Nobody uses cash anymore

[GEP]

A few people still do, but this month I’ve done three shows and barely taken any cash sales. Everyone is using credit cards instead. I can understand why, I used to pay for things with cash a lot in the before times, but now I have gotten used to charging everything because it’s touchless. 

I used to pack $100 of ones and fives to every show for making change. Maybe I can dial back on that now, because I hardly needed it. I’ll probably see what happens through the end of the year to make a decision about that. 

Also, everybody now has credit cards that can be dipped or tapped. I still carry a magnetic stripe swiper just in case, but didn’t need it once this month. I’ve also noticed that Square processes the dipped and tapped transactions really quickly, as in under a second. 

The whole world of POS payments changed during the pandemic, both in terms of technology, and everyone’s behavior. Overall I find it much easier. 

[Pres]

Big changes post covid, bigger changes from the 90's when I had a manual card swiper with printed receipts for master/visa card. Progress to be sure, and makes it easier to do income taxes and other bookkeeping processes. Does it make it easier to inventory?

 

best.

Pres 

[GEP]

Haha I remember using a knuckle buster for imprinting credit cards with a clack-clack. How cringy that seems now, with everyone’s account number in plain view for the world to see! And I remember those years when the credit card industry tried to train us to handle customer credit card numbers more securely (PCR compliance) and how so many artists thought that was a hassle and a waste of time. We’ve definitely come a long way.  

Bookkeeping is definitely faster now. Though I still do inventory with a pen and notebook. This is still faster than entering it into an app. And most of my inventory turns over at every show, so using the app for that doesn’t make sense for me. 

Edited October 18, 2021 by GEP

[Mark C.]

Defiantly less cash these days but for me it used tio avage about 1/3 cas 2/3 visa. Two weekends ago show was still 1/4 cash for me (I had 1 check which is super rare these days). Of course Las Vegas was 30 minutes away and cash still flows there i'm sure (never go to Vegas myself ).  I got lots of 100$ bills

many more tap cards now than in years past -makes it easy and fast

I really like cash myself for various reasons and having it from shows has always been a perk for me vs the wholesale gallery/market check deal that is a constant.

My summer big show was also about 1/3 cash still

Square had upgraded software for my August show which as Gep noted was super Quik and a few weeks ago it had again be upgraded again with new look.

I still carry a buckle buster behind van seat I think -old ways are hard to die.

Edited October 18, 2021 by Mark C.

[GEP]

Just finished the books for this past weekend's show. For all three of my shows this month:

Cash 5.9%

Check 2.1%

Credit card 92%

[Callie Beller Diesel]

Can confirm the pattern! My farmer’s market in years past was easily at least half cash, and 50-80% of the card transactions were debit. This year, only 25% of my take was through cash. I can’t get the exact breakdown of credit vs debit transactions through Square without counting each transaction manually. If people are going to pay with a card, I much prefer the debit: those are only $.10 a transaction, no percentage. My effective card processing rate is 1.75% because of that. And tap of any kind is a quick beep and you’re done. 

I haven’t used a knuckle buster since I was in my mid 20’s, and I worked at a grocery store with an ailing till system that needed to be replaced. There were a number of cashiers who had never seen one, and had no idea what to do with them. I stopped carrying my magstripe reader within 6 months of having my tap reader. I can’t even use one now without a dongle. My phone doesn’t have a headphone jack.

[Morgan]

I am fortunate that tourists seem to usually carry cash, at least here…and almost always ask what I prefer.  Well over half in cash almost always.

[Mark C.]

Yes is some areas cash is still prevalent-like my home area of Humboldt county-my xmas show is still 1/3 cash or more.

[kswan]

Congrats on a good run of shows @GEP!

My sales seem to be about 10% cash. I also bring $100 in bills to make change which I will definitely keep doing. The annoying thing about cash is making the coin change when tax is added. Sometimes I've been rounding up the change for customers so I don't have to deal with scrounging up coins. I think I might keep just quarters and round up with those. 

I put my hand sanitizer at my little check out area in my booth even when it's not required, because I use it often after touching so many things during a day. 

[Mark C.]

Yes  as kswan pointed out these days most customers who deal in cash hate change-I use a cash register which adds tax rate and only use quarters for change-round up or down

I always carry a few hundred in bills to have plenty of change as well-I use a custom made leather vendor bag around my waist at all shows with a  hidden zipper pouch in rear.Great trade years ago with leather workers

[GEP]

47 minutes ago, kswan said:

Sometimes I've been rounding up the change for customers so I don't have to deal with scrounging up coins.

I just cross out the cents part of their total, and charge them the whole dollar amount only. I lose a few dollars overall, which is totally worth not having to count coins!

[neilestrick]

I find that it depends a lot on the location. Chicago suburb shows, very little cash. More rural Wisconsin shows, a lot more cash. I've done a show a couple of times where the cell phone reception is really, really bad, so processing credit cards was not even possible. I also see that more people have cash in the morning, less by afternoon as they run out of cash. I also think that more and more people are aware of the costs of processing credit cards and make a point of trying to spend cash at shows, at least for smaller pieces.

[oldlady]

i guess i am an exception.   the sale in alexandria on the2nd of october brought many buyers, most of whom came with cash.  they are accustomed to bringing cash, according to most of them. 

my daughter suggested using her online thingy and i always suggest mailing me a check, which 4 people did.   my impression is that about 2/3 to 3/4 of my customers paid with cash. 

[Pyewackette]

So in Portland (the one in the West) they used to do this thing at the Farmer's Market where you took your CC to a booth where they gave you Farmer's Market money.  I think it was vouchers and wooden coins.  So you used the FM money at any of the booths, the sellers turned their FM money it at the end of the day and got what they earned, I assume via direct bank transfer which was still relatively new at the time but I don't really know.  I just know it worked for everybody.  The Market got discounted rates on the CC fees as if they were One Big Vendor and every vendor there, no matter how small, reaped the benefits, through not having to have the equipment or having to deal directly with the CC processors.

Do they not do things like that any more?

[Callie Beller Diesel]

1 hour ago, Pyewackette said:

Do they not do things like that any more?

Not really, no. The system you describe would represent a lot of work for minimal savings. Square’s in-person charge fees are 2.65% for a credit card in Canada, and only a ten cent flat rate for debit transactions. Not the lowest, but not the highest either.  You’d have to check rates in the US, but they’re not unreasonable.

Tech like Square or other software you can use on your phone has made taking credit cards yourself a very low entry barrier proposition, so there’s not really any good reason not to have one. The bare bones equipment to get started is a free app, and the chip reader is $60 Canadian. You can get them at Staples if you don’t want to wait for Square to ship you one.  The hardware, software and customer service are all very good, and I think most of us here are fans.

The app calculates all the sales tax, sends the customer an email receipt, and the vendor gets funds direct deposited within a business day or so. It also generates reports that can integrate with accounting software, and you can set it up to track inventory, or send invoices.

[GEP]

I just finished my first show of 2022, and it looks like people are using cash again. Not as much as "before" but some cash usage has come back. 

I will say that while we were all shut down from doing shows, Square made a lot of improvements to their systems. The payments process really fast now, when customers are using chip cards, tap cards,  and Apple Pay. Last fall, it would sometimes take 10 seconds for the app to connect with the card reader. This weekend, the reader was connected almost instantly. This might have to do with strength of internet signal, but before this weekend, the wait time was pretty consistent no matter the show's location.