We frequently get asked about online processing fees. This is totally understandable. Usually it starts with: “Our pool hasn’t ever accepted PayPal (or any credit card processor) due to the fees”, or similar. Credit card transaction fees are minuscule in comparison to the revenue loss of not accepting payments online. Times change. The question is whether you want the member to see the inevitable processing fees or not.
When someone purchases anything through your Pool Dues portal, we can optionally add on 3% labeled as “Service Fee,” “Process Fee,” “Tax,” or whatever label you want. Most people don’t even notice it. For those that do, faced with the alternative of writing a physical check when they would prefer to pay by credit card, most people just accept the extra fee.
It’s important to remember that not every member is able to pay by check at the time your club invoices them. If your club wants to get paid in February but you consistently have 50 members that won’t write a check until the day before Memorial Day weekend, then you need to give them more options to pay.
The price when adding a membership to the cart is still a nice even number like $550. Some pools that currently accept PayPal decide to use buttons that include the total price with fees included. So visually people immediately see the price as $566.50, then wonder why the advertised membership price is $550. So, for example, in the image below, you can see how this fee could look if you choose to pass on the 3% charge to your members…
Again, charging this fee to the members is optional. Your club can simply accept the fees as the cost of doing business these days. You can also include or exclude the fees on a per-item basis. So, for example, you could include the fee on One-Time Payments but exclude it on Yearly Recurring Payments (which would incentivize getting members on an automatic payment cycle).
