Cha-ching! (4-1)

A while back, as he was pouring over the processing statement from his credit card-service wholesaler, Bob Sickles noticed something fishy. It seemed as if his fees were on an endless upward trajectory.

The owner of Sickles Market in Little Silver, N.J., watched as the ratio of payments to the processor went up in a way that didn't jive with the store's revenue and credit card transactions. It turned out he was caught in a web of fine print. Hidden fees and surcharges were beginning to take a toll on the bottom line. And that toll ultimately was huge -- as in $11,000 worth of huge before his processing contract expired.

Once it did, Sickles Market changed wholesalers, and the owner said the move saved him literally thousands of dollars. "But," Sickles added, "we still check our statements constantly."

The lesson: It pays to know everything about the contracts you sign with service providers. Sometimes, Cha-ching! is measured by what you don't lose as much as by what you gain.

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