Extra Charge For Fishing License

[Log Catcher]

The wife and I went to Cabelas today to our new senior fishing and hunting licenses. They were $12.00 each but I was charged $12.72. When I asked what the extra charge was for they said the higher ups in the corporate office told them to add this fee on for being an agent to sell licenses. I guess the .36 cents extra I paid for each covered the cost of the paper and ink to print them. This is the first time I have been charged an extra fee for them. Once I use up the points I have with them and a gift card it will be a very rare day I go back there for anything.

[gim]

Retailers here have charged a dollar to buy the licenses in person for many years.

[OmegaDPW]

And if you buy over the Internet, you're charged a "convenience" fee. 😄

 

 

[Log Catcher]

This is new for me. I had never heard of an extra fee being charged for getting a license. I know it is a very small amount of money. I guess it also covered the license holders they gave us. I will check and see if they charge extra to buy them online.

[DitchPanda]

Same dumb s#$% here...buy in person? $2 surcharge for inconvenience. Buy online? $2-$3charge for convenience.

[VolFan]

They do have to pay the person that’s putting your information in and handing you the license…so you either pay a little fee or they add it to the cost of your bait and tackle. No free lunch, people.

[Choporoz]

5 minutes ago, VolFan said:

They do have to pay the person that’s putting your information in and handing you the license…so you either pay a little fee or they add it to the cost of your bait and tackle. No free lunch, people.

Sporting goods stores and tackle shops were selling licenses without a 'little fee' for a hundred years. What they get in 'extra sales' from people coming in to buy a license is more than making up for 5 minutes of that clerk's time.  I don't see this as Log Catcher  looking for a free lunch.

38 minutes ago, OmegaDPW said:

And if you buy over the Internet, you're charged a "convenience" fee. 😄

 

 

That is the one fee that does tick me off

[gim]

5 minutes ago, Choporoz said:

Sporting goods stores and tackle shops were selling licenses without a 'little fee' for a hundred years. What they get in 'extra sales' from people coming in to buy a license is more than making up for 5 minutes of that clerk's time.

Well, I can’t comment on if there was a fee at retailers before the last 25 years, but in my lifetime it’s always been there. So I’ve never experienced anything different.

 

I don’t remember the last time I went in just to buy a license though. So you’re right on them making money when you buy other items. I usually buy my angling license at Cabelas in March when I go there for the annual spring sale, so I am also buying line, hooks, and plastics too. And in the fall when I buy my hunting licenses, I almost always buy ammo too.

[VolFan]

I can’t remember if it was here or TN but in one or the other you were charged more of a fee online for a digital license than if you got it in person somewhere. That’s the one that made me question my sanity. 

[MN Fisher]

46 minutes ago, OmegaDPW said:

And if you buy over the Internet, you're charged a "convenience" fee. 😄

 

 

It's the amount they have to pay the credit card company for using the card...every transaction you do, Visa/Mastercard/American Express charges the business a % of the amount. Most companies write it off as 'cost of doing business', but government entities charge it back to the 'consumer' with the convenience fee.

[Choporoz]

15 minutes ago, MN Fisher said:

It's the amount they have to pay the credit card company for using the card...every transaction you do, Visa/Mastercard/American Express charges the business a % of the amount. Most companies write it off as 'cost of doing business', but government entities charge it back to the 'consumer' with the convenience fee.

Sort of...but mostly bs.  Convenience fee, my rear end...who's convenience?  Dollar to a donut, that government agency saves a ton more than that card fee by not handling checks, answering phones, reconciling with those hundreds of tackle shops, etc.  

[Tackleholic]

A few years ago the State began taking license sales away from tackle dealers.  One of them told me that he received nothing from the sales, so he didn't care.  He said the time spent kept him away from other duties, he also had to swallow credit card fees and fill out a separate deposit form when turning in the cash to a bank.  He was pretty sour about it, stating that the people buying licenses seldom bought anything else.  I'm referring to Arkansas.

[gim]

4 minutes ago, Tackleholic said:

stating that the people buying licenses seldom bought anything else

I find it surprising that most people who came in for a license ONLY bought the license. Must be a totally different crowd than bass resource and not even remotely tempted by the bait monkey.

[MN Fisher]

45 minutes ago, gimruis said:

I find it surprising that most people who came in for a license ONLY bought the license.

I get my license at the Spring Park BP - I think one year I got a tub of worms, but usually it's just the license.

[deaknh03]

1 hour ago, MN Fisher said:

It's the amount they have to pay the credit card company for using the card...every transaction you do, Visa/Mastercard/American Express charges the business a % of the amount. Most companies write it off as 'cost of doing business', but government entities charge it back to the 'consumer' with the convenience fee.

It's absolutely not written off but instead rolled into the cost of goods. No business is taking a loss to allow you to use your card. You're paying higher prices for goods and interest to the credit card companies. 

[throttleplate]

Hey@Log Catcherdid you throw the person a few cents into the tip jar?

[TnRiver46]

You are very lucky! The fees they add to ours are way more than that. The stores won’t sell them so there’s like a $4 convenience fee, then another processing fee, then they want $6 for a credit card type thing they send in the mail, then they ask for a donation for “conservation” (BS), and then they want to you buy a

hat and some other junk. They are worse fee grabbers than the cable guy and they cry poor mouth non stop 

4 hours ago, VolFan said:

I can’t remember if it was here or TN but in one or the other you were charged more of a fee online for a digital license than if you got it in person somewhere. That’s the one that made me question my sanity. 

They won’t sell them in person anymore 

[Log Catcher]

I am surprised at how many are paying extra fees for their license. It has never been that way here until this year. I have gone to some boat shows here. The Ky. Dept. of Fish and Wildlife would have a booth set up there. I would buy my license from them and never charged an extra fee. 

 

I have always paid cash for a license. Never use a credit card for them.

 

Our local tackle store won't sell them. They tell people to get them online.

 

@gimruis I sent the bait monkey away. I walked through the fishing section but didn't find anything I couldn't live without so I left and only bought the licenses.

[TnRiver46]

Believe me, I wish I didn’t have to pay the extra fees. But I fish constantly and usually get checked a dozen times per year.
 

The idea of a fishing license itself drives me somewhat crazy, but there is no way around it. I’m just trying to get supper. They waste the money exponentially, par for the course 

[gim]

48 minutes ago, TnRiver46 said:

The idea of a fishing license itself drives me somewhat crazy, but there is no way around it.

 

It doesn't bother me one bit.  I pay 13 bucks/season for a conservation resident angling license.  It comes out to like 40 cents per trip after I go fishing like 30+ times per season.  That's DIRT cheap for fishing privileges.  Compared to some non-resident big game hunting licenses that are 4 figures...

 

I would pay a lot more too if I knew it would go directly for a good cause like paying for access upgrades, fisheries surveys, etc.  Unfortunately there's no way for me to determine that.

[slonezp]

1 hour ago, TnRiver46 said:

Believe me, I wish I didn’t have to pay the extra fees. But I fish constantly and usually get checked a dozen times per year.
 

The idea of a fishing license itself drives me somewhat crazy, but there is no way around it. I’m just trying to get supper. They waste the money exponentially, par for the course 

Think of it as a fishing tax and it won't bother you as much.

[TnRiver46]

2 hours ago, slonezp said:

Think of it as a fishing tax and it won't bother you as much.

Haha that’s exactly what it is but nobody likes taxes either 

3 hours ago, gimruis said:

 

It doesn't bother me one bit.  I pay 13 bucks/season for a conservation resident angling license.  It comes out to like 40 cents per trip after I go fishing like 30+ times per season.  That's DIRT cheap for fishing privileges.  Compared to some non-resident big game hunting licenses that are 4 figures...

 

I would pay a lot more too if I knew it would go directly for a good cause like paying for access upgrades, fisheries surveys, etc.  Unfortunately there's no way for me to determine that.

13????? I’m jealous. Ours is one of the highest in America. I don’t even think $13 will get you a single day license here. When my buddies come from out of state they have to buy a minimum 3 day license for like $33 

[volzfan59]

The state of Tennessee has been doing this for as long as I can remember. It's no big deal. If you don't want to pay the upcharge, buy your license directly from your state wildlife folks.

[TnRiver46]

@volzfan59, I’m personal friends with 6 game wardens I went to college with, they said there is no way around it. Somebody has to pay for their brand new boats and trucks ! 😂 

[GaryH]

I know I contribute $50 every year for my out of state license to Tn.