On Fri, 24 Jun 2022 12:00:40 +0100, Roland Perry <roland@perry.co.uk>
wrote:

>In message <t94395$m0h$2@dont-email.me>, at 10:22:29 on Fri, 24 Jun
>2022, Recliner <recliner.usenet@gmail.com> remarked:
>>Roland Perry <roland@perry.co.uk> wrote:
>>> In message <t92h4k$nad$1@gioia.aioe.org>, at 21:06:43 on Thu, 23 Jun
>>> 2022, "hounslow3@yahoo.co.uk" <hounslow3@yahoo.co.uk> remarked:
>>>> On 23/06/2022 18:32, Tweed wrote:
>>>>> Roland Perry <roland@perry.co.uk> wrote:
>>>>>> In message <t900aj$e3u$1@gioia.aioe.org>, at 22:07:31 on Wed, 22 Jun
>>>>>> 2022, "hounslow3@yahoo.co.uk" <hounslow3@yahoo.co.uk> remarked:
>>>>>>> On 22/06/2022 21:43, Arthur Conan Doyle wrote:
>>>>>>>> "hounslow3@yahoo.co.uk" <hounslow3@yahoo.co.uk> wrote:
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>> it would not surprise me if the 'Merkins stick with
>>>>>>>>> magstrips for a while.
>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> Indeed. Even when US issuers were forced to start using chipped
>>>>>>>> cards, they insisted their customers continue to use signature
>>>>>>>> instead of PIN as the rest of the world did. Apparently they were
>>>>>>>> concerned that as Americans apparently carry more cards than the rest
>>>>>>>> of the world, it would be too confusing to have separate PINs for
>>>>>>>> each card.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> FWIW, Japan is still very much a cash-based society. Indeed, they still
>>>>>>> use faxes.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Germany has a reputation for not liking *credit* cards, and the
>>>>>> Netherlands for having proprietary *debit* cards. I never cease to be
>>>>>> amazed the way shops in Switzerland will take the equivalent of a £100
>>>>>> note for cup of coffee without blinking. And yet so many machines are
>>>>>> coin-only.
>>>
>>>>> Germany has changed. On a business trip to Munich I experimented how
>>>>> far I could get without cash. Everywhere, including the taxi driver,
>>>>> accepted my credit card, except for a small bakery come coffee shop.
>>>>> Netherlands is the only place where the difference between visa and
>>>>> MasterCard was important. A supermarket would accept visa but not
>>>>> MasterCard.
>>>>
>>>> Most retailers in Sweden really don't want cash, AIUI.
>>>>
>>>> I actually spoke not too long ago with somebody there about that, and
>>>> he told me that he has not carried cash in a while.
>>>
>>> My local garden centre, even through lock-down, wouldn't accept credit
>>> cards for less than £10. They also have a stall at the weekly market
>>> (mainly selling bedding plants and flowers), and have big signs up
>>> saying "Cash Only".
>>
>>If WH Smith can’t change £10, cash has had its day
>>
>><https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/c367adcc-f328-11ec-beb3-8cbcdd742a95
>>?shareToken=f10ac23e3bd28522a080591f185eeb93>
>
>On that theme, local Facebook groups report the convenience store will
>no longer change a note into coins, for charity/yard-sale folks to be
>able to give change. Of course, such people won't have the ability to
>take cards.
>
I don't see why they can't take cards. All you need now is a terminal
which costs from about £25. Even Big Issue sellers have terminals in
some cases.

>I've no idea what the region's largest car-boot sales is doing, because
>it's been suffering from pandemic issues. But last time I was there
>perhaps three years ago [as a seller] there was no mobile coverage on
>*any* network because it was in a farmer's field essentially in the
>middle of almost nowhere. Not that far from Turners of Soham, who are
>actually in Fordham, and have a huge container depot right next to the
>railway from the container ports, but no siding.
>
> <https://fordhamcarbootsales.co.uk/>
>
>Buyers
>Free Parking
>Adults 50p
>Children under 16 FREE
>All payments to be made on the day in cash.

In message <jdsbbhlbv7nqeluf82he18h6mc0up223g7@4ax.com>, at 18:18:50 on
Fri, 24 Jun 2022, Ken <ken@birchanger.com> remarked:

>>On that theme, local Facebook groups report the convenience store will
>>no longer change a note into coins, for charity/yard-sale folks to be
>>able to give change. Of course, such people won't have the ability to
>>take cards.
>>
>I don't see why they can't take cards. All you need now is a terminal
>which costs from about £25.

I might have a yard sale once every five years, why would I spend £25 on
a terminal (and more than £25 of my time commissioning it and the
associated accounts)? Ditto if I was doing a once-a-year car boot sale.

And people selling vegetables/eggs at the end of their drive, or
bric-a-brac for charity, aren't going to leave a contactless terminal
lying around (even if they are happy to have an honesty-box with a few
pounds of cash in it).

>Even Big Issue sellers have terminals in some cases.

Some of those seem to be industrial-scale chuggers with probably a
turnover in the thousands.
--
Roland Perry

On Sat, 25 Jun 2022 10:26:45 +0100, Roland Perry <roland@perry.co.uk>
wrote:

>In message <jdsbbhlbv7nqeluf82he18h6mc0up223g7@4ax.com>, at 18:18:50 on
>Fri, 24 Jun 2022, Ken <ken@birchanger.com> remarked:
>
>>>On that theme, local Facebook groups report the convenience store will
>>>no longer change a note into coins, for charity/yard-sale folks to be
>>>able to give change. Of course, such people won't have the ability to
>>>take cards.
>>>
>>I don't see why they can't take cards. All you need now is a terminal
>>which costs from about £25.
>
>I might have a yard sale once every five years, why would I spend £25 on
>a terminal (and more than £25 of my time commissioning it and the
>associated accounts)? Ditto if I was doing a once-a-year car boot sale.

I'll take your word for it, because a yard sale isn't something I know
of. I thought it was an American thing, a sort of one-person
self-hosted boot sale.
>
>And people selling vegetables/eggs at the end of their drive, or
>bric-a-brac for charity, aren't going to leave a contactless terminal
>lying around (even if they are happy to have an honesty-box with a few
>pounds of cash in it).
>
Most charity events are organised by - wait for it - charities. They
don't organise events every five years, but far more frequently. For
example I ran a quiz for a charity last night. I've been organising
four a year for them since 2002. People attending have to pay to
attend and to buy raffle tickets. Last night they had a contactless
terminal, the first time I've seen them with one.

We all know you'll find goat herders somewhere, but I'm sure that very
many people don't realise just how cheap and easy it is to accept
cards these days. And, notwithstanding your every-five-years and
self-service events, most organisations wishing to take money off of
people in this post-covid world would be well advised to take cards.

I very rarely carry cash and I'm far from alone in this. I've used
cash once in the last year, I think, and that was at the Bees in the
Wall pub in Whittlesford. They accept cards but I had cash on me on
that occasion and asked which they'd prefer.

>>Even Big Issue sellers have terminals in some cases.
>
>Some of those seem to be industrial-scale chuggers with probably a
>turnover in the thousands.

In message <2epdbht0ta4t1kors441bgtn4005i7qdnb@4ax.com>, at 11:48:16 on
Sat, 25 Jun 2022, Ken <ken@birchanger.com> remarked:
>On Sat, 25 Jun 2022 10:26:45 +0100, Roland Perry <roland@perry.co.uk>
>wrote:
>
>>In message <jdsbbhlbv7nqeluf82he18h6mc0up223g7@4ax.com>, at 18:18:50 on
>>Fri, 24 Jun 2022, Ken <ken@birchanger.com> remarked:
>>
>>>>On that theme, local Facebook groups report the convenience store will
>>>>no longer change a note into coins, for charity/yard-sale folks to be
>>>>able to give change. Of course, such people won't have the ability to
>>>>take cards.
>>>>
>>>I don't see why they can't take cards. All you need now is a terminal
>>>which costs from about £25.
>>
>>I might have a yard sale once every five years, why would I spend £25 on
>>a terminal (and more than £25 of my time commissioning it and the
>>associated accounts)? Ditto if I was doing a once-a-year car boot sale.
>
>I'll take your word for it, because a yard sale isn't something I know
>of. I thought it was an American thing, a sort of one-person
>self-hosted boot sale.

People do them here as well, the British-English is "Garage sale". Maybe
we have quite a lot of US servicemen and families attached to the bases,
and they don't get a great deal of notice before being re-posted
somewhere else, and have things to get rid of stuff in a hurry. And then
the locals copy it.

>>And people selling vegetables/eggs at the end of their drive, or
>>bric-a-brac for charity, aren't going to leave a contactless terminal
>>lying around (even if they are happy to have an honesty-box with a few
>>pounds of cash in it).
>>
>Most charity events are organised by - wait for it - charities. They
>don't organise events every five years, but far more frequently.

You are conflating charities with people collecting money on behalf of
charities. To continue the yard-sale theme, they are a kind of personal
pop-up charity shop.

>For example I ran a quiz for a charity last night. I've been organising
>four a year for them since 2002. People attending have to pay to attend
>and to buy raffle tickets. Last night they had a contactless terminal,
>the first time I've seen them with one.

So eighty previous events without one.

>We all know you'll find goat herders somewhere, but I'm sure that very
>many people don't realise just how cheap and easy it is to accept
>cards these days. And, notwithstanding your every-five-years and
>self-service events, most organisations wishing to take money off of
>people in this post-covid world would be well advised to take cards.

It just happens that they don't. Maybe it'll filter through eventually,
but it's far from as universal as claimed.

>I very rarely carry cash and I'm far from alone in this. I've used
>cash once in the last year, I think, and that was at the Bees in the
>Wall pub in Whittlesford. They accept cards but I had cash on me on
>that occasion and asked which they'd prefer.

I've got a note somewhere to try two local pubs that up until lockdown
were holding out as cash-only, to see if they've relented. As I've
related earlier, if anything the local garden centre is going backwards.

>>>Even Big Issue sellers have terminals in some cases.
>>
>>Some of those seem to be industrial-scale chuggers with probably a
>>turnover in the thousands.

--
Roland Perry