Plumbing is an emergency-driven business. When a pipe bursts at 2 AM or a sewer line backs up, homeowners call and pay whatever it takes. Average tickets run $250–$1,500 for repairs and $3,000–$15,000+ for repiping, water heater installations, and bathroom remodels.
Nearly all of these payments happen by card. At 2.5%–3.5%, a plumbing company doing $40,000–$100,000/month in card sales is losing **$12,000 to $42,000 per year** to processing.
The Plumbing Processing Problem
Emergency Work = Full Price Card Payments
Emergency calls — the highest-margin work in plumbing — are almost always paid by card. Homeowners dealing with flooding or sewage backup aren't stopping at an ATM.
High-Ticket Projects
| Job | Typical Price | Processing Fee (3%) |
|---|---|---|
| Drain clearing | $250 | $7.50 |
| Water heater replacement | $1,800 | $54.00 |
| Bathroom remodel (plumbing) | $5,000 | $150.00 |
| Whole-house repipe | $8,000 | $240.00 |
| Sewer line replacement | $12,000 | $360.00 |
A single sewer line replacement costs $360 to process by card.
Network Offset Pricing for Plumbers
Invoice example:
| Service | Cash/Check | Card |
|---|---|---|
| Service Call + Diagnostic | $125.00 | $130.00 |
| Faucet Replacement | $350.00 | $364.00 |
| Water Heater Install | $1,800.00 | $1,872.00 |
| Sewer Camera Inspection | $300.00 | $312.00 |
| Tankless Water Heater | $3,500.00 | $3,640.00 |
Why Homeowners Accept It
- Written estimates present both prices before work begins.
- High-ticket jobs make the cash option attractive. Saving $140 on a $3,500 job is meaningful.
- Service quality drives loyalty, not payment pricing.
The Savings
| Monthly Card Sales | Annual Processing (3%) | With NOP | Savings |
|---|---|---|---|
| $40,000 | $14,400 | ~$0 | ~$14,400 |
| $75,000 | $27,000 | ~$0 | ~$27,000 |
| $120,000 | $43,200 | ~$0 | ~$43,200 |
$10,000+
in potential annual savings with optimized payment processing.
Get Started
The first step to reducing your processing costs is understanding exactly what you are paying today. Request a free statement analysis and we will show you a side-by-side comparison of your current costs versus what you could save with Network Offset Pricing.