False/Dishonest Advertising

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Groundhog34

New member
The following is copy from Discount Gun of Ringgold GA on gunbroker:

This is a credit card only auction, it is really a fixed priced sale, -Visa, MC or Discover only. Must add 3% for credit cards. No checks, money orders, or certified checks. Don't even ask.

Is this false or dishonest advertising to have an auction then add 3% to price WITHOUT any other option. In other words the final price of the auction will be increased by 3%. Why not just build it into the minimum price. Am I the only person thats finds this sleazy?

Anyone with experience with the seller?
 
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NoSecondBest

New member
If they tell you up front about it, what's the dishonest part of it? You simply don't like the sellers terms. You don't have to buy from him. Nothing dishonest about it. He's not lying.
 
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Groundhog34

New member
The dishonest part of it is that the added 3% is UNAVOIDABLE and one must read the fine print to discover the upcharge. I have no problem with an upcharge for credit cards if there are other ways to pay which do not have an upcharge.
 
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FITASC

New member
The buyer sets the selling price. You, as the buyer have the choice - to buy it from them or not. If enough folks do not buy something, a seller will need to lower his asking price to move the inventory. As others said - they are up-front about their terms.
 
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zipspyder

Moderator
From what I was told profit margins on guns sold are so slim they need to charge that little extra and or are not willing to cut them down even 3% or so more. It's gotten to the point that FFL holders are just as happy doing gun transfers for $20+ than actual sales. I don't agree with it but it's not dishonest.
 
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lamarw

New member
The truth is when you buy from anywhere that accepts credit cards like your grocery stores, gas stations or any other business, you are paying extra for credit cards even if you pay cash. Business has to wrap all cost into their overhead and add it to the price. Credit cards cost them so it ends up costing all of us. The only people making money is the banks. For the rest of us, we are paying for the convenience of credit cards and it is approximately 3%.

Therefore, I would rather have a seller tell me he is discounting for cash prices. This seller is simply telling us up front what is happening to us everyday in the real world with a hidden cost. As others have said, you can choose to buy from there or not.
 
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ballardw

New member
If you offer to go in person and pay cash, then you may some claim.
Note that US bills have "This note is legal tender for all debts public and private" on them.
Refusal to take said bills is could well be an issue if someone wants to push it.
 
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FITASC

New member
If you offer to go in person and pay cash, then you may some claim.
Note that US bills have "This note is legal tender for all debts public and private" on them.
Refusal to take said bills is could well be an issue if someone wants to push it.
Click to expand...

And yet, on the toll roads in many places, they no longer accept cash, only the electronic "passes".....and that's the government....
 
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jmr40

New member
Lots of places refuse to take cash anymore. With all the counterfeit money it is a good reason. And depending on the business it is less costly for them to get hit with the 3% the CC companies charge than to deal with cash. You have to pay someone to count it and make the bank deposit. Which involves a real risk of robbery or dishonest employees embezzling it. Strong arm robberies don't happen at places where there is little or no cash.
 
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Unclenick

Staff
There's nothing wrong with it since he's basically spelled out that everything will have a 3% tax put on it to pay the banks. It's no different than a restaurant putting a minimum gratuity on on their bills, as some do, particularly for large groups.

I have a credit card that gives me 2% cash back on everything I buy. That money came from the price I paid. Regular merchants build that cost in by raising their prices to include it. But an auctioneer isn't in charge of final price, the bidders are, so he doesn't know what the credit card company will take from him and he doesn't want to pay it out of his own percentage. Really can't blame him for that, that I can see.
 
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Aguila Blanca

Staff
It's another example of "creeping incrementalism." When credit cards first came out and "the industry" was pushing to get people to use credit cards more, the banks' terms of service used to prohibit merchants from charging more for the use of credit cards -- obviously, from the banks' perspective, this slowed down the move toward wider use of credit cards. So the merchants got around that by not charging a 3% fee for the use of credit cards, but by offering a 3% "discount" for the use of cash.

Now that so many people use plastic and so few people use cash (or checks -- anybody remember those?), I don't think the banks prohibit charging a fee for the use of credit cards any more. There's no point -- they couldn't and didn't enforce it when it was part of their terms of service.

However, I think there is an alternative: use a debit card. At least with the pay-at-the-pump gas stations around me, the credit price is typically 3 cents to 5 cents per gallon higher for credit than for cash ... but people using debit cards get the cash price, because the banks don't impose the credit card fee on the merchant for debit card transactions.
 
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buck460XVR

New member
I see no "False/Dishonest Advertising" only the Seller's terms you do not like. As long as you know upfront about the surcharge, it is no different than sales tax, you just figure that in as the "out the door" price and not the selling price.

No different than the various "transfer fees" charged by sellers or the FFLs the gun will ship to. No different than shipping fees. Those can also be all over the board and sometimes the difference between sellers is more than the 3% credit card up-charge.

Not all vendors are charged the standard 3% rate by Credit Card companies. Many times based on volume and other variables that charge is lowered or waived. Can it be a money maker for sellers to up-charge the full 3% across the board? Sure it can. Does it increase their overall net profit by not including that charge in the selling price like other sellers do and tacking it on at the end? Of course. But you have been told up front about it. Don't like the terms or the up-charge, don't go thee.
 
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JoeSixpack

New member
It sucks, but it's not uncommon in the gun industry to charge for credit cards, They do have a fee they have to pay on processing those charges, I don't know what it is or if it varies.

BUD's has done this as long as I can remember, it's possible to avoid it by securing a order with a CC but then paying with a check or M.O

on the other hand the 1 time I placed an order they accepted the order, I sent check, only after did they tell me some of my items was out of stock of course I still had to pay shipping on what was left of the order.
hmm I thought my CC was keeping the merchandise on ice? guess not.

First & Last order I ever placed with them.. this was about 10 years ago.


It's always important to find out about these fee's before hand it can make a difference, In my experience a lot more dealers on GB charge the fee then online shops where it's in the minority.

When ever cash is an option, Ask if there is a cash discount, a lot of small businesses will give you a discount since the cash can be under or not reported at all on top of the possible credit charges.

Not to long back I saved about 40 bucks on a window repair, It does not always work but it's worth asking.
 
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Onward Allusion

New member
Not dishonest, just bogus way of doing business.

I personally hate buying from sellers that tack on the CC surcharge. Heck, why not just price it for across the board transactions. A money order charge $1.20 for MO amounts up to $500. Then you have the price of the stamp & envelope AND the time wasted at the post office - not to mention you can't carry there!

Now I understand that not everyone can accept CC and am fine with going the USPS MO route for those merchants, but for those who can take CC . . . it's stupid business. I guess it's the principle of it for me. I've actually spent a few bucks more for a gun on GB with a vendor that did not up-charge. I mean after the up-charge of 3% on a $400 gun, the same gun costing $420 w/o up-charge isn't all that much more and I didn't have to waste my time with a trip to the PO.

I wonder if these jokers know how to do math.
 
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