3 ms·

> I do it because I get a 1-3% rebate on all my purchases. That's free money for me. In your mind it's a 1-3% rebate, but in actuality you're paying for it any

by mbesto 7y ago

> I do it because I get a 1-3% rebate on all my purchases. That's free money for me. In your mind it's a 1-3% rebate, but in actuality you're paying for it anyway due to merchant fees, etc. If we're going to question the overall system, then not having credit cards would likely mean savings for pretty much everything you would buy today that uses a credit card as a facilitation of payment.

prostoalex 7y ago
> In your mind it's a 1-3% rebate, but in actuality you're paying for it anyway due to merchant fees, etc. Most US businesses don't bother with offering discounts for cash/debit payments, so it's not like cash-only lifestyle will generate dramatic savings.
- mbesto 7y ago
  You're missing the point. If (a) everyone who owned a credit card actually had the means to pay for the good/service with available cash (even if not literally in their pocket) then (b) credit cards wouldn't be necessary and thus (c) good/services that typically use credit cards would be ~1-3% cheaper. In other words, the people who are getting rebates are artificially getting them b/c if credit cards didn't exist, all goods/services would be cheaper.
  - vageli 7y ago
    But credit cards _do_ exist. Who cares about hypotheticals where they don't?
  - skinnymuch 7y ago
    But credit cards do exist. And the person is getting a rebate over paying cash.
  - prostoalex 7y ago
    Cash has its own costs: * someone needs to drive to the bank to ensure the register has enough pennies, quarters, and dollar bills to make proper change in the morning * a system needs to be developed to prevent employees from stealing cash * to avoid being a crime target, there needs to be a way to safely store larger amounts of cash * there's a cost of an occasional fake bill being accepted by an employee * someone needs to drive to the bank to deposit the day's earnings into the bank account It's not like the US has zero businesses that deal exclusively in cash, so there should be success stories of disruptive startups going against the establishment by foregoing merchant fees and passing the savings on to consumers. But outside of Arco am/pm gas station, I struggle to find a good example where a cash-only business, or chain, or a sector would offer consistently lower prices than their credit-card-accepting counterparts.
    - mbesto 7y ago
      Which is exactly why it's not "free money" as the GP suggested.

by mbesto 7y ago

prostoalex 7y ago

> In your mind it's a 1-3% rebate, but in actuality you're paying for it anyway due to merchant fees, etc. Most US businesses don't bother with offering discounts for cash/debit payments, so it's not like cash-only lifestyle will generate dramatic savings.

mbesto 7y ago
You're missing the point. If (a) everyone who owned a credit card actually had the means to pay for the good/service with available cash (even if not literally in their pocket) then (b) credit cards wouldn't be necessary and thus (c) good/services that typically use credit cards would be ~1-3% cheaper. In other words, the people who are getting rebates are artificially getting them b/c if credit cards didn't exist, all goods/services would be cheaper.
- vageli 7y ago
  But credit cards _do_ exist. Who cares about hypotheticals where they don't?
- skinnymuch 7y ago
  But credit cards do exist. And the person is getting a rebate over paying cash.
- prostoalex 7y ago
  Cash has its own costs: * someone needs to drive to the bank to ensure the register has enough pennies, quarters, and dollar bills to make proper change in the morning * a system needs to be developed to prevent employees from stealing cash * to avoid being a crime target, there needs to be a way to safely store larger amounts of cash * there's a cost of an occasional fake bill being accepted by an employee * someone needs to drive to the bank to deposit the day's earnings into the bank account It's not like the US has zero businesses that deal exclusively in cash, so there should be success stories of disruptive startups going against the establishment by foregoing merchant fees and passing the savings on to consumers. But outside of Arco am/pm gas station, I struggle to find a good example where a cash-only business, or chain, or a sector would offer consistently lower prices than their credit-card-accepting counterparts.
  - mbesto 7y ago
    Which is exactly why it's not "free money" as the GP suggested.