Cash Only, please. (Pittsburgh, Erie, Oakland: sales, credit card, buy)

[dcraider]

Excuse the typical starting line .. but ... is it me, or do an inordinate amount of small businesses in Pittsburgh offer "cash only" policies. I can speak mostly to Oakland so far, but it seems there are a lot of places that don't take credit cards. Some places do offer "Square" at least. The usual argument is they are saving money with credit card fees but most biz appreciate they would actually grow sales offering other forms of payment. Someone even told me its better for "their books" as in "tax evasion". Convince me its just my narrow view of what I have seen so far or is it a "Pittsburgh" thing?

[CSD610]

Originally Posted by dcraider

Excuse the typical starting line .. but ... is it me, or do an inordinate amount of small businesses in Pittsburgh offer "cash only" policies. I can speak mostly to Oakland so far, but it seems there are a lot of places that don't take credit cards. Some places do offer "Square" at least. The usual argument is they are saving money with credit card fees but most biz appreciate they would actually grow sales offering other forms of payment. Someone even told me its better for "their books" as in "tax evasion". Convince me its just my narrow view of what I have seen so far or is it a "Pittsburgh" thing?

Not only there but a lot of business, especially small business is going back to Cash Only because of all the fees they have to pay to accept the credit cards and cutting into their profit margin.

[fleetiebelle]

Originally Posted by dcraider

I can speak mostly to Oakland so far, but it seems there are a lot of places that don't take credit cards.

In Oakland specifically, it may be that business owners are paying a lot of fees because students are charging a $2 cup of coffee or similar and the profit margin isn't worth it.

[UKyank]

I can only think of a couple of places that are cash only here, of course I rarely go to Oakland so it could be more prevalent there.

While I understand the fees involved with credit i cannot imagine it's worth the business you are turning away by not accepting cards, though I'm guessing that some of those businesses are oblivious to the fact that someone would go elsewhere because of their policy.

[PghYinzer]

They are actually ahead of the curve on this one. Pittsburghers prefer cash and are backwards and provincial. We hope to soon have cash be the only thing accepted on buses soon too.

All kidding aside, I used to notice that some places had a minimum, which used to not be allowed per their contract with credit card companies, but cash only seems like a rarity these days. Are they non-chain establishments? Some bars are cash only, some of best in fact.

[Moby Hick]

Originally Posted by dcraider

Someone even told me its better for "their books" as in "tax evasion".

I don't see why it would be better for tax evasion than any business of the same type. Coffee shops and restaurants are always going to be paid in cash by a large percentage of their customers. If the owner wants to not report all of their income, they can just not report some of the cash part whether or not they also take credit cards. It's not like you can report no income just because Visa isn't sending you a statement.

[I_Like_Spam]

Originally Posted by dcraider

Excuse the typical starting line .. but ... is it me, or do an inordinate amount of small businesses in Pittsburgh offer "cash only" policies. I can speak mostly to Oakland so far, but it seems there are a lot of places that don't take credit cards. Some places do offer "Square" at least. The usual argument is they are saving money with credit card fees but most biz appreciate they would actually grow sales offering other forms of payment. Someone even told me its better for "their books" as in "tax evasion". Convince me its just my narrow view of what I have seen so far or is it a "Pittsburgh" thing?

Most places that accept cash only are places like coffee shops and bar rooms.

If you don't have $2 in your pocket for those items and need to borrow the money at 18% from Citibank, you're probably living beyond your means anyway and you might need to cut down on the beer and coffee.

[Moby Hick]

Originally Posted by UKyank

While I understand the fees involved with credit i cannot imagine it's worth the business you are turning away by not accepting cards, though I'm guessing that some of those businesses are oblivious to the fact that someone would go elsewhere because of their policy.

I don't think they're oblivious at all. The places that do it that I see in Oakland are small, family-owned establishments that have been there for long enough to have a well-established customer base. They are usually cheaper (and always have better quality) than the chains. I don't think that losing one or two students who don't carry cash would hurt them as much as if they had to raise prices to pay for overhead.

[trackstar13]

My wife just recently opened a small business in Erie and she only takes debit cards or credit cards with an associated fee. In other words it is cash only, unless you pay the fee for using the credit card (it varies based on the credit card company and is a percentage) or you pay the flat $1 fee for using a debit card. She is not profiting from the credit or debit card fees, but just making sure to cover the costs of these fees without having to markup the products significantly. Cash only is not really that backwards anymore and I am learning more about this issue since my wife opened the business. I never knew that small businesses were charged a fee for debit card transactions, until my wife opened a business. Please don't get angry at the small businesses when it is the banks and credit card companies that are gouging the merchants with these swipe fees.

[UKyank]

Originally Posted by I_Like_Spam

If you don't have $2 in your pocket for those items and need to borrow the money at 18% from Citibank, you're probably living beyond your means anyway and you might need to cut down on the beer and coffee.

Just because you're putting a $2 item on a card doesn't mean your not paying it off. I try to put everything I buy on a card & haven't paid for a plane ticket in quite awhile with the resulting miles earned.