03/2018 19:02

It cost 0.7% to pay cash into the bank, so unless they are tax avoiding it is cheaper to get their money by card. It os on 0 .2% on debit card transactions

HRTpatch · 28/03/2018 19:04

Just pay cash.
God the drama.

splendide · 28/03/2018 19:24

It cost 0.7% to pay cash into the bank, so unless they are tax avoiding it is cheaper to get their money by card. It os on 0 .2% on debit card transactions*

That sounds likely

DieSchottin93 · 28/03/2018 19:53

Never come to my work then, I work in a small independent cafe and we don't even have a card reader Confused I find it really embarrassing having to tell customers we're cash only in this day and age (especially when it's a big table whose bill is £50) but there's nothing I can do about it as the owners have told us it'd be too expensive for them to get a card reader.

I get that's it's annoying, but small businesses don't really have much choice.

SilverySurfer · 28/03/2018 19:54

It's obviously your choice, as it's the choice of the shop not to take a card for such a small amount. You might miss eating the chocolate but I doubt the shop will miss not getting your £1. By the time they pay the charge for using the card system they are better off without your custom.

I don't understand this thing of going out with virtually no cash in your purse.

Ellybellyboo · 28/03/2018 20:02

DH and I run a business and we have a minimum £5 for card transactions.

For very small jobs like that there is very little profit. With the charges we have to pay, if we took card payment then quite often it would end up costing us money to do the job.

Neverender · 28/03/2018 20:06

If they have an ATM then they can recycle the cash and not pay any commission or banking charges. Sorry #shopgeek

Neverender · 28/03/2018 20:06

They will also get commission from the atm

Glumglowworm · 28/03/2018 20:09

You ended up with no chocolate so not sure how that’s a win

You are of course free to shop wherever you wish. However I think we should support small local shops whenever possible unless you’re happy to have high streets made up entirely of tax dodging chains.

The small shops can’t subsidise the cost of tiny card transactions the way giant chains can. Plus small shops will be paying more for their stock because they can’t negotiate the same kind of deals as the supermarkets because they buy far less, so their costs are already higher.

whichwayisitnow · 28/03/2018 20:15

Shops have to pay a fee of around 37p per debit card transaction, so if you pay by card for an item costing a pound it isn't worth the shop selling it to you.

EG if they buy it for 70p and sell it for £1 they are making 30p. Take away the 37p cost of the card transaction and they have actually lost money by selling it to you.

Alabama3 · 28/03/2018 20:37

Shops have to pay a fee of around 37p per debit card transaction, so if you pay by card for an item costing a pound it isn't worth the shop selling it to you.

thanks WhichWay - that makes sense now

worridmum · 28/03/2018 20:41

Yeah and whats worse big chains get better buying power so get discounts because of sheer volume so small businesses are paying more per transaction then big ones.