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Old Feb 25, 2015, 11:44 pm
  #1  
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Charging my own e-commerce store to fulfill min spends

I scoured the internet and the forums but couldn't find anything on this. If I run my own e-commerce store and I'm short $500 from hitting my min spend would it be illegal to charge on my own store? The cc companies are still getting the interchange fees right?
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Old Feb 26, 2015, 12:55 am
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No idea myself, and not sure there is a great forum for this. However we'll move this to the closest one I can think of, Manufactured Spending.
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Old Feb 26, 2015, 4:12 am
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If the credit card companies knew what you were doing they'd frown upon it. However, since it's such a small amount, I'd say you're fine. You're just going to pay the cc fee.
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Old Feb 26, 2015, 4:53 am
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Just got to cvs or the grocery store and buy one more gc.
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Old Feb 26, 2015, 5:31 am
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Wouldn't that $500 also be taxable revenue for your business?

Just buy a GC.
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Old Feb 27, 2015, 12:34 am
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Originally Posted by b1gcat
I scoured the internet and the forums but couldn't find anything on this. If I run my own e-commerce store and I'm short $500 from hitting my min spend would it be illegal to charge on my own store? The cc companies are still getting the interchange fees right?
Hello, small matter of paying tax on that income, or explaining to the IRS why you are cooking the books.

Last edited by tcook052; Feb 28, 2015 at 12:33 pm Reason: snark
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Old Feb 27, 2015, 2:04 am
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That's ton of work with minimal reward. You're better off creating two Venmo accounts and bouncing money back and forth. It's equally unbeneficial, similarly likely to fail in the long run, but at least it's not as much work.

Last edited by tcook052; Feb 28, 2015 at 12:33 pm Reason: snark
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Old Feb 27, 2015, 12:35 pm
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You could charge the $500 and then not have that as taxable income by refunding the $500 by check/cash.
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Old Feb 27, 2015, 3:31 pm
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Originally Posted by xSTRIKEx6864
You could charge the $500 and then not have that as taxable income by refunding the $500 by check/cash.
That is not permissible based on CC processing agreements for almost all merchant category codes (MCCs). Very few are afforded a contractual exception Even when you get an exception, you're not allowed to process a CC refund via cash/check -- you typically have to refund it as some sort of credit or voucher that's usable only at your merchant (or a group of partners).
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Old Feb 28, 2015, 8:17 am
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Charging my own e-commerce store to fulfill min spends

The OP is likely scouring the wrong places. I'd suggest OP read the threads for Square and Amazon Local Register to see how payment processors feel about the business owner running their own card. (They are more likely to be put out by it than your credit card issuer.) Agree it's a safer course to just go out and buy a $500 GC and load it to BB / Serve.

Also I'd suggest OP be a little more selective with the term "illegal". What you are asking is whether what you are proposing would violate the terms & conditions of your agreements with various companies, not whether it is against the law.

Final note, would suggest taking accounting advice from a CPA, not the folks on this board.
MisterRobarto is offline  


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