The Plain Truth about Those Free Credit Card Machines

 

Have you been bombarded by Merchant Service companies recently? Out of the bunch, you probably ran into a couple companies offering a Free Credit Card Machine. Actually, the offer sounds very attractive. Who wouldn't want free equipment? You, as an experienced sales person know that there is almost no word, more powerful in advertising than the word FREE. But, you also know that free doesn't equal wholesale.

Even you may have developed some type of free offer. You might have offered a buy-one-get-one-free coupon or a buy two-get-one-free...something along those lines. So, you're already experience at creatively selling. Selling things for free is an effective tool for combining products, that is, until every one else is doing it. Afterwards, the free offer doesn't deliver that strong of a punch.

So, because you know what free really means, it's actually a good practice to remind yourself once-in-a-while that you should ALWAYS buy at wholesale. You are the one that sells at retail, not the other way around. The bottom line is, you're here to make money and this means you must always buy products and services at their cheapest cost - so long as they provide quality of course. Because, buying something for free isn't really the best offer. You're still paying money.

Free does not equal wholesale. When you buy something with a free offer, you are taking money out of  your pocket to pay for it. Free offers are packaged marketing strategies. Because you're experienced, you know how to package offers and sell things with free offers too. So, why fall into that trap? Keep focused on making profit and remember that free comes with a price.

So How Do They Sell It Free? How Do You Identify The Real Cost?

Packaging a buy-one-get-one-free offer is almost identical to a free credit card machine offer. The difference is, there are simply more parts involved. In this case, the parts that come with this offer, are the small fees that make up the actual retail price. 

Within the merchant account, you have fees like Qualified Rate, Mid-Qualified Rate, Non-Qualified Rate, Partially Qualified Rate, Annual Fee, American Express & Discover setup fee and even other named rates that sound legitimate...but they might not be. Most all of these rates are going to be overpriced and inflated. Why? Well, the credit card machine has to be paid for somehow. The manufacturer who makes millions of these does so to make money. These machines cost money and someone has to pay for it. In this case, this means you.

Therefore, within a free credit card machine offer, there is always going to be a Merchant Account that must come with the free machine.  The Merchant Account and it's fees (parts) must contain enough profit to pay for the equipment at a retail price. So, just like you, a smart and creative Merchant Service company realized that by inserting and increasing small fees into the pricing, would more than cover the cost of the equipment and make greater profits. The marketing campaign was then put together that basically states, buy our merchant account service and get a free credit card machine too.  This is the same as stating, buy-one-get-one-free. It's genius!

Yet, if I were your Merchant Consultant, I'd quickly advise you not to sign a free credit card machine agreement. Here's why. 

First, buying your own equipment, for as little as $149 will save you hundreds even thousands of dollars. Second, within a free credit card machine merchant application, there will be higher priced and creatively named fees. These fees could be avoided with a straight forward, fully disclosed merchant account. Third, by looking at all the fees within this type of merchant account, it's possible to identify the higher than normal fees. 

Don't misunderstand me. I really admire the creative selling and packaging of free credit card machine offers. These marketing strategies generate thousands of sales and make a lot of profit. However, I'm biased. I have always been on the side of the business owner. There's something just not right about sneaking in fees. After all, I know when people finally figure out they've paid too much, the credibility of the overpriced company is ruined. Therefore, I try to help the business owner save money month after month. The longer I help save people money, the longer our working relationship. After all, it's all about helping people, not making a fast buck.