and it makes financial sense for me to reward retailers that choose to accept it with my custom.
Are you rewarding them though? The merchant fee for Amex is much higher than a Visa or MasterCard.
and it makes financial sense for me to reward retailers that choose to accept it with my custom.
It's not surprising to me - they seem to have been in retreat for some years. Perhaps some forum members will remember the Arnott's chain of stores which fell under the House of Fraser banner. My local branch was demolished to make way for a shopping centre.Surprised to learn that house of fraser will be closing some branches. Never expected that one!
Is a shame, I always used to consider them to be a step above Poundland with tidier stores, better staff, and more quality products; however the store format has changed significantly in the last year and a bit. When they initially started selling items for more than £1 they were a minority compared to the overall items for sale, in a defined area of the shop with clearly marked prices. In the past 18 Months that strategy seems to have been dropped, with all items mixed around the shop of a variety of prices; each marked with a price tag on the shelf; and many more non-£1 products being introduced; the availability of particular products also differing on every visit! I can't see how now they are any different from Poundstretcher / B&M / Home Bargains / et al.
I very rarely visit nowadays because of the above; I am even more put off by the fact that they don't take American Express whereas Poundland do.
In that case why would _any_ retailer take American Express?Are you rewarding them though? The merchant fee for Amex is much higher than a Visa or MasterCard.
In that case why would _any_ retailer take American Express?
It is a commercial decision for a retailer to take it or not; the advantage for them being increased custom, increased spend, and increased customer satisfaction.
If a shop doesn’t take Amex then I am less likely to shop there; unless they are offering something particularly unique, such as low prices for a certain profuct/service, or convenience (eg. location).
Are you rewarding them though? The merchant fee for Amex is much higher than a Visa or MasterCard.
Sorry, I don’t understand the point you’re making. The above facts are already well known! My point is that I will choose a retailer that _does_ accept it over than one that does not, in the majority of cases provided I am not otherwise disadvantaged.Of course they get the positives you mention, they also get the negatives. Amex charge retailers an average 3% fee, visa and MasterCard is 2% fee, Amex charge higher fees to certain business types. The fee to restaurants for example is 3.5% from Amex, but supermarkets only 2.3%. The higher fees are why small businesses often choose not to accept Amex because there isn’t room for that bigger fee in their margins, when they often already have higher overheads.
Sorry, I don’t understand the point you’re making. The above facts are already well known! My point is that I will choose a retailer that _does_ accept it over than one that does not, in the majority of cases provided I am not otherwise disadvantaged.
Retailers that accept it must consider it worthwhile, otherwise they would not take it.
In that case why would _any_ retailer take American Express?
It is a commercial decision for a retailer to take it or not; the advantage for them being increased custom, increased spend, and increased customer satisfaction.
If a shop doesn’t take Amex then I am less likely to shop there; unless they are offering something particularly unique, such as low prices for a certain profuct/service, or convenience (eg. location).
Because there are rewards for having one.What's the point in having an Amex card instead?
Of course they get the positives you mention, they also get the negatives. Amex charge retailers an average 3% fee, visa and MasterCard is 2% fee, Amex charge higher fees to certain business types. The fee to restaurants for example is 3.5% from Amex, but supermarkets only 2.3%. The higher fees are why small businesses often choose not to accept Amex because there isn’t room for that bigger fee in their margins, when they often already have higher overheads.
It'd serve them right for improper spelling!Plumb Center might be the next big-name to go, having been priced out of the market by the high-street fishmonger...
Except that the vast majority of people have a VISA debit card, so I don't think custom will increase that much.
What's the point in having an Amex card instead?
New Look is a good example of struggling for a market.I would put 10p on New Look closing a lot more stores in the next 18 months
New Look is a good example of struggling for a market.
The younger generation still shop at Topshop, but with Next becoming more accessible and competitive, it's taken a fair amount of the market share. Asos and the like, plus supermarket clothing with their free returns have wiped clothing-only shops almost off the map.
What's the point in having an Amex card instead?
Mojo must have quite a lifestyle I have an AMEX card, and consulting the rules I see the cashback is 0.5% (rising to 1% after spending £3500); however you get nothing if the cashback calculation comes to less than £25. So you need to spend over £4250 to get anything.Because there are rewards for having one.
Mojo must have quite a lifestyle I have an AMEX card, and consulting the rules I see the cashback is 0.5% (rising to 1% after spending £3500); however you get nothing if the cashback calculation comes to less than £25. So you need to spend over £4250 to get anything.
That might be plausible if it were not that there seems hardly anywhere that will take an AMEX card these days, other than up-market restaurants and hotels, which I do not see the inside of very often. I therefore would not find it possible to get any cashback from AMEX, so I have given up using it. For the last 5 years they keep threatening me to withdraw it, but they don't; I wish they would really.
I do get 0.25% cashback on a Nationwide credit card.
Don’t bother with Cashback cards, collect Avios myself. I can spend significantly more than the £4,250 you quote (presume this is some amount you have quoted based on a Cashback Card) is really easy by just putting all my normal expenditure through it; bills (it is possible to pay many, but not all, on it), holidays, food shopping, clothes shopping, rail tickets, restaurants, pub, etc.Mojo must have quite a lifestyle I have an AMEX card, and consulting the rules I see the cashback is 0.5% (rising to 1% after spending £3500); however you get nothing if the cashback calculation comes to less than £25. So you need to spend over £4250 to get anything.
That isn’t true at all. It’s accepted at the big 5 supermarkets, Co-Op, Aldi, Iceland; at pretty much every chain restaurant and many smaller ones; on the main hotel booking websites such as Hotels.com, Expedia and Booking.com; at a not insignificant number of pubs, including all branches of Wetherspoon; by railway operators at stations and online including TfL; on PayPal (so useful for eBay, and on numerous online retailers); and many many more places.That might be plausible if it were not that there seems hardly anywhere that will take an AMEX card these days, other than up-market restaurants and hotels, which I do not see the inside of very often.
If a merchant is keen to attract these higher-spending profiles of customer, then it’s one way of potentially doing so, and any acquiral fee differential could effectively be put down to a marketing cost.
Or if known that they don't take them... not go into the shop at all!On being told 'sorry we don't take Amex' , the person will presumably use a different method of payment be that another card, cash, PayPal rather than not buying the item.
Back on topic, I expect we'll see one of the big barn DIY chains fail in the next 18 months or so. Most likely candidate will be Homebase.
Well, this thread has lost its way after the "look at me, I've got Amex" post.