Card Fees & Surcharge Policy

What the card surcharge is

Every time someone pays with a card, the card companies and our payment processor (Stripe) charge us a fee. For online card payments that fee is currently 2.9% + 30¢ per transaction.

To keep our tea and product prices low for everyone, we pass part of that cost on to customers who choose to pay with a credit card. This is called a credit card surcharge. It is not a tax and it is not added to the price of the items themselves.

Which payments it applies to

The surcharge applies to credit cards only. You will never pay a surcharge when you pay with:

• A debit card, including debit cards run as "credit" and HSA or FSA cards
• A prepaid card or reloadable card
• A Bee Leaf gift card or store credit
• Cash in the shop

How much it is

The surcharge is the lower of 3% of your order total or what it actually costs us to accept your card. We never charge more than our cost, and we never make a profit on it.

Example: on a $40.00 order paid with a credit card, the surcharge would be at most $1.20 (3%), for a total of $41.20 before any sales tax. The same order paid with a debit card is $40.00.

Online ordering service fee

Online orders may also include a small service fee that covers the cost of running our website, online ordering and pickup system. This fee is separate from the card surcharge.

Because it pays for the ordering platform and not for card processing, the service fee is the same no matter how you pay, including debit cards. It is never charged on in-store purchases, and it is always shown as its own line before you place your order.

How we tell you

We will never surprise you with a fee. Before you pay, you will see:

• A notice at the shop entrance and at the register that we surcharge credit cards
• A notice on our checkout page before you enter your card
• The surcharge and any service fee listed as separate lines with the exact dollar amount
• Both amounts printed on your receipt

Refunds

If you return items under our Refund Policy, we refund the surcharge on the returned items along with the item price.

If we cancel your order or make a mistake on it, we refund the full amount you paid, including the surcharge and any service fee.

The rules we follow

Surcharging is legal in Michigan when it is done the right way. Here is what we follow:

• Card network rules. Visa limits surcharges to 3% and Mastercard to 4%, and both limit it to the merchant's actual cost. We use the lower limit of 3%.
• Advance notice. We notify our payment processor and the card networks at least 30 days before we start surcharging, as the networks require.
• No debit or prepaid surcharges. Card network rules ban surcharges on debit and prepaid cards everywhere in the United States, and some states ban them by law too.
• Clear disclosure. Michigan consumer protection law requires that charges be disclosed clearly and not be hidden. That is why every fee is shown before you pay and on your receipt.
• Other states. If you're shipping to, or live in, a state that bans or limits surcharges, we follow that state's rule and remove or reduce the surcharge.

How to avoid the surcharge

Pay with a debit card, a Bee Leaf gift card, or cash in the shop. The price you see on the shelf or in our online shop is the price you pay with those methods, plus sales tax.