Paper Bag fee

[hbrough]

As of 7/1/20 in Vermont, we are required to charge $0.10 for each paper bag we pack an order in, as part of the plastic bag ban law. Every curbside pickup order is in a paper bag. Is there a way to automatically add the $0.10 fee to every online order?

[Kassi_]

Hey there, @hbrough - 

Thank you for posting in the Community! This is a great question. Unfortunately, this would be a Feature Request for the Online Store.

Normally, in the regular Point of Sale, you would be able to set up a charge like that. In the Online Store, it only allows taxes to be set up - not other surcharges. 

I am going tag this for our Product Team and I appreciate the time you took to reach out. 

[joeyD]

Hi @Kassi_ 

Some cities in Massachusetts will soon require restaurants to start charging for paper bags again, has this feature been added to the online store? I haven't seen any updates.

Thanks 

[Joe]

Hi there, @joeyD 👋 I can step in here for Kassi in her absence. Our Product Teams are continuing to monitor policy change regulations in regards to paper bags. While we don't have anything solidified to share on this front just yet, we will continue to update everyone here on this thread when we have an update to share.

Thanks for your patience! 

[Mexitrachos]

This has been a 'thing' for DC since 2010 - $0.05 per bag used for carry-out - so I'm surprised there isn't a thread regarding a solution (or I just don't know the right keywords to use to find an answer.)

As a temporary workaround, we created a "Bag Fee" item, which we also use at our point-of-sale if the customer chooses to have a bag.  But, for Online, I wish I could automatically add that item to every order (the customer can delete it or we can give them their nickel back at the truck if they end up bringing their own bag).  

Is there a way to at least do that?  Include an Item in every Order?

p.s.

@Joe & @Kassi_ - if your developers want to see the nuances of the DC bag fee, there is a document on the DC Dept of Energy & Environment website (https://doee.dc.gov/page/bag-law-faqs) 

[porktaco]

@Kassi_ I'd like to add my name to this list as many municipalities in NJ also mandate a small fee be added to each pickup or delivery order as encouragement for guests to bring their own bags and reduce waste.

[AshleyK]

Hi @porktaco I'm stepping in for Kassi here. Thanks for sharing your feedback on this! I will push it to our development team.

[JLSGLG]

Is there a solution to add a bag fee? I only need it for POS. I do not want to make an item because I do not want it to count as part of my sales. It is not revenue. It is a tax I must remit to the city. I can only add a tax percentage, not a dollar amount. I need to be able to add a flat fee in any quantity.

If there is no solution, it is something Square needs to really prioritize. Bag fees are becoming very prevalent and they need to be separated from sales because they are a government tax.

Thank you

[GLG]

Looking for help here. How do I add a surcharge or tax or fee that is a set dollar amount, not a percentage? 

[JustinC]

Thanks for another post @GLG!!

To note: Surcharge rules vary by state, regulatory, or card network rules. I recommend following up with a tax professional or your local government for further guidance on whether surcharges are permitted in your area.

With that said, the best way to add a dollar surcharge amount is to create an item named surcharge and price it how you wish. If the amount varies by transaction, it's best to leave the price blank on when creating the surcharge item, then enter the amount at the time of sale. 

I hope this helps. 

[bird33]

Hello,

James from Baltimore here. Starting Oct 1st, we will have to start charging .05/paper bag. I see that I can create a surcharge button on the POS in store; however, I'm struggling to find a way to charge this fee online.

Any word on updates? or is there a proper workaround?

Thanks

[charmingtons]

Also in Baltimore and trying to figure this out.

[JK_Fiber_Art]

This is a bit of a challenge for all of us as the rules for these fees and amounts are unique for each State - for us it's no more plastic, just either disposable paper which we have to charge $.10 each and report and note, the bag is required to contain at a minimum 40% post-consumer recycled content, else it can't be used.  Seems creating a line item for the disposable paper bag is quick fix but, probably not a solution that would work for all.  Depending on your State's rules, you may or may not be exempt from sales tax and regardless, the amount is still included in your credit card processing fees.  Here in CO, in particular our county, we have to report the total number of disposable paper bags sold and file the amount just the same as we file our sales taxes - yep, quite a pain.  We are permitted to keep a certain amount (50% of the total up to $100 a month).  Note, this only applies to retail businesses - if you're a restaurant, you're exempt from this process - yet, we can use the exact same bag that the restaurants provide and we (retail people) are stuck with the reporting and paperwork.  It's simply not worth the effort as when all the accounting is done - there's no profit for our time what so ever.  Our solution for this challenge is to simply not provide any disposable paper bags at all - the town gave us a waver from the reporting process and we were able to move on - we simply posted signage to encourage customers to use their own reusable bags.  With all the different rules out there, not sure Square can ever come up with a solution that would work for all.  Just some thoughts from our experience.

JK

[GLG]

This is off topic as far as Square help goes but in Denver it doesn't matter if you use paper or plastic, the fees and reporting process are the same.(Not sure why everyone is calling it a paper bag fee when it's just a bag fee.) My store spends a lot of money on paper bags made from recycled materials. I could use plastic bags for less than a penny a piece but I'm doing the right thing. I should be rewarded for the money I spend to be sustainable. I'm going to write a letter with this idea. As of now, because Square can't support our needs, I haven't collected a dime from any customer. Now I have to pay out of pocket this quarter. It's a simple fix for Square too. I was told the free version has the ability to apply the bag fee, which is BS because it's free. You want that feature? You need to pay for a subscription. Why subscribers don't get features is beyond me. I'm looking into a new system for 2022.

[Karyn1]

Washington State has a new mandatory "bag" charge of 8 cents, plus tax for any paper or recycleable bag used. Single use bags are now banned. Being a restaurant, I am trying to figure out how to implement this charge online, other than having the customer choose the bag charge as an item option because if the customer decides not to choose the bag and orders alot, I have to charge them separately when they come in to pick up their order. Not good customer service. Help!

[Kassi_]

Welcome back to the Community, @Karyn1 - 

I moved your post to an ongoing thread for this "bag charge" feature request some other sellers have been talking about. 

Throughout this thread, some sellers dropped their own workarounds in the meantime. Check out the post by @MEXITRACHOS

Please let me know if you have any other questions. 

[GLG]

I can't believe this feature STILL doesn't exist. Its' one of the most requested, complained about, and necessary features. (You said, "some people" are requesting. It's not "some." It's the majority of people who own a physical shop. Every city in starting to implement these fees/taxes. It can't be that hard to add to the POS interface. We add discounts, why can't we add a fee/tax for bags. (Multiple being the operative word here because it's a fee/tax per bag.)

Adding the fee/tax as an item is not an acceptable solution because the fee/tax shows up as revenue, which it is not. It is a tax. Counting tax as revenue is not only illegal, it messes up book keeping. Come on Square. This is what we pay you for. I am endlessly frustrated that this feature has been requested (nay, demanded) for years. Instead, the inventory page has been updated so the text, text boxes, and space between everything is unnecessarily large. What was the point of that update?

Please add an option to add a bag fee at POS checkout. You're making this very hard and frustrating for all of us. 

[JLSGLG]

 Any update on this? For 9 months now I've paid my bag tax out of pocket because I can't charge people for it. I'm thinking of sending Square a bill.

[JJ_]

Hello @JLSGLG This can now be accomplished by using Service Charges. 

You can create service charges from your online Square Dashboard and apply them on the Square POS app, Square Invoices app, or to Square Online orders.

You can also set up variable service charges which enable you to specify the exact amount or percentage at the time of cart building.

To create and edit service charges:

• Go to Account & Settings from your online Square Dashboard.
• Click Business > Service charges > Create a service charge.
• Name your charge, choose a percentage-based or fixed price service charge, then enter the amount of the charge.
• Select the location where the charge applies and add any applicable taxes.
• Click the toggle if you want to automatically apply this charge to Online orders, then select which fulfillment types you want the charges to apply to.
• Click Save.

Note: Automatic service charges only apply to Square Online orders fulfilled via Pickup, Delivery, or Self-serve Ordering. You must also have item-level taxes enabled to apply automatic service charges for these fulfillment types. Learn more about tax settings in Square Online.

[JLSGLG]

But it's still not available to those who pay a monthly subscription for Square for Retail, which we use on our iPads. Correct? Because I have created a bag tax service charge many many times (including now) and there is never an option to charge for bags when checking out customers. I'm a retail shop. That's why it's called Square for Retail. I need to be able to charge for bags!

Why do people who don't pay a monthly fee have the ability to charge for bags? (This is the word in all of the forums.) Most people who use Square for free aren't trying to hold down a retail storefront. They are largely hobby or market vendors who don't hand out many or any bags. (I know because I was one once.) They need this feature the least. Plus, they aren't paying Square a monthly fee. I am!

[JJ_]

Thank you for the clarification regarding Square for Retail. This is also the case for Square for Restaurant users. Our developers work on features based on the demand of it and how important it is to our Sellers a particular missing piece of functionality. In this case, this was a top requested feature by Square Point of Sale users and only after it was released then Sellers using other apps figured they would like to have it.  The team working on this feature is currently working to bring it to other platforms (again based on demand).

Right now this feature is only available on Square Point of Sale, Square Invoices, and Square Online. This means that Square for Restaurants, Square for Retail and Virtual Terminal are still expecting this feature to be released. This being said we are not ignoring our Plus or Premium Sellers as we are working to improve the offerings and experiences for them as well. 

Lastly, I want to thank you for your patience while Service Charges are implemented for Square for Retail.