Why won't contractors take credit cards for large deposits?
Contractors often require checks for large upfront deposits before ordering materials, forcing property owners to drain thousands from their checking accounts all at once. This inflexibility strips away cash buffer right when other major bills like property taxes and insurance hit, making it impossible to smooth out major expenses using available credit lines.
What people tried
Every workaround mentioned in the threads below. We haven’t tested any of them — and nobody here is claiming they worked.
- 1Asking the contractor to accept a credit card with a processing fee added
- 2Using third-party bill payment services like Plastiq to pay contractors with a credit card via check
- 3Requesting a materials list from the contractor to order the supplies directly using a credit card
- 4Offering to cover the credit card processing fee
- 5Requesting Net 30 or other payment terms from the supplier
- 6Obtaining a line of credit from a bank
- 7Asking to pay prior to shipping or structuring a deposit with the balance COD
In their words
Unedited, most upvoted first, each linked to the thread it came from.
“We're placing our biggest inventory order so far and I completely forgot this supplier is ACH only. Never bothered me when I was sending them $1,500. This invoice is a little over $13k and I'm looking at it differently.”source ↗
“We've got sales coming in normally and the money is there but I would rather keep that $13k in the account while the inventory is being made and put the purchase on the business card instead.”source ↗
“Then he sends me the deposit amount and I remember why I kept putting it off. He needs a check before he orders everything, property taxes just came out and insurance is due later this month”source ↗
“I can cover it but I really don't want another $6k disappearing from checking this week. I've got a card sitting there with plenty of room on it which would make the timing a lot easier, except obviously the contractor doesn't take cards”source ↗
“This is why I hate checks for big contractor jobs. Not because I can't cover it, just because there's zero flexibility once that money leaves.”source ↗
Where this came up
People with this problem also raised
- 2How to finance big contracts when customers pay in 90 days
- 7How to collect remaining preorder balances without chasing customers
- 2Why does the bank hold checks for so long?
- 4Why do I have to pay a fee to get my earnings?
- 2Why do clients take 30, 60, or 90 days to pay invoices?
- 9How is anyone actually affording a large wedding?