50 cent Delivery fee?

[Wavemaker]

Can someone explain to me the 50 cent delivery fee that square chargers per order when delivery is selected? Starting July 1st?

Why does this exist? Delivery costs ME money. What's it to square if someone picks up their order or I deliver it for free?

[#2]

I wanted to take a minute to continue the conversation around this topic, answer some of the questions that have come up, and address some of your concerns.

Why are you charging a fee for deliveries?

Instead of charging a high fixed monthly fee or a large commission, we chose a business model where we are only successful when you are. Having a sustainable business model also enables us to continue to deeply invest in building out a competitive delivery and online ordering platform with all of the functionality that you need to be successful. 

What about scheduled deliveries? (or other needed features)

This is a new platform, and we hear your feedback that there is some missing functionality that you need. We have been working very quickly on releasing updates to the product (you can see the release notes for April and May). We are currently building scheduled delivery functionality and plan to launch it soon, and are eager to hear your feedback on what other features would be critical to help you operate more effectively. 

How can I afford these fees on top of others?

Anyone who has had to make the shift online over the last few months can attest that online selling is a different experience with its own unique challenges. Online orders typically come with a different set of fees, including different processing rates (read more about why here), and it is important to adjust to ensure that your margins remain sustainable. In addition to custom delivery fee settings, we also offer an optional service fee setting, which you can learn how to configure in our local delivery support article.

We appreciate your feedback and the opportunity to engage and discuss here. We are dedicated to building out a fully featured delivery and online ordering platform, and to be your partners in helping you build a direct channel to engage with your customers. We want to add value to your business by streamlining your operations, saving you and your employees’ time, and improving the delivery experience for your customers.

Please let us know what features you need, and what we could do to improve the platform -- we are very quickly releasing new functionality and are prioritizing what we build based on your feedback!

[Joe · Accepted solution]

Hi there, @Wavemaker - thanks for taking the time to reach out to us here on the Seller Community. We can help provide some clarity, here.

Due to Seller hardship resulting from COVID-19 related restrictions, we announced a fee waiver for 3 months (April, May, June). 

As of this week, we have begun contacting Sellers again to inform them that fees will resume. Sellers will be charged 50¢ per order for all local delivery orders occurring on and after July 1st. This fee will be subtracted along with current processing fees and will be visible in the seller Dashboard.

It's important to note that this fee is associated for Seller-powered deliveries only. Pickup orders have no charge and courier-powered delivery will have separate fees associated.

You can learn more about Square processing fees and pricing here. 

Let me know if you have any clarifying questions! We are here to help.

[TheGOoDSweets]

I have an issue with the upcoming $.50 charge Square is about to start on July 1 for delivery orders. The delivery options within square are extremely minimal and don't work well for bakeries who need to schedule deliveries out further than the nearest time.  Please consider putting off this charge until you add more robust features that make sense to actually pay for this option.

[rich4747]

I also would like the app to be more customer-friendly. I started with Square based on the idea that it would help me with my delivery-only business. I find it to be OK, but there are several issues that should be improved, especially if Square expects us to pay an extra 50 cents per delivery on top of subscription and other fees. When items are out for delivery, I should be able to easily text/email my customers, and the same for when an item has been delivered. 

For the fees, I would also expect Square to provide a route planning option. I know I can pay third-party sites for this, but if I'm already shelling out extra $$ to Square for every single delivery, this should be included.

[AdamB]

Thanks for posting about it, @rich4747. I'm going to move your post over to a thread specifically about the delivery fee so you can get get notified of any updates there.

[bluewinger77]

Sorry, after reading all the responses, I still not getting any answer that make it LEGAL for Square to charge 50 cents on delivery orders.

If Square can charge some fees totally unrelated to it business and force merchants to take it,  I don't think I will stay with Square and I believe many merchants think likewise. It is not just about the 50 cents (which add up in millions $), but about is Square still a company trustworthy to do business with. 

I believe many merchants including myself are using Square because of its simple fees structure and/or tried of other processors predatory charges. But if Square is changing its best marketing niche, other platforms such as Shopify and Paypal may be more suitable.

At the end, I think it is a serious legal issue, and if Square insists to implement (delay to Nov does not solve the problem) the 50 cents delivery order fees or other new fees, I foresee it will have legal and public relation battles coming up.

Just a reminder, there is still a $5.54 billion lawsuit regarding credit card interchange charges in legal process, If the interchange credit card charges can be challenged, what not the 50 cents delivery order fees?

[PlantSellerYEG]

Like many others, I still cannot understand why the delivery charge continues to be in place when the functionality is limited and the ecommerce platform (Square Online/Weebly) is still in need of much more development for features. 

Based on what I can see in this discussion, I am going to encourage everyone to disable delivery as an option and manually add "Ship by local delivery/courier" as a shipping option for your business to bypass the fee. 

[L3002]

---

@PlantSellerYEG wrote:

Like many others, I still cannot understand why the delivery charge continues to be in place when the functionality is limited and the ecommerce platform (Square Online/Weebly) is still in need of much more development for features. 

Based on what I can see in this discussion, I am going to encourage everyone to disable delivery as an option and manually add "Ship by local delivery/courier" as a shipping option for your business to bypass the fee. 

---

Wondering if you'll get this reply as your post was from 2020, but it's worth a shot. I'm new, I like your workaround (I think)... I want to deliver just to my own neighbors in my community and not to the whole zip code...  I'm setting up shipping but I don't see where to manually add "ship by local delivery/courier" ... could point me in the right direction? 

[hermetheuscoffe]

I don't believe that's possible to do anymore. However, if you want to side-step it (at least partially), you can just put a prominent message to select "In-Store Pickup", but then leave their delivery info in the comments section. By using the in-store pickup option, you can still mark the item as "Ready" and the customer will get a text message, which could be their cue that it's delivered. If your delivery area is as small as your immediate community, this approach could work really well for you. You could even be up-front about WHY you're doing it (i.e. the fees from Square). I find that a lot of customers actually care about where their money goes... they like to see as much of it stay with the small business they're supporting!

[L3002]

Yikes... okay... I'll try what you suggest. 

[L3002]

put a prominent message to select "In-Store Pickup", but then leave their delivery info in the comments section. By using the in-store pickup option, you can still mark the item as "Ready" and the customer will get a text message, which could be their cue that it's delivered. If your delivery area is as small as your immediate community, this approach could work really well for you. 

---

This sounds like it may work. Where am I putting this prominent message for them to select "in store pickup"? And where is the comments section where they leave their delivery info?

I also want to make it clear that pickup is only for my immediate community and not for the full surrounding zip code (which also includes areas outside my community). Wondering where I would state that discreetly?

Or perhaps create a coupon code for just the community...? But then they would have to know what that code was and how to get it... at least it would give me an opportunity to verify their address...??? I don't know, just wondering how this logistically works in the most simplistic way. 

[hermetheuscoffe]

You could use the pop-up message feature to display this message, use your social media channels to advertise it, etc. Especially when you have a smaller user group, this is a feasible approach.

[troop604]

When I choose to use my own couriers to deliver, why am I being charged $0.50 per order.

[Goldneye]

HI, I was able to find a discussion on this here

https://www.sellercommunity.com/t5/Square-Online-Discussion/50-cent-Delivery-fee/td-p/178801

Hope this helps!

Terri

🛍 Shop my store

Resale Collection - http://bit.ly/HangerHues

[ClueIQ]

This is absolutely absurd that they are charging us the fee when they do absolutely 0 work here. There is no value on their end at all, it is just a different option from shipping or pickup. Square you look like a super villain on this one. Who the F* thought this was a good idea over there? 

[EarthMarket]

unfortunate that during COVID when businesses have to do delivery to stay alive, a company is going to up the charge starting in June to $0.50 plus all the transaction fees online. We have been having multiple issues with Square online and POS, and have reached out so many times I have lost count---usually with no proper answers or fixes. There are features missing that we have been asking for (and so have others), and have yet to see any roll out. It shocks me that there is now going to be this other fee on top of all this mess. 

[manousheh403]

going to?  They started charging it June 2020...during the worst time possible

[EarthMarket]

not in Ontario, Canada .It's coming out soon.

[SASFlorals]

Just got this email with no indication beforehand after signing up within a few months.

We just signed up for square. Other platforms don’t charge a fee for your own couriers and it’s still free every month minus professing. 

what a step on the toes. We’ve already called an all hands meeting to move off of square instead of moving forward with the paid plan. 

lack of features and support does not justify a 50 cent fee for your own delivery. It just doesn’t make any sense. 

[Astoriateaco]

well a year later and square still cares more about opertunistic money grabs than they do about their community. 

Anyone have suggestions for other POSes that are nearly as POSy? 

[roothedaytodd]

I just learned about the greedy delivery fee that square is charging on top of all their other fees. If I had known about this, I would never have started using square. I will now look for another service and warn all the other small businesses I see at various farmers markets to steer clear of Square. 

[theherblady]

I don't understand or accept this delivery fee. I've read many of these comments and Square's responses and I'm no closer to getting any answers. Are they trying to confuse us so they think we won't know how much they're costing us or are they just that confused themselves. I have a 2 page list of issues with Square and Weebly and don't have the time to sit on the phone with them to get them answered. This is just one of many convoluted areas of the their system. Looking for a better POS and web host.

[dhicks]

This is ridiculous. You charge the seller a delivery fee when we are making the delivery.  it has nothing to do with Square.  Wow, I think I am going to research other platforms.  Is this fee also charged with the paid plans?