Dual pricing: the cash price and the card price, side by side
On every sale, your customer sees two prices and decides how to pay. You decide who covers the card fee. That single choice is the difference between a register that costs you money and one that pays you back.
Card processing takes a bite out of every swipe. For a shop doing real card volume, that bite adds up to thousands of dollars a year that quietly leave through the front door. Dual pricing is the answer independent retailers keep landing on: show a lower cash price next to a card price, disclose both clearly, and let the customer choose. This page is the full explainer. What it is, how it differs from surcharging and cash discounting, the exact math on a $100 sale and a typical month, whether it is legal, and how to switch it on at your counter.
What dual pricing actually is
Dual pricing means you display two prices for the same item: one for customers who pay cash, and a slightly higher one for customers who pay by card. The gap between them is the processing fee, which on Batchly is 3.5% + $0.20 per card sale. Customers who pay cash get the lower price. Customers who pay by card cover the cost of the convenience they are choosing.
The key word is choice. Nobody is forced into anything. The prices are posted, the register shows both, and the customer picks. That transparency is not a nicety, it is what makes the model work and what keeps it clean. A shopper who wants the best price pays cash. A shopper who wants points or does not carry cash pays by card and covers the fee. Either way, you keep your margin.
Under the hood, Batchly calculates the fee in exactly one place, so the cash price and the card price never drift out of sync. Whichever mode you pick on a sale, every screen, receipt, and report follows.
Dual pricing vs surcharging vs cash discounting
These three terms get used loosely, and the confusion is where shops get into trouble. Here is the honest distinction. Cash discounting starts from the card price as the posted, everyday price, then gives a discount to anyone who pays cash. Surcharging starts from a base price and adds a fee on top when someone pays by credit card. Dual pricing is the display method that shows both numbers at once, and how it is treated legally depends on which of the two above it is built on.
Batchly builds dual pricing as a cash discount. The card price is the shelf price, and cash customers save. That framing matters, because cash discounting is permitted in all 50 states, while surcharging is capped and restricted in several. Same two numbers on the screen, very different rulebooks behind them.
| Cash discounting | Surcharging | Dual pricing | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Posted price is | The card price | The base price | Both, shown side by side |
| The adjustment | A discount for cash | A fee added for cards | The gap between the two |
| Where allowed | All 50 states | Capped or restricted in some states | Depends which model it is built on |
| Card-brand caps | Not a surcharge, so caps do not apply | Subject to network caps (commonly cited near 3%–4%) | Follows its underlying model |
| How Batchly does it | This is the foundation | Not the framing we use | Cash-discount dual pricing |
Short version: Batchly gives you the two-price display of dual pricing, resting on the all-50-states footing of cash discounting. For a closer look at the two models, read dual pricing vs surcharging. For the deeper legal walkthrough, see is cash discounting legal and the dual pricing laws by state reference.
How it looks at the Batchly register
Ring up an item, pick pass or split, and the register shows the cash price and the card price right next to each other. The customer sees exactly what each payment method costs before they decide. There is no surprise line item after the fact, and no math on a napkin.
If you want that in front of the customer too, any spare tablet logged into your store becomes a customer display: card price first, cash price and the savings under it, updating live as items ring. The both-prices screen is the disclosure, so the signage and the register never disagree. Print a matching register sign and shelf tags with the free dual pricing signage generator.
Behind that display sits one control with three settings. This is the whole model, and it is yours to set per sale:
- Absorb. The store eats the fee. The customer pays the cash price no matter how they pay. Use it for loss leaders, VIPs, or a shop that wants one clean price.
- Pass. The customer covers the fee if they pay by card. Cash customers pay the lower price. This is the mode that recovers your processing cost.
- Split. You and the customer each cover half the fee. A middle path for shops easing into the model.
You pick the mode on each sale, right on the sale screen, without digging through settings. Run pass on everyday inventory and flip to absorb for a weekend promo. The customer always sees the real number for the choice in front of them.
The math on a $100 sale
The fee is 3.5% + $0.20. On a $100 sale that is $3.50 plus $0.20, or $3.70 total. Here is where that $3.70 lands under each mode.
| Mode | Customer pays (cash) | Customer pays (card) | Store keeps | Store's fee cost |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Absorb | $100.00 | $100.00 | $96.30 | $3.70 |
| Pass | $100.00 | $103.70 | $100.00 | $0.00 |
| Split | $100.00 | $101.85 | $98.15 | $1.85 |
Read down the last column. On a single sale the difference between absorb and pass is only $3.70. It feels small. Now do it a few hundred times a week.
A typical month at $40k in card volume
Picture a shop running $40,000 a month in card sales, spread across roughly 1,000 transactions at about a $40 average ticket. The percentage side of the fee is 3.5% of $40,000, which is $1,400. The per-transaction side is 1,000 sales at $0.20, which is another $200. Total processing cost for the month lands around $1,600.
That $1,600 is the money in play. Where it goes depends on the mode you ring your sales in.
| Mode on every sale | Store pays per month | Store pays per year | What the customer sees |
|---|---|---|---|
| Absorb everything | $1,600 | $19,200 | One price, store eats the fee |
| Split everything | $800 | $9,600 | A modest card price, cost shared |
| Pass everything | about $0 | about $0 | Cash price vs card price, they choose |
The spread between absorbing and passing is roughly $19,200 a year on this shop's volume. That is a hire, a rent bump, or a very good year-end for the owner. Even splitting the difference keeps close to $10,000 in the register. Run your own numbers in the card fee calculator, and if you want the fee itself broken down line by line, read credit card fees explained. These figures assume every eligible sale runs in the stated mode; your real mix of cash and card will move them.
Is dual pricing legal?
Here is the honest, non-lawyer answer. Batchly runs dual pricing as a cash discount, and cash discounting is permitted in all 50 states. That is the whole reason the model is built the way it is. Surcharging, the other way to arrive at two prices, is capped by the card networks and restricted or banned outright in a handful of states. By treating the card price as the posted price and rewarding cash, you stay on the footing that is broadly allowed everywhere.
Two things keep it clean in practice: clear disclosure and posted signage. The customer should be able to see both prices before they pay, which is exactly what the register does, and a sign at the counter should state that a cash discount applies. Transparency is the model, not a footnote to it.
This is not legal advice. State rules, card-brand rules, and enforcement all change, and your processor agreement has its own terms. Before you switch dual pricing on, check your state and confirm the framing with your processor and your own counsel. For the plain-language version, start with is cash discounting legal, then look up your own state in dual pricing laws by state.
How to turn it on in three steps
1. Pick your mode on the sale screen
Every sale opens with a three-way choice under the processing fee: absorb, pass, or split. Most shops moving off flat pricing ring everyday sales in pass or split and adjust from there.
2. Post your signage
Put a clear sign at the register stating that a cash discount applies and that a card price is shown at checkout. Batchly gives you print-ready signage so the disclosure matches what the screen shows.
3. Ring the first sale
Start selling. Pick pass or split on the sale and the register shows the cash price and the card price, the customer chooses, and every mode flows straight into your reports so you can watch the impact in real dollars.
That is it. No new hardware, no re-tagging your whole shelf by hand, no separate surcharge terminal. Your $99 a month platform fee and your processing rate stay the same whichever mode you pick, and setup and migration are free.
Who dual pricing is for
Dual pricing earns the most for shops where card volume is high and margins are tight, which describes most of independent specialty retail. If a few thousand dollars a year in fees is the difference between a good month and a flat one, this is your lever. It fits:
- Smoke shops and vape shops, where average tickets are small and card fees eat hard at per-item margin.
- Liquor stores running high volume on thin markups.
- Coffee shops and ice cream shops ringing hundreds of small transactions a day, where the $0.20 per swipe alone adds up fast.
- Boutiques and other single-location specialty retailers who want to keep one clean price with absorb while still cutting the fee elsewhere.
See the full list on the industries page. And because the register is only half the job, the same platform runs your inventory, your reports, and optional Shophand AI staff so the shop keeps moving while you serve the counter. New to the fee side of the business? The comparison with Square lays out how a card fee the customer can cover differs from a flat rate the merchant always absorbs.
Frequently asked questions
Is dual pricing the same as surcharging?
No. Batchly's dual pricing is built as a cash discount: the higher card price is the shelf price, and cash customers get a lower price. A surcharge starts from the card price and adds a fee on top. The two look similar at the register, but they are treated differently under card-brand rules and state law. Confirm the exact framing with your processor and counsel.
Is dual pricing legal in my state?
Cash discounting is permitted in all 50 states. Surcharging is capped or restricted in some states, which is why Batchly frames dual pricing as a cash discount. Rules and enforcement change, so check your state and confirm with your processor and counsel before you switch it on. This is not legal advice.
Do I have to tell customers about the price difference?
Yes. Clear disclosure is the point. Batchly shows the cash price and the card price side by side before the customer chooses how to pay, and posted signage at the register keeps everyone honest. Transparency is what keeps the model compliant.
What fee does Batchly pass through?
The processing fee is 3.5% + $0.20 per card sale. It lives in one place in the system, so the cash price and card price are always calculated the same way. The rate is disclosed up front and applied the same way on every card sale.
Can I use different modes for different sales?
Yes. You choose absorb, pass, or split on every sale, right at the register. Run pass on everyday items and absorb on a promo without touching your settings.
What happens when a customer pays with a debit card?
A card sale is a card sale in the register: the customer sees the card price and can choose to pay cash for the lower price instead. Debit-specific rules vary by network and state, so confirm the treatment you want with your processor.
Does dual pricing work for online orders?
Batchly Online runs absorb-only, so ecommerce customers see one price and the store covers the fee. Pass and split are register features for in-person sales, where the cash option is real and disclosed.
Will dual pricing cost me customers?
Most shops that post both prices clearly see little pushback, because customers who want the lower price simply pay cash and the rest happily pay by card. You control the framing sale by sale with absorb, pass, or split, so you can start conservative and adjust.
See both prices on your own register
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