We are a cabinet shop that normally does high end new construction so we have never had to worry about this. Lately we have done some smaller remodel projects $10,000 range and people are looking for financing. Does anyone offer financing on cabinets and or countertops through a third party. I do not want to do anything like this in house. We have also never taken credit cards because the fee for a cabinet job is so high but we are looking into it and then just passing the fee along to the customer if they want to use it.

Our financing terms are 100% down with 21% due at the end of the job.
If they can't get their own financing then this should be your terms as well.

We have never offered financing. We do not take credit cards. We are not a bank!

Be careful about "just passing the fee along to the customer if they want to use it ..."

If you are still considering accepting credit cards, learn the laws about accepting them and adding the fee for YOUR STATE. From what I understand, in some states you can give a "discount" for not using a credit card. But, all of your pricing must be advertised that way. However, "adding" the fee on to the total can be illegal. As I stated, learn your local laws.

We keep it simple: no credit cards. If asked, we simply let our prospects know that accepting credit cards would just add to the cost of things.

We do mostly remodel work in the upper end of our residential market. Asking about financing would be a red flag for me. Some customers don’t blink when they get the bid, some break projects into “phases” to fit their budget, and on the low end, they are using a home equity line of credit. I am setup to take credit cards for deposits, and final payments. In my bid, I say “pricing reflects 3% cash or check discount”. Sometimes it’s about convenience or the need to get paid “now”. Very large projects are usually paid by wire transfers.

There are finance companies that let you rebrand and include financing. Its harder when you don't have a " product line" but the bank would pay you instead of the customer. You may find it is less hassle to let them find their own but they may choose a company that finances them.

Just search finance companies for contractors.

I was just talking with one of my designers about this today. We take credit cards and offer financing as well and have for over 10 years.
First off 70-80% of home improvement projects are financed in one form or another. Home equity, credit card, 401k loan etc. Somebody told me years back “my customers don’t need financing “ He was correct the customers he has don’t need it, but lots of people that could be customers do need it.
Credit cards run 2-3%. I decided years ago to make it easy for my customers to pay. We take all cc with no additional fees or discounts. We have adjusted our prices to cover the cost. The cost of losing 1 job offsets the cost of accepting them. Not taking them in todays world just doesn’t make sense.
Financing is a tougher one for me to swallow. We offer it through Synchrony bank and it costs 6-8% of amount financed. The benefit is it sets you apart for those that are looking for financing. I have shown up on appts and the customer has applied from the link on our website and has the paperwork ready to go and we are the only company coming to bid on the project.
Additionally, financial ability to pay for project isn’t always a problem I’ve had people fill out applications and show over $400k annual income and finance a $5000 project for zero percent so they can hang on to their money.
Lastly, I don’t finance anything but equipment for my business, no credit card balances, no car payments etc. I believe that it’s a bad Idea. If I can’t pay cash for it I don’t buy it. Not everyone thinks like I do and I don’t put my values into other people. If they are comfortable doing it, I’m ok facilitating it.
That’s my .25 cents worth, your results may vary.

We had a business consultant over 20 years ago and his concept was inline with what Derek is doing, don't ever let payment be an impediment to the sales process.

Its very hard to track why someone never comes in your door, you can track those that come in and don't buy and they may tell you why.

I am having a bunch of stuff done at my house over the next few years, I have the money in the bank, I am taking every 0% financing offer or 6 months same as cash so I can keep my money in the bank (brokerage account).

I would much rather make payments out of available cash flow from ordinary income than dig into cash.

Offering financing should just be another tool to facilitate the sales process.

A-

So I had conversation with my designer as well as posting my previous reply here last night.
Yesterday I sent an email to purchase a $7,000 aggregate for my CNC that I need, stating lets move forward I can give you a credit card. This is the response I got back. If I wasn't locked in with this company for a specific reason, I wouldn't even bother returning the email. Make it easy for your customers to buy. If I was selling these I would have picked up the phone and got the cc# and had it shipped today. Instead we both are going to jump through hoops and waste a bunch of each others time to save a few bucks.

Thank you for your interest in ***** tooling! ****** has asked me to reach out to you about getting this process started. First and foremost, we need a formal PO on your company’s letterhead. If you would like to pay with a Credit Card; we do have to advise you that there is a 6% processing fee for all credit card transactions.

Attached you will find an application for Credit with ***** Inc. If this is something you may be interested in; please fill this out completely and send this back to us as quickly as you can. I sense that you may be in a bit of a hurry to get this ordered and I wouldn’t want the credit application to hold you or us up. I have seen this process take half a day to 3 days, it really depends on the credit references willingness to respond. Either way, if you are considering this option; the best practice is to get it into our office as soon as you can.

Prepayment is also an option. We accept ACH, wire transfers, and checks.

We have plenty of payment options available to accommodate you in the best way possible. Step number one is to submit the PO and let us know which payment option suits you best.

Again, thank you for your interest Derrick. We look forward to hearing from you soon.

Derrick,

Selling to a business is completely different model than selling to consumers.

We had a customer put a 75k project on a credit card, the credit card fee for that card was close to 10% from Amex as it was a high point /rewards corporate card.

They paid the fee. (corporate cards have higher risk I guess and the rewards add to the fee)

I got an email back and they waives the fee.

Credit card fees are negotiable. For along time we didn't take Amex because of the fee. We called them one day and they matched our other rates. There are 3 levels of card rates and you pay a different rate on swipe vs. Manual input. Most rewards cards fall into the second category with a slightly higher rate. A few years ago I ran the numbers on different ways of processing. If you are doing less than 10k a month, Square at the time had a flat rate of 4% for all cards and no annual, monthly or equipment fees. After that going with a processor saves money on swipe fees. 10% is ridiculous and no way I would eat that.

Some credit card accounts come with credit card checks if they pay with that there would not be a fee on your end . The customer would pay interest on cash advance rates.

We use PayPal invoice for cc payments and the fee is 2.9%. We also offer financing through a finance company and the fee is 6% for 12 month equal payments option. Getting 94% of the job is better than 100% of nothing.

We rarely do work for individuals but many contractors will try to use us as a bank. I.E. all sorts of delaying practices to extend out payments as long as possible. All of them do it to one extent or another. They all blame someone else.