Today I attended the train show here in Richmond, Virginia at the Raceway Complex. The show was average at best. I was looking for a specific locomotive with multiple numbers if they had them. One of the vendors at his booth had the locomotive I was looking for. He even had the same locomotive in the second number I had desparately been looking for. I went to gentleman and asked him how he accepted payment. He said that he took personal checks and cash only. “I do not take credit cards,” he said to me. I said “what?” He said, “I do not take credit cards.” He told me I could go up the street two blocks and there was an ATM if I needed one, I quietly laid the two locomotives down and walked away from his display. $200.00 dollars in lost sales to that gentleman.
I was totally disenchanted. Other vendors at the show were taking credit cards with no problems. Am I going to have carry 300 or 400 “cash” dollars in my back pocket or carry my checkbook when I go to train shows now so I can purchase something that I might find. What’s the deal?
I was at that show this morning as well and you’re right - average at best.
Some dealers don’t like credit cards because of the percentage they have to pay to the credit card company - sometimes it can be 4%, maybe more.
Some dealers really prefer cash because they aren’t honestly reporting sales for sales tax and income tax. This may not be the case here since he would take checks.
I have also run into this at some the antique malls I visit. They don’t take credit cards or there is less of a discount for credit cards, but not for checks or cash.
As a gun enthusiast as well as a train enthusiast I can tell you this is common for a lot of small vendors at gun shows. As was mentioned, most guys who are only part time vendors do not have the equipment to handle credit cards. There is a fee too.
I guess you will have to carry cash, maybe some of the bigger vendors that take credit cards will give you a small discount for paying them cash too, since it is easier/cheaper for them.
I don’t think I’ve ever used “plastic” to buy anything at a train show. If I can’t pay cash, or with a check, its a good indication that I probably don’t need it![(-D]
As an “ex” part time vendor I can tell you that I was occassionally handed a credit card which I promptly refused as I didn’t bother with credit cards either. Some reacted such as you did and others just wrote me a check and said “thank you”.
Personally I have no sympathy for you in that position, as was previously stated if you can’t afford to carry some “cash” maybe you really didn’t need it that bad. Others just feel that everyone is supposed do things the way they want, either way I have no doubt that that vendor isn’t loosing any sleep over the deal, apparently he was polite about the subject, your reaction was something less than polite.
Next time you might consider carrying some cash or at least a check book, who knows, you might even get a better deal using cash, it always got my attention.
it in my opinion would be no different if you were to happen upon a nice “find” at a yard sale…you would not be able to use a credit or debit card in that situation either.
Essentially trains shows are flea markets and as such, cash is the main tender. Many of the larger dealers at the shows do have electronic payment capabillity which they bring along from their “brick and mortar” stores. The small vendors don’t make enough to warrent the cost of the equipment and fees the CC companies charge, many of them only do two or three shows a year, ( I used to do four). You also have to qualify financialy with the CCCs and since it’s a part-time or small time biz, may not have the financial standing. The tables also cost more (some shows as much as double) for the power and phone hookups required. Electronic payment at shows is actually a relatively recent thing, (the last 5-7 years).
I think where the shows are dropping the ball, is not getting ATM vendors to put up some cash mashines at the shows, so you wouldn’t have to walk 2 blocks to get cash. I don’t really blame the OP (except for his inflexibillity) in this plastic society, nowadays we really can go around cash less, in fact I do, I pay everything with my debit card and hardly ever have cash on me. But I always bring cash to train shows, you can often bargain your way to better deal with cash in your hand.
No. You also have the option of walking (or driving) a couple of blocks to an ATM machine to make a cash withdrawal if you absolutely refuse to carry your check book or cash when you go to the train show.
Absolutely! I carry around $200.00 when I go to a train show…That gives me enough for several items,lunch and maybe a extra cup of coffee or pop and still have change…
The least I ever carried was $100.00 and that was to a small show.
I am amused by the people who can’t buy a hot dog from a street vendor without finding an ATM first.
What is the attraction of making every single transaction in your life involve your bank? Doesn’t it become a hassle trying to keep track of how much money is in the account? or do you keep a ledger as you go?
Of course, on the flip side of that coin, I am beginning to run into businesses that won’t accept cash. They ONLY want plastic.
I “ditto” the previous posters reasons and rationale for some dealers not taking plastic.
For the buyer, while carrying cash may be “foreign” to some, it can often be a bargaining point in making an offer. And, as mentioned earlier, it will surely help you stick to a budget.
I learned many years ago that always having “bucks” on my person allowed me to take advantage of offers that were “cash on the barrelhead”. Of course if you do carry a lot of cash, you do need to have self control - and of course not flash it around.
Intersting discussion. There are actually 3 issues at stake, here.
MC and Visa charge a 1.5% of the purchase price in fees to the merchant. AMEX is 4% (which is why a lot of merchants won’t accept it). The merchant also has to pay the cost of the equipment to process card transactions (which explains why some merchants still have very archaic systems). For many, this is too much to take out of their profit – although there is a break even point at which increased sales at a lower marginal profit yields greater total profit, which is why most stores accept them. If the guy at the train show is a true retail establishment that is already set up to handle credit card transactions, he will likely accept cards at the show also. For the private sellers, it’s too much hassle.
The logistics of a train show make credit transactions difficult, because you generally need a phone line to do it (system rules require prior authorization for anything over $50). Granted 3G/4G and cellular technology are making this easier, but it’s still not a great system. So again, especially for the weekend vendor, it’s just too much of a hassle.
As far as the cash / check / credit debate… personally, I think it’s unwise to carry large amounts of cash. The check (or debit card, which I use almost exclusively these days) and credit card carry a record of where the money went, so you don’t just piddle it away. If you do make a great find at a train show, the dealer should be willing to hold it for you while you go get cash, but it’s not that big a deal to carry a checkbook. The issue with personal checks, obviously, is that there are people out there who think nothing of writing a rubber check when they don’t have sufficient funds in their account. This creates unacceptable risk for the dealer, who may get stuck with neither merchandise nor money.
Credit is a different story. A credit card is a great convenience, but too many peo
Technology is not the limiting factor. You can buy a cell phone that will run the card. If you don’t want to actually scan the card, you can use any telephone to enter the numbers manually.
The problem is that the merchant needs to have a bank credit card vendor account. Small problem for a brick and mortar store, bigger but not insurmountable problem for a vendor who does not have a brick and mortar store. But it is not a reasonable path for an occasional or private seller.
I usually attend 10+ shows a year and find only about 50% of vendors take credit cards. I usually carry 3 to 4 hundred on me at shows just in case I see something I like. It’s a lot easier to haggle over prices with cash in your hand then it is with a credit card.
A train show is a big flea market, garage sale, yard sale, swap meet {though few actually swap}, and CASH is KING…and often all else walks-empty handed…
*If I came to your yard sale at your house, would you take my debit or credit card {CC} as payment? a big fat NO! You’d want CASH for you used, barely used or new in box items!
Many vendors deal in cash only as they don’t report or under report sales.
*Many vendors carrry used stuff, which has little value {after once being sold new} and so there ARE no profits to to report as they are technically selling it as a loss compared to what they paid for it.
FOr a vendor, even a delaer in new stuff must have a good credit rating themselves and a good business credit rating in order to even have the bank allow them to take CCs. SOme businesses, even with good credit {needed in case they have to pay back the money they recieved if a charge is disputed} have problems getting a bank to allow them to process CC transactions.
the bank charges the vendor a fee for each trancaction. Maybe you are too young to remember but gasoline used to be sold at say $0.35 9/10th a gallon credit price OR $0.31 9/10 a gallon CASH. {YES gas was once sold at 35-36 CENTS a gallon} That was because of the fee charged to process the CC-they passed it on to the consumer.
*some businesses now will only take CC if the sale totals at leat $10 or $20. I realize you were going to spend $200., but …that is because they loose to much processing low sales. Therefore they won’t take a CC for 3 $4 used RR cars.
SOme businesses take CC at their brick and mortar stores hard wired in, but don’t have the wireless capability to do so at a trainshow.
*Cash is king at trains shows. ANd yes, next one you go to, you should carry the amount of cash you can afford to spend with you. Carry it in separate places, even your shoe, if need be, if you are affraid of being robbed.
Very true, that is exactly what I do. I also make a list of what I want to buy and try to stick to the list. It does not always work but I usually under spend because I cannot find what is on my list.