You make good points, I agree with the benefit of cards over cash as well. And who wants to lug around a checkbook when I can just put a small piece of plastic in my wallet? There is definite value in that. Maybe even 3% value. I think CC companies may get the "unpopular incumbent" label because most people are not even aware of how credit cards work, and their costs are often times hidden. I mean hidden in the sense that we don't realize the price increase of goods this convince is costing us. I bet if the apple store started selling mac pros at 3% under retail price for cash, more people would inconvenience themselves to pay in cash. But many people are not properly informed, and therefore do not act as rational players. Many jewelers seem to play in this realm of cutting prices for cash buyers. (I know, there may be other reasons for that, but it's an example of merchants incentiveizing buyers to use cash)
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.
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.
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.....
