[infinite8s]

Most merchant agreements prohibit offering a discount for cash purchases. Those jewelers who do it are probably betting that they won't get caught and have their CC processing yanked. What this means is that in effect everybody pays slightly higher prices in to cover the fees for accepting credit cards.

[njs12345]

This is not quite true. They can offer a discount when paying in cash, but they can't charge an extra fee when a credit card is used after the agreement to purchase.

Source: http://usa.visa.com/personal/using_visa/checkout_fees/index....

[ImprovedSilence]

Interesting to know, I was not aware of that.

Jewelers are different, they can negotiate price, nobody pays retail at a jewelry store, that gives them flex around these cc agreements you speak of. The other reason jewelers often take cash is they let you off the hook for sales tax, which can be risky for them, yes. The jewelry business is fascinating, and full of "old guard" industry type practices, I didn't get fascinated with it until I started looking into buying a high end watch. But I digress.....