Vancouver's Real Estate Market

[Hondaracer]

Originally Posted by Nlkko

Bank generates revenue from merchant transaction fees. Interest rate they collect is nowhere near the fee they generates. As a banker, I would love my client to pay off my cards everytime so I don't have to end up with bad debt. You will notice bank will increase your credit limit if they see you have a history of paying off balances on time. Increase purchasing power = More spending = more transaction fees they collect.

12-18% unpaid interest rates would far outweigh any commissions made in transaction fees.

[Digitalis]

It's painful using cash these days, you'll get shortchanged so often because cashiers arn't used to counting anymore

[chinook79]

Originally Posted by Digitalis

It's painful using cash these days, you'll get shortchanged so often because cashiers arn't used to counting anymore

With your theory, it goes both ways.

[Jmac]

Originally Posted by chinook79

With your theory, it goes both ways.

Except it doesn't with some places.

For example, a place I go for lunch every day at work is cash only and if it comes to say $4.96 or $4.97, they don't give the nickel back from $5. Or if it comes to $2.76, they won't accept $2.75; they want $2.80.

If it's busy, I'll just say fuck it so I don't hold anyone up over $0.05, but if it's not busy, I argue that every time on principle alone. It's bullshit that they continue to rip people off.

[Urrtoast]

Originally Posted by Jmac

Except it doesn't with some places.

For example, a place I go for lunch every day at work is cash only and if it comes to say $4.96 or $4.97, they don't give the nickel back from $5. Or if it comes to $2.76, they won't accept $2.75; they want $2.80.

If it's busy, I'll just say fuck it so I don't hold anyone up over $0.05, but if it's not busy, I argue that every time on principle alone. It's bullshit that they continue to rip people off.

That should be there tip then, Cheap mofos

[Timpo]

Originally Posted by Jmac

Except it doesn't with some places.

For example, a place I go for lunch every day at work is cash only and if it comes to say $4.96 or $4.97, they don't give the nickel back from $5. Or if it comes to $2.76, they won't accept $2.75; they want $2.80.

If it's busy, I'll just say fuck it so I don't hold anyone up over $0.05, but if it's not busy, I argue that every time on principle alone. It's bullshit that they continue to rip people off.

I think something like this was bound to happen when the government decided to get rid of pennies.

Most businesses can't bother to waste time on 1 or 2 cents, but there will always one of those pleaces...

[godwin]

3-4% is peanuts compared with the 19.99% they charge for overdue and balance. That's basically the same interest rate (capped by the Federal government) for pay day loaners.. Money Mart etc.!! Banks are the only solid investment in Canada.

On the flip side about, oh lets wait till the rest of the society binged too much credit and had to throw up.. 1. The economy as a whole that time will be crappy, that means your hard saved money will also worth much less. 2. We never know when the binge will end, could be 3 years, 10 years, 15 years.

I don't think there can be any interest rate increase in Canada until late next year AND that depends on whether the US Fed can raise rate in the second half, I think that are pretty much done until summer.

Originally Posted by Tapioca

Actually, a lot of premium cards are in the 3-4% range. Those rewards, travel insurance policies, warranties, etc. aren't cheap.

For a lot of businesses, margins are quite thin - 4-5%. If some of the biggest retailers in the world, such as Walmart and Costco, are only willing to work with one credit card company, then it speaks to how much is at stake.

It's why a lot of family-run businesses refuse to accept credit cards - the fees are simply too high considering their razor thin margins.

[GS8]

Interesting Globe and Mail article regarding Chinatown

Vancouver?s Chinatown threatened by development and demographics - The Globe and Mail

[RickyTan3]

Originally Posted by Jmac

Except it doesn't with some places.

For example, a place I go for lunch every day at work is cash only and if it comes to say $4.96 or $4.97, they don't give the nickel back from $5. Or if it comes to $2.76, they won't accept $2.75; they want $2.80.

If it's busy, I'll just say fuck it so I don't hold anyone up over $0.05, but if it's not busy, I argue that every time on principle alone. It's bullshit that they continue to rip people off.

Dude....... I hate people like you its about the "principle".

No it's not, its about you being fucking cheap about a few cents. Just move on and let it go. Don't let that ruin your day LOL.

Especially if you go to that place for lunch often, pretty sure they deserve a few cents tip for their service or food.

[!LittleDragon]

Never use a CC to borrow what you don't have. I use it in place of cash. I carry $100 in case I need it but use credit whenever I can. I pay it off twice a month with every pay cheque.

I have no debt but I don't have any "savings" either. What I do may make some people squeamish... logging into the bank and seeing less than $1000 all the time. I don't have a savings account, only chequing for money to come in and go out. Pay day comes, pay off the credit card first. Anything over $1k goes to Questrade where it's used to purchase dividend funds/stocks. I leave $1k in there for car payments. If I could shift that to a CC, I would. If I need more than $1k cash ASAP, I have a line of credit I can withdraw from and pay back the next day by selling some holdings.

I could sustain my lifestyle with my dividends if I lose my job today but I want to have a nice buffer... say double what I actually need before I call it quits from working. Probably another 10 years.

[Gerbs]

Originally Posted by Mr.HappySilp

I am sure my banks and credit card company(I use my banks CC) hates me. Coz everytime I made a purchase with my credit card I login online and pay it off right away using my chequeing account. So sometimes you would see like $5 credit card fee follow by $5 payment to credit card account on my banking transaction. I am sure when my bank look at this they are pretty piss off lol.

Doesn't that help the CC company anyways by reducing their collection period. From like 1 day vs 30 days.

[kr4l]

Originally Posted by Tapioca

Actually, a lot of premium cards are in the 3-4% range. Those rewards, travel insurance policies, warranties, etc. aren't cheap.

For a lot of businesses, margins are quite thin - 4-5%. If some of the biggest retailers in the world, such as Walmart and Costco, are only willing to work with one credit card company, then it speaks to how much is at stake.

It's why a lot of family-run businesses refuse to accept credit cards - the fees are simply too high considering their razor thin margins.

No idea which premium cards you're talking about. I accept all cards at all my stores and Amex is the highest at 2.5%. Visa is around 1.6% and m/c is just a tad higher. If youre getting charged 3-4% for each transaction, you're getting robbed

[wingies]

Originally Posted by kr4l

No idea which premium cards you're talking about. I accept all cards at all my stores and Amex is the highest at 2.5%. Visa is around 1.6% and m/c is just a tad higher. If youre getting charged 3-4% for each transaction, you're getting robbed

Theres different "tiers" as to say, Visa may be 1.6% but then you have aeroplan TD visa which adds on .5% and so on. The costco MC is the most expensive one for the vendors I believe

[kr4l]

Originally Posted by wingies

Theres different "tiers" as to say, Visa may be 1.6% but then you have aeroplan TD visa which adds on .5% and so on. The costco MC is the most expensive one for the vendors I believe

I see what you're getting at. But I'm looking at my statements right now with moneris,

Visa 1.51%
Highest charge is a foreign (non Canadian) visa and it's only 0.925% more. The other 2 categories are 0.25% max

So if you're a business getting charged 3-4%, you're getting ripped off

If you sell big ticketed items, you can get an even lower rate but they charge $0.10 per transaction.

[Manic!]

Originally Posted by Tapioca

It's why a lot of family-run businesses refuse to accept credit cards - the fees are simply too high considering their razor thin margins.

It's actually because they don't want to pay taxes. That's why Mr. Kim has a calculator beside his till.

[RickyTan3]

Note to any store owners, if someone uses a AMEX Centurion the fees can increase up to 10%. This is what my rep told me how they make up for all the Centurion goodies.

[Manic!]

Originally Posted by RickyTan3

Note to any store owners, if someone uses a AMEX Centurion the fees can increase up to 10%. This is what my rep told me how they make up for all the Centurion goodies.

Don't they make it up by charging you ridiculous initiation fee's and ridiculous yearly fee's?

[hud 91gt]

Originally Posted by !LittleDragon

Never use a CC to borrow what you don't have. I use it in place of cash. I carry $100 in case I need it but use credit whenever I can. I pay it off twice a month with every pay cheque.

I have no debt but I don't have any "savings" either. What I do may make some people squeamish... logging into the bank and seeing less than $1000 all the time. I don't have a savings account, only chequing for money to come in and go out. Pay day comes, pay off the credit card first. Anything over $1k goes to Questrade where it's used to purchase dividend funds/stocks. I leave $1k in there for car payments. If I could shift that to a CC, I would. If I need more than $1k cash ASAP, I have a line of credit I can withdraw from and pay back the next day by selling some holdings.

I could sustain my lifestyle with my dividends if I lose my job today but I want to have a nice buffer... say double what I actually need before I call it quits from working. Probably another 10 years.

Do you own your house outright?

Your method does make me squemish but it shows very good control. Good for you.

[ForbiddenX]

Originally Posted by !LittleDragon

Never use a CC to borrow what you don't have. I use it in place of cash. I carry $100 in case I need it but use credit whenever I can. I pay it off twice a month with every pay cheque.

My wife and I do the same, we try not to spend more than what we can pay in cash. It's a nice change from what I used to do several years ago haha, pretty much the opposite and just using it to pay for things I couldn't afford.

Anyone use YouNeedABudget? https://www.youneedabudget.com/ I've found that it's really good for working on budgeting what you actually have as opposed to "potential money"

We were also supposed to finally check out a few places to rent today but then my car is blocked off by busses

[Ferra]

Originally Posted by kr4l

No idea which premium cards you're talking about. I accept all cards at all my stores and Amex is the highest at 2.5%. Visa is around 1.6% and m/c is just a tad higher. If youre getting charged 3-4% for each transaction, you're getting robbed

That's just the "basic rate" you are quoting..i am sure at the end of the date you are getting charged higher than 1.6%.

My basic rate is 1.50/1.55%, which applies if you have those basic credit card with no rewards. But if someone gives you a visa infinite privilege or platinum dividend card...there is no way you are getting charge just 1.6%. (there are the "non-qualified" and card brand fees on top of your basic rate, which is usually another 0.2%-0.8%)

Also..i am sure Visa/MC are making more money from the merchant fees they are charging then the high interest rate. I think not that many people keep balance on their cards resulting in interest charge. And usually it is few hundreds to few thousands dollars. Where else, there are plenty of people putting few thousands $ transaction on their credit cards every month.

[yray]

Originally Posted by RickyTan3

Note to any store owners, if someone uses a AMEX Centurion the fees can increase up to 10%. This is what my rep told me how they make up for all the Centurion goodies.

If someone is using centurion, they better be buying a lambo.

[!LittleDragon]

Originally Posted by hud 91gt

Do you own your house outright?

Your method does make me squemish but it shows very good control. Good for you.

Own outright a property from way back but I rent it out and I rent where I live. I have a very clear distinction between a place to live and an investment. An investment should pay you money regularly and a place to live is an expense so whether I rent it or own it doesn't really matter to me. If the numbers are in favour of owning it then I'll own it.

Would I buy another property today to rent out? Hell no... I've diversified my holdings in recent years and started to put money into less risky holdings with lower yield... but to put it into perspective, my riskier holdings paid out the equivalent to collecting $4500-$5000 monthly rent on a $500k condo. Nobody is going to pay that to rent a $500k condo... That's the main reason why I never bought another property

[lowside67]

Originally Posted by Hondaracer

12-18% unpaid interest rates would far outweigh any commissions made in transaction fees.

No. Just no.

While I am not sure why we are going on for pages about credit card discount rates in the Real Estate thread, I hate seeing misinformation spread. As confirmed by American Express's Dec31/15 financial statements...
https://materials.proxyvote.com/Appr...r2015_0065.htm

Total revenues for 2015 by line of business:
1) Discount revenue (these are the fees paid by merchants that are being discussed above): $19.3 Billion
2) Card fees (annual fees, etc): $2.7 Billion
3) Other revenues $4.9 Billion
4) Interest revenues (this is interest on monthly balances): $7.5 Billion

As has been said, the fees AmEx earns from merchants absolutely dwarfs the amount earned on interest, it's not even close. It's worth noting that the calculation is different for Visa as their business model is fundamentally different from AmEx - they don't earn ANY interest income - they are only a processing company.

Mark

[Hondaracer]

does anyone in Canada actually still use Amex?

[roastpuff]

Originally Posted by Hondaracer

does anyone in Canada actually still use Amex?

Yep, and I find their customer service to be very good.