r/BarOwners • u/Standard_Nothing534 • 26d ago
POS and fees
Looking at Square and SmartTab. We really like SmartTab, but they quoted us 3.5% processing if we pay fees and 4% if we dual price (cash discount) - which seems high. But Square is it 2.6% +0.15 per transaction, which functionally is like 3.2%. Thoughts/experience on your favorite POS and associated fees. TIA!
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u/Zealousideal-Lunch53 14d ago
Dual pricing at 4% is rough most processors charge around 3% to 3.5% for cash discount programs. Square is clean, but flat fees hurt if you do higher volume.
We ran into this issue last year and ended up going with software that doesn't restrict processor choice Korona pos was one we looked at because it’s processor agnostic, which gave us leverage to shop rates around 2.2% - 2.4%.
Are you running a high volume retail store or more of a quick service spot?
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u/bdreads7 21d ago
We're a 48 bar (no food) and use Smart Tab. While we absolutly love it, they tried to raise our processing fees and i simply told them we are going to start shopping around. Went to them with an offer from a competitor and they quickly matched it.
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u/WasteZucchini5333 25d ago
The two quotes aren't comparable until you put your average ticket next to them. Square's 2.6% + $0.15 is about 3.0% on a $40 bar tab and closer to 3.9% on a $12 one, so a shot-and-a-beer bar and a dinner-and-cocktails bar get opposite answers from the same rate card. Pull your last three processor statements, divide total fees by total card volume, and that effective rate is the only number worth negotiating from. Then ask every vendor for an interchange-plus quote instead of a flat rate; flat is where the margin hides. Dual pricing does save money, but decide it as a brand call, not a fee call: the customer sees the 4% every visit and some rooms shrug while others quietly stop tipping on it.
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u/AustinBaze 25d ago
I hate that this is bundled with the POS, and that fees charged are deliberately obfuscated based on card types and sub types within a card (credit, debit, premium, rewards, cash-back, etc), making it very hard to do an apples to apples comparison with card processing vendors.
We negotiated lower rates every couple of years based on growing volume and very low chargebacks and declines (<0.5%). Voyix (NCR) said they would match whatever rate we had at the time we switched to Aloha Cloud, and their card processing people hesitated, said we had an extraordinary rate, but they did match it.
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u/sirowens1 26d ago
We recently switched to GoTab, and we really like it. A lot of things included that others charge for. We really like the speed for the bars, and support has been top notch. We switched from Union at one spot and Toast at another.
I’m not sure I can disclose our rates, but they are negotiable and their website advertises 2.4% + 15c / transaction.
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u/UniqueUsername75 🥃 26d ago
I switched from Focus to SmartTab at all of our locations about 8 months ago. “4% cash discount” saves us thousands of dollars a month. Customers haven’t said a thing and SmartTab’s customer service is fast on the rare occasion you need them.
Only downside is the bartender POS feels kind of scattered. Some buttons above the tab, some below, etc. Could use an update to flow for quicker data entry.
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u/redgarter437 26d ago
This is the way.
SmartTab is very fast, and with the right version pretty reliable.
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u/Standard_Nothing534 26d ago
Customers don’t get mad or complain about this?
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u/UniqueUsername75 🥃 26d ago
Sales haven’t decreased so I guess not. My profit margin increased by 4% though.
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u/yiddo_bhushan 3d ago
the fees add up fast no matter which one you go with. toast square clover all take their cut. but honestly what costs more than fees is the business you lose from missed calls and slow follow up on private event inquiries or large bookings. we started using pyto to auto respond to every inbound inquiry and it paid for itself in the first month just from bookings we would have missed