Cash Business?

Our small museum just started taking cards last year. Sure, we do more business, but it can be a PITA. I have literally had people buy 25-cent postcard with a credit card (more than once), and look at me like I'm from Mars or Hicksville when I ask them if they can't just pay cash "Oh that's so 20th Century, I never carry any cash". Direct quote. We'll be adopting a minimum purchase for credit purchases this season. For what it's worth, in 12 years we have never had a problem with a personal check.

I've had problems with checks. I'd still rather take them than cards; granted, I'm in a small town. If the address on the check is a PO box, I'll get a physical address off the DL. I have parked in driveways at 8AM before. People miraculously tend to find the money after that.

aircooled wrote:

Duke wrote: There is an old-school diner near here that only takes cash. They are throwing away 30% of their business in order to save 2% in card fees....

Oh now... don't kid yourself, that 2% is already built into all prices. Really pisses you off when you think about when you pay cash, an extra 2% tax, for nothing!

My credit card gives me 5% cash back, so I am 3% ahead of a cash payer. I pay my card off each month. I love that the company pays me to use their product. Last year I got 1500 back.

Fueled by Caffeine wrote:

aircooled wrote:

Duke wrote: There is an old-school diner near here that only takes cash. They are throwing away 30% of their business in order to save 2% in card fees....

Oh now... don't kid yourself, that 2% is already built into all prices. Really pisses you off when you think about when you pay cash, an extra 2% tax, for nothing!

My credit card gives me 5% cash back, so I am 3% ahead of a cash payer. I pay my card off each month. I love that the company pays me to use their product. Last year I got 1500 back.

You pay the retailer (whose prices are inflated to cover the cost of running CC's,) the retailer pays the CC company, CC company pays you.

But we all make it up in volume!

Of course the CC cost is passed on in adjusted prices. I don't have a problem with that. It's worth it for the convenience.

@ Fueled - would you mind sharing the company and program information? I've got a decent rewards card, but I'd like to get in on that action. Thanks.

Duke wrote: Hell, I just had to cut off my credit card because of a fraudulent charge attempt. I'm wondering what the hell I'm going to do for 10 days until the replacement arrives.

I've found that when that happens it usually doesn't take much to get the CC company to expedite the card and send it overnight. What's it cost to FedEx an envelope, $20? I suspect that for a lot of customers they actually come out ahead by spending the $20 to get you the card sooner instead of losing their percentage on the stuff you buy for the next 10 days.

Also, this is why it's useful to have two cards. :)

Duke wrote: Of course the CC cost is passed on in adjusted prices. I don't have a problem with that. It's worth it for the convenience. @ Fueled - would you mind sharing the company and program information? I've got a decent rewards card, but I'd like to get in on that action. Thanks.

Amex blue cash

poopshovel wrote:

Fueled by Caffeine wrote:

aircooled wrote:

Duke wrote: There is an old-school diner near here that only takes cash. They are throwing away 30% of their business in order to save 2% in card fees....

Oh now... don't kid yourself, that 2% is already built into all prices. Really pisses you off when you think about when you pay cash, an extra 2% tax, for nothing!

My credit card gives me 5% cash back, so I am 3% ahead of a cash payer. I pay my card off each month. I love that the company pays me to use their product. Last year I got 1500 back.

You pay the retailer (whose prices are inflated to cover the cost of running CC's,) the retailer pays the CC company, CC company pays you.

More like trickle Down economics, it's a trickle but I come out ahead.

Fueled by Caffeine wrote:

aircooled wrote:

Duke wrote: There is an old-school diner near here that only takes cash. They are throwing away 30% of their business in order to save 2% in card fees....

Oh now... don't kid yourself, that 2% is already built into all prices. Really pisses you off when you think about when you pay cash, an extra 2% tax, for nothing!

My credit card gives me 5% cash back, so I am 3% ahead of a cash payer. I pay my card off each month. I love that the company pays me to use their product. Last year I got 1500 back.

Most CC companies bill the merchant more for those transactions.

alex wrote: I spent a week in Brooklyn recently. I'd say 75% of the restaurants and bars we went to were cash only. No problem for me - I haven't had a credit card in years. Actually, I haven't even had a bank account for about a month.

When we visited NYC in 2010, it was cash only at 99% of the places we went. Very weird.

Javelin wrote: When we visited NYC in 2010, it was cash only at 99% of the places we went. Very weird.

How else are you going to launder cash through your "family" owned restaurant?

Javelin wrote: I've been running into stores that don't cash of 20's or above lately, which is really odd.

Thats protecting against counterfeit larger bills, generally.

Another possibility is that they drop cash into a safe so they have a limited amount for thieves to grab.

Fueled by Caffeine wrote: More like trickle Down economics, it's a trickle but I come out ahead.

You believe that you come out ahead of the credit card companies????

Boy, they saw you coming.

You must win at casinos too.

Ohio BMV is cash or check only for all transactions(license, plates, etc) but the title bureau next door takes credit cards for title fees and sales tax.

there is a hot dog joint in town that is cash only, and my favorite coffee/donut shop also is cash only.

Trans_Maro wrote:

Fueled by Caffeine wrote: More like trickle Down economics, it's a trickle but I come out ahead.

You believe that you come out ahead of the credit card companies???? Boy, they saw you coming. You must win at casinos too.

buy stuff, get discount or cash back, pay off every month equals no interest charges.

so yes, i'm ahead of a cash buyer at target. they give me 5% off using my target card plus every 5 prescriptions get me another bonus 5% off. i pay it in full when the bill comes so they do not get interest out of me.

plus i'm ahead at the new casino too. i'm not going back either so i walked out with more than i started with.

I have a friend with a food stand at a bus station. He finally bit the bullet and started taking credit cards and plastic this year and his revenue literally doubled. Most people, myself included are not interested in carrying cash anymore and if you won't take my plastic, you will lose the sale. I would have to be pretty desperate to go and dig money out of an ATM, especially one of those little corner store one anal rape per transaction deals. Me, I can process your bill on my cel phone and the money goes straight to my bank account! I like to make it reeeeely convenient for people to pay me.

I use a card for everything, and have for a little over a year. I never, ever pay an interest charge or fee, yet I've received tons of cashback. And, as an added bonus, I have a great credit score at age 19. I fully believe I'm on top. Everyone else (who pays interest) pays my rewards. Awesome!

That said, my rule is to always have enough cash (in small bills) to get me out of a bad situation. I rarely buy stuff with cash, but I always carry it just in case. You never know when you'll need a ride or something.

Trans_Maro wrote:

Fueled by Caffeine wrote: More like trickle Down economics, it's a trickle but I come out ahead.

You believe that you come out ahead of the credit card companies???? Boy, they saw you coming. You must win at casinos too.

Casino? Never been in one. But I pay all my credit card bills off every month. Works like a charm. I hate turning down free money.

I don't get all of the " the system is rigged" mentality of late. I think perception is reality, if you think you can't win, you won't. However, if you try to win, you might just do it.

Streetwiseguy wrote:

Javelin wrote: I've been running into stores that don't cash of 20's or above lately, which is really odd.

Thats protecting against counterfeit larger bills, generally. Another possibility is that they drop cash into a safe so they have a limited amount for thieves to grab.

I can see that for 100's, or maybe even 50's, but 20's?!?!??

Welcome to the entire continent of Europe. It took a VERY large amount of effort for me to get used to using only cash again when I moved here.

I guess I fall into the hog dog cart on the corner rather than a store as a cab driver, but I am cash only. I make more money by not taking credit cards. If I only took credit cards all the tight wads out there would be paying exact change. With a cash only business I get an unspoken "keep the change", and round up to the nearest dollar from people that don't tip. For those that forgot their cash once they get home have an extra few dollars to pay for the added trip to the ATM. Or if their card gets declined they get to buy some gas for the cab and overdraft their card.

There are some drivers that have card readers that hook up to their phones but that's another $50 a month or so they are paying out. Then if someone has a stolen card the driver has to give the money back to the credit card company plus some BS fee. This is how it goes for businesses too, any kind of authorization dispute and they are losing money they earned for product or services. When I worked at a gas station there were old ladies that would come in an forget they filled up their Buick a week before or did two transactions and dispute the credit charge...and then get a full refund The employees would get penalized for not IDing some 80 year old grandma

Trans_Maro wrote:

Fueled by Caffeine wrote: More like trickle Down economics, it's a trickle but I come out ahead.

You believe that you come out ahead of the credit card companies???? Boy, they saw you coming. You must win at casinos too.

Nice condescending tone there. Especially since you're mistaken.

Thinking of credit cards as comparable to a casino shows a lot of why you might think you would always lose with them. They are not in any way comparable to a casino, except that careless people can get into a lot of trouble with either one.

Credit cards are a known quantity - they have a procedure to them and if you follow that procedure you will always come out even or ahead. I have made thousands in rewards for myself and my business over the years, and the most I've paid is a $75 annual fee on one card that nets me over $1000 a year in rewards.

If you're careless and don't pay attention to what you're spending or don't pay your bill on time, then you'll get thoroughly reamed and shouldn't have a credit card. But don't act like it's the card's fault and that everyone that uses a rewards card is a chump when it's really only your own fault.

Tom Suddard wrote: I use a card for everything, and have for a little over a year. I never, ever pay an interest charge or fee, yet I've received tons of cashback. And, as an added bonus, I have a great credit score at age 19. I fully believe I'm on top. Everyone else (who pays interest) pays my rewards. Awesome! That said, my rule is to always have enough cash (in small bills) to get me out of a bad situation. I rarely buy stuff with cash, but I always carry it just in case. You never know when you'll need a ride or something.

That whole "never get a credit card in college thing" is really (slightly) misguided. I fully wish that I had when I could, as I wouldn't have gone into debt with it. Now I'm 23 without any credit. It is quite annoying.

I always have some cash on me or near me, just in case. If I ever get into a situation where I need it, I've got it. It comes in handy quite often--whether it is an emergency "oh E36 M3, there are serious drugs at this party and I'm hammered and can't drive home," or "Oh crap, that is an awesome deal on that guitar!" Not always enough to buy the guitar, but at least enough to have them hold it as you run to the ATM to get the remainder.

I carry a minimal amount of cash unless there's a reason for me to carry more, such as if I'm going into an area where $20 might buy me enough gas to get back to civilization. That's why I always kept some cash stashed on my dirt bike. I do pretty much everything else on my debit card, that way I can not only check my balances and see my expenditures online, there's built in protection from the bank if it gets stolen.

Like this: If I am carrying $500 cash and I get robbed or lose my wallet, I'm out $500.00. If I am carrying my debit card and $40 and the same thing happens, as long as I report the card stolen I am only liable for the first $50 (I could even argue my way out of that) and am out the $40 cash, total $90. But I still have the same $500 purchasing power.

In this day and age, if you don't have some sort of credit rating your options are severely limited. Even renting a place to live is difficult without a credit rating. I've discussed this with the kiddo and she will probably get a low limit (like $500) credit card when she's 17 or 18 so she can start building a credit rating. This should really piss off Hi Temp Guy: she's going to have to have a job and make the payments herself.