LocostUSA.com

A long while back (like a couple decades) I asked the Locost builder community if they'd prefer paying by check, or have us raise our prices 3% and take credit cards, and the answer was a resounding "We're building LOCOSTS, that's the point! We don't want to spend $205 for a nose today that was $199 yesterday!"

But I wonder what the answer today would be? Kinetic doesn't work on the sort of margin where 3% is a drop in the bucket, but the mail ain't as consistent as it was in my youth (before I got my AARP card) so credit cards might speed things up. I know folks in ordinary businesses build in that three percent to everything, figuring that if they take checks they have a 3% change of getting a bad one, but to date, no Locost builder has ever sent us a troublesome check, so we never had to build in that cost.

So whaddya think? Should we take payment by credit cards? Would people freak out if we included an "Add 3% for credit/debit card processing" line? What's my best approach on this?

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Locost builder and adventurer, and founder (but no longer owner) of Kinetic Vehicles

It's probably safe to say that starting at about 60 yrs old, the number of people having a PayPal account starts dropping off. And, with a fair number of builders at or near retirement age, a credit card is "probably" a better bet.

I might be slightly off on the wrong on the "60" age reference, and it's constantly moving higher as internet-wise people move into that bracket.

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Midlana book: Build this mid-engine Locost!, http://midlana.com/stuff/book/
Kimini book: Designing mid-engine cars using FWD drivetrains
Both available from https://www.lulu.com/

PayPal is quick, easy, and almost scam free. When I was selling and buying more pieces PayPal was the exchange of choice. Worked good in the US and Canada. No worries about either party getting stiffed. I never sold any big ticket item so the fees were negligible.

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Larry in Seattle

You could list on Ebay and take paypal through them at an adjusted price. I sell a product on Amazon prime, my own website and Ebay. Ebay is the only place that i don't offer free shipping (ie most expensive) yet i still have sales there. The public is funny.....

You didnt ask yet, but.....my business partner and I invented, manufacture and sell really awesome mountain bike handguards - "A Helmet for Your Hands") www.geohandguards.com

We sort of know Jack and all of my transactions have been painless, so I dont mind sending a check. I have to admit that Paypal is just so easy...I use it all the time with money going both ways. Jack, can we do it both ways so that we don't forget how to sign our names?

On another note...Sean, do you Mtn bike or just sell hand guards? I have no idea how many times I have hit my hands on a tree. If we ever escape this Covid mess and I start going back to the office, I would be up for a ride as a break from my commute (Stamford to Duxbury...and no I dont do it every day.) PM me and lets not hi-Jack Jack's thread.

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Parts left out cost nothing and cause no problems!!

You would really HATE the way Pain-Pal abuses you and your account until they decide you are sufficiently proven.
If you are in a Non-PC business as I was it can get MUCH worse.
PP has a long record of freezing accounts for political reasons, then you have to go to court to get your funds released.
I have an account but try my utmost to never use it.

And yah, I'm well over 60.

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If I must be a one-man PC free zone, so be it!

I don't even know where our check book is these days as we never use it. Until March this year almost all transactions were electronic or credit card with a few small $$ cash purchases. Since March everything has been electronic or credit card, no one wants cash any more due to covid-19 concerns. I've used PayPal successfully, meaning easy, secure and insured transactions, for about 8 years. I don't know how much extra PayPal transactions cost and don't really care because of the simplicity and security of using it.

I'm 66 minus 5 days.

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Bill H
Winnipeg, MB, Canada

I like the "add 3 percent for credit cards". It's honest, and most of us know that these are real costs that have to come from somewhere.

Use PayPal and am 71 ... cross-border purchases with cheques is a PITA because I have to go to the bank for a US draft. OK, that;s mixed Brit and US spelling. Check and draught to g the other way on mixtures ....

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Warren
Isuzu Pickup/SR20DE, +401 COLD frame
Build Log: viewtopic.php?f=35&t=11601

Might I suggest increasing your base pricing to include the 3% needed for PayPal or Credit Card/ debit card transactions. For those who pay by check or other means that are treated as cash transactions, either a) keep the 3% and credit the buyer's account for future use within, say 2 years; or b) you could send that 3% back as a check (and incur the cost of your time and a stamp) ; or 3) pocket the extra cash and when you get enough saved up, go on a short vacation on us.

We all understand the costs incurred by small businesses like Kinetic's. While the idea of paying 3% more may not sit so well with some Locost builders I think more and more, the Ron Champion "low cost" philosophy has evolved in favor of a more refined and quicker build. The extra 3% won't make or break any builder's budget. You are already seeing that with the responses you are getting now vs whe you last asked. Besides, your prices are very competitive even with a 3% adder. And where can one get your "sage advice" elsewhere? That has to be worth more than 3%.

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Chuck.

“Any suspension will work if you don’t let it.” - Colin Chapman

Visit my ongoing MGB Rustoration log: over HERE

Or my Wankel powered Locost log : over HERE

And don't forget my Cushman Truckster resto Locostusa.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=36&t=17766

I'm getting fonder of PayPal myself. They do an excellent job of making it transparent and easy for the buyer, including that like all credit cards, the transactions are paid for by the seller. Credit cards are so much a part of 21st Century business practices that pretty much every retailer nowadays factors it in to their prices.In theory, they charge me 2.9% (plus thirty cents per transaction), but in practice it's a little over 3% (because if you add that 2.9% to the invoice, they charge 2.9% on that extra 2.9%, and then another 2.9% on that extra 2.9% of 2.9%, etcetera etcetera), and that 3% is the difference between the IRS calling Kinetic Vehicles a business or a hobby.

I think I'll see how a 3% charge for credit cards goes over, but leave the option of checks on the table. I'll try it for a while. Folks may like the convenience, and hey, it is the 21st Century already.

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Locost builder and adventurer, and founder (but no longer owner) of Kinetic Vehicles

3% isn’t going to be a deal breaker to most people. Hell nuts and bolts come out to 3% of the build cost

I’ve always enjoyed buying from Jack and would find a way to do business with him regardless of payment methods. But as my late uncle once said- never make it hard for someone to give you money!

Another factor ....

Jack is in some ways the only game in town, so whatever he offers for terms is what we accept.

I have two excellent suppliers for ice boat hardware, both US-based. One ONLY accepts cash or cheques, while the other accepts cash, cheques or PayPal. Either one gets used for planned purchases. Guess which one gets used for short-fuse purchases.

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Warren
Isuzu Pickup/SR20DE, +401 COLD frame
Build Log: viewtopic.php?f=35&t=11601

Having been in the family business for the last 15 years, I count on every transaction being a credit card, and price the product accordingly. We don't add fees, per se, but count them in the cost of doing business.

If someone purchases something large and is willing to pay by check (or cash in our case), discount it a % or so, if you're inclined.

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"If it's broke, fix it. You can't make it more broke"

BMW 2002 donor, M10 motor, 4 spd trans, IRS, tube chassis.
viewtopic.php?f=35&t=20787

Ouch. If somebody else would like to be the only game in town, my business is available, at quite affordable terms, to someone who will carry the torch. I started Kinetic Vehicles as a CMC dealer, and when they folded, there was NO game in town, and y'all want your Locost parts...and you want them low cost, right? Doing check-only payment was the low costest way to do it.

Locost builders have been 'accepting' our check-only terms for over a decade, the PayPal thing is just a way to make it more convenient (and faster) for those who value convenience as greater than 3% of the total.That's pretty much what I had in mind with the PayPal option, and that I could be both suppliers at once. If you want, for example, a nose and a scuttle, and you're not in a big hurry, you can save yourself twelve bucks by doing the stamp-and-envelope thing, but if you want two suspension brackets right away, it's probably worth the sixty one cents extra to have PayPal handle the cost of the parts and the Priority Mail postage, particularly now that mailing us a check requires a 55¢ postage stamp.

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Locost builder and adventurer, and founder (but no longer owner) of Kinetic Vehicles