Not the best idea my friend. Scammers love debit cards but not credit cards. If you get scammed by debit, your money is gone: you have a recourse on a credit card.

My father in law operates a small lumberyard and hardware store in central KS. The vast majority of his customers are on monthly accounts, so he has no incentive to give up around 6% of his sales to the credit card company. It is funny when the occasional out of town customer slaps down the plastic. But they nearly always go around the corner to the ATM and come back with cash.

Not true, unless it's some Stone Age debit card with no logo on it. One of my debit cards is a Visa and the other is a MC. They both have 100% fraud protection and it's been activated countless times when my card got breached. Where do you get your information? :confused:

On the bottom of my business card:

In God we Trust
All others pay cash

Jim

In my experience, it is very common in this area for smaller contractors, ( i.e. painters, repairmen, landscapers, tree trimmers, etc.) to quote two prices: one for credit card or check and one for cash. The going rate seems to be 10% off for cash and I am sure this all gets reported as income to the IRS.

ok, don't go. its really that simple. why do they have to get out of the stone age just for you? Why??? I don't care how they charge me as long as I get what I want even if I have to trade my underwear for it. its their business, they do as they like.

You do have less protections with a debit card than a credit card in most cases.

Yep. Plus currency grosses me out - thinking of how many hands it's been in, where those hands have been... Eww.

I don't like Big Data and the tracking / profiling that comes with electronic payments but the convenience of a debit card just can't be beat.

Drives me nuts when places don't take cards - I don't go to "cash only" dives. Anyone can get a Square reader for about 20 bucks and the cost per transaction is pretty low. Heck I have one and I've used it to accept payments for stuff sold on Craigslist. These Luddite places simply need to get with the times.

If I really start to get more concerned with Big Data knowing and tracking too much I'll do more cash transactions but for the time being the inconvenience, potential security risk and general disgustingness of having to cart around currency is outweighed by the comparative convenience and cleanliness of my debit card (or ApplePay, if it catches on like I think it may)

Last time my in laws looked into credit cards for their business, the take was 5-6% due to their relatively low volume of sales. That's pretty significant for a small business. If you can get away without it, why not?

I pay cash in restaurant, almost always unless its a huge bill over 100 bucks. I go to the hardware store for some bolts and sandpaper, I pay cash and be done with it.

Oh, I take checks only (way beyond stone age) for my business.

There are scammers that have merchant accounts too... FYI

Spokane has two long-time business that have been or are Cash Only for the majority of time (Dick's Drive In still is, and the White Elephant only recently started accepting CC's - after Cabela's came into our market challenging them). Both are waaaaayyyy above board.

Several other businesses have gone under or been closed for tax evasion.

5-6% seems astronomical to me. Even on low volumes Square, PayPal, even US Bank, etc. would likely be in the 3% range. There may be a monthly charge as well, but I would estimate less than $100 (from what my clients report - I'm not in the banking industry).

It is an inconvenience when you come across something you want and have no cash (has happened to me). However, if the business is busy without it why give up any %? And while you can evade taxes easily in a cash business, it can be done with CC charges as well.

If I go to a merchant I like and enjoy doing business with, I'll pay cash for the very reasons stated above (for the benefit of the business owner).

Little things like nuts and bolts at the hardware store - cash.

You're sexy when you're paranoid.

The other thing about taking cards is that you dont see the money for a few months. Need or want it quicker and the service takes a higher percent

As I read the initial post I was thinking....cash only.....huh.....we don't have any of these here.

Then I remembered......"Victor's Backstreet BBQ" on N. Pine St. Legendary little cafe and insanely good food. Victor the owner and chef had worked and won a bunch of culinary awards in the Cumberland area before re-locating here.

It wasn't a big deal to pay cash for me. Heck the food was so dang good I would have stood on my head and gargled peanut butter if I had to.

Well I guess Victor didn't handle his financials too good because after a couple years he closed the place down and moved away and then I heard he committed suicide. How sad is that? :(

I purchase supplies from several places on a regular basis and they pretty much all take cash or credit cards but I noticed there are some who no longer accept checks, and I don't blame them.

i've been running this joint for twenty eight years and so far i am still not taking cards. when they offer a card that i, as the merchant, don't have to pay to play, i may rethink the no-card policy.
i operate for cash, check, or an interesting barter.

I have a bunch of Gumby memorabilia. Make me some food. Post haste.

No, they don't have to change for me. So I do to go back.

When I have cash it's quickly gone. Then I don't have cash anymore. Now I need to get cash. It's just another errand I don't need in my life.

Anyone ever have their identity stolen using a dollar bill?

Start laying down dollar bills...5's, 20's, 50's, and Hundred dollar bills...then you have a better sense of where your money is going, rather than whipping out that card(especially bites if there's interest as icing on the cake).