I'm the same...unless there is a place that is truly unique and special (like the B&B we stayed at in Maine).
CC fees are a cost of doing business--why not claim it with your other expenses?
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Drop the Credit Card?
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I'm the same...unless there is a place that is truly unique and special (like the B&B we stayed at in Maine).
CC fees are a cost of doing business--why not claim it with your other expenses?
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I have been accepting credit cards for the past 6 years on my rental. For the past two years my credit card fees have been outragious. I had one month that it exceed 1000.00 last year (by the time they added the extra fees for the different cards that were taken). This year I am giving my guests the option but am also encouraging them to pay by check. I always speak with my guests prior to them booking my home and most of them have been more than happy to pay by check. Matter of fact, they will email and say that if it saves me the fee then they have not a problem paying by check so I think the guests understand also. I would not do away with the credit card option especially for those last minute bookings but I do think the guests understand if you tell them.
Does anyone know the pros and cons of paypal? Would it be better than accepting credit cards directly?
paypal has a virtual terminal where you can process credit card receipts. We like it. You really are accepting credit cards and processing thru their virtual terminal. Or you could go paypal to paypal account.
Thanks Dunelover. I have a paypal account (e-bay) but wondered what limitations toofartampa referred to. I went on Paypal to see about setting up a merchant account but did not complete the process as I wanted to do a little more investigation. It appears to be less expensive than accepting credit cards-at least there is no monthly charge, but I wonder if there are any advantages or disadvantages that are not apparent.
TooFarTampa
SoWal Insider
I'm not sure if PayPal is the best way, but it seems to be the least expensive for occasional transactions and is relatively convenient. I have a Premier account that I have linked to my bank account. After a renter pays a payment, it goes into my PayPal account (less a 2.9 percent processing fee), and I quickly start the process of tranferring the money directly into our bank account. This takes 2-3 days and is free. Since I pay all our rental bills monthly, time is not really of the essence so this delay is acceptable with me.
There have been one or two times where PayPal is "down" and renters have been delayed in making the payment. This freaks me out a little but I have not been able to find a better way to accept credit cards for a tiny tiny business entity like ours. I know there are people who dislike PayPal but the majority of my renters don't mind doing this.
If you are going to accept rentals through PayPal you pretty much have to link your bank account to them (become "verified"), since the rentals are much more high dollar than the average ebay transaction.
Renters who want to pay for a rent higher than $2,000 also have to become verified, and some of them don't like this. $2K is PayPal's lifetime limit for "unverified" transactions. I had one renter this spring who was vehement about not giving PayPal his bank information. He ended up paying by check. Now I know to disclose to renters who wish to use PayPal that they may have to become verified if they wish to pay the full amount with a credit card. Some of them have opted to use PayPal for the deposit and send a check for the balance and it has worked out just fine.
Also, since $2K is paypal's lifetime unverified limit, if they have already paid for $750 worth of goods on ebay using PayPal over the past decade, they may not be able to use PayPal for a rental deposit without linking bank account information.
When dealing with renters I try to disclose as much of this kind of thing as is practical so no one runs into any surprises.
If there is a better solution than PayPal, I would love to hear about it!
There have been one or two times where PayPal is "down" and renters have been delayed in making the payment. This freaks me out a little but I have not been able to find a better way to accept credit cards for a tiny tiny business entity like ours. I know there are people who dislike PayPal but the majority of my renters don't mind doing this.
If you are going to accept rentals through PayPal you pretty much have to link your bank account to them (become "verified"), since the rentals are much more high dollar than the average ebay transaction.
Renters who want to pay for a rent higher than $2,000 also have to become verified, and some of them don't like this. $2K is PayPal's lifetime limit for "unverified" transactions. I had one renter this spring who was vehement about not giving PayPal his bank information. He ended up paying by check. Now I know to disclose to renters who wish to use PayPal that they may have to become verified if they wish to pay the full amount with a credit card. Some of them have opted to use PayPal for the deposit and send a check for the balance and it has worked out just fine.
Also, since $2K is paypal's lifetime unverified limit, if they have already paid for $750 worth of goods on ebay using PayPal over the past decade, they may not be able to use PayPal for a rental deposit without linking bank account information.
When dealing with renters I try to disclose as much of this kind of thing as is practical so no one runs into any surprises.
If there is a better solution than PayPal, I would love to hear about it!
Thank-you very much. Everyone who rents from me would have to become verified as my rent is over $4,000 and the deposit is $1,000. But it would at least give them an option if they did not want to send a check. And of course I would prefer a check anyway.
Thanks again for your help!
http://www.emeraldcoasttours.com/101shinglelane/
Thanks again for your help!
http://www.emeraldcoasttours.com/101shinglelane/
You really have to be careful about passing on the fees of the credit card to the consumer. It is illegal in Florida. You can charge everyone the same flat fee for using a credit card, but you cannot pass on the fees to the consumer directly. One complaint to the credit card company and you won't be taking credit cards for a very long time. If someone wants to charge it to their credit card remind them of the "convenience check" that most credit cards will happily provide them with. You avoid the fees as it acts just like a check.
We have been doing check only for 4 years now without a hitch. IMO the people who can afford the rental will pay the fee. I know of many who take the CC but don't actually process it. and/or they only use the CC for the security deposit, so when that comes to, they charge what was damaged or just tear up the slip. I have heard horror stories of CC holders balking at the charge for damage and then you as an owner have to fight the CC company for the money. so, i guess that is something to consider. I really am out of the loop to a degree because we dont' handle the finance part of the rentals, we come to the renter after the booking..."hi, i'm swantree! i'll be your concierge with your vrbo rental!...";-);-);-)
We accept personal check or credit card. I make it clear to renters that if they want to use a credit card then they are responsible for the 2.9% charget. Only a few people end up using their credit card and they are fine paying that fee. Most people use it when they are renting last minute and can't get a check to me in time. I like to ideally receive checks 10-15 days prior to their check in just to make sure it clears. The bad thing about credit cards is that they could dispute the charges if they wanted, although this has never happened to me. We use paypal for our credit card services. It is very easy to use. Good luck