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Surcharge impact

Surcharging looks free. It isn't.

Pass the fee to your buyers and some of them walk. The margin you lose on the sales that disappear usually outweighs the surcharge you collect. See the net cost of surcharging — then see why the card itself, set up right, is the better trade.

Your assumptions

Total sales you accept on card each year.

$

The profit you keep on each dollar of sales.

%

Share of card sales that walk when buyers see a surcharge.

%

Share of volume eligible to surcharge (rules & card type vary).

%

The fee you add to a surcharged transaction.

%
Surcharge impact Live

Net cost of surcharging

$595,000 /yr

Net loss
Margin lost to buyers who walk
$1,120,000
Surcharge you collect
$525,000
Card sales lost$3,500,000
Margin lost on those sales$1,120,000
− Surcharge collected−$525,000
Net cost of surcharging$595,000
Illustrative estimate — your diagnostic produces the real number. A simplified margin model: it assumes lost buyers don't come back and counts surcharge collected only on the volume you can actually surcharge.
Get your real number Compare: net cost of card

This is a model, not a quote. The margin you lose from buyers who walk away usually exceeds the surcharge you collect — which is why B2B Activate makes the case for putting spend on card rather than surcharging it away.

A paid scoping diagnostic baselines your actual sales mix and surcharge eligibility and produces the number you can take to finance — not an illustration.

Surcharging trades a relationship for a fee. Moving spend onto card keeps both.

Lost margin > surcharge collected Keep the buyer relationship Inside your firewall Pay-for-performance

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