Buyers at Train Shows

Who in his right mind would go to a train show without cash?
It's true that some professional dealers take checks and credit cards.
The casual sellers that are looking to sell off surplus trains often only take cash.

People are allowed to attend train shows with any amount of cash they wish. Nobody is going to ask how much money you have at the door.

When I have a table, unless I know you, its cash only.
I've lost very few sales, most folks do bring cash.

Ummm...wow. You're going to judge people, and insult them, for carrying cash?

 The last thing I need to do is start breaking out credit cards when I'm at a train show, I spend enough as it is. I consider myself a very low budget model railroader, but if I don't have a lot more than $100.00 in my pocket, I'm staying home. At least for larger shows that involve some travel, like Allentown.

 Anyway, from everything I see on the topic, it is a heck of a lot easier to steal my credit card information, than it would be to steal the cash out of my pocket. At least with cash, I have a fighting chance.

Cash is king

I agree Cash is King.  Not all vendors want to deal with fees and such associated with cards.  Most non commercial folks won't have the ability or desire to take cards.  Most bigger dealers with store front take cards anyways.  EVERYONE takes cash.

I guess to answer your question, everyone can go, but plastic isn't always excepted so accept it.

Going to a train show I leave my credit cards home and ONLY take cash...but a big wad of it.  That gives me a limit, a big limit, but still allows me st spend what I want but within a limit. Cash IS King; as a joke a couple years ago I asked one dealer if it was ok that I paid in gold or silver bullion. Blank stares abounded.

The buyer has all the options you mention in your post. 

The buyer also has the option of deciding which sellers to do business with.

I suspect you met that unhappy intersection where you found some long sought item (perhaps even at a really good price), but it was found on a smaller seller's table, and you couldn't pay with plastic?  (I'm reading between the lines since your complaint doesn't say specifically what happened to make you ask this question).

Most larger dealers at a show will take a credit card for transactions (perhaps with a limit on how small the purchase can be to use the card, just like a restaurant may not take a card if you spend less than $20 - this is because processing credit cards is not free to the person making the sale).  Similarly, if they are pricing a product at anything in the ballpark of zero margin (making a very small amount, or even maybe losing a little to get rid of excess stock), they may not want to lose more money by handing it over to the credit card companies.

-Dave

Some of the venues (especially the smaller ones) where shows take place don't even have any "dealers" in attendance.  It's often a bunch of private individuals that certainly aren't set up to take plastic.  As stated above, cash is king...and I've never seen anyone refuse to accept it!!

Three of the shows I consistently attend (York, Big E, NETCA at a Holiday Inn) have ATMs on the premises.  I bring an amount of cash that roughly corresponds to my budget and "top up the tank" as necessary.

I was at a NETCA show 1-2 years ago where an older former NETCA BOD member was thinning out his collection of NETCA club cars at excellent prices.  I wore out a path to the ATM that day.

Steven J. Serenska

In the scale world, I often buy from individuals because I am looking for specific models that are not currently imported or manufactured.    Most individuals are not set up to take credit cards, they are not businesses, they are just selling off excess items.    And most would be foolish to take a check from a complete stranger whom they have never met.  

It is my experince that most dealers will take a check, but that is not universal.  

Also at the shows, dealers quite often offer significant discounts, so they don't have as much margin to cover credit cards fees as when they sell list in their shops.

Allan Martinez posted:

Who in there right mind would go to a train show with more than  $100.00 in cash?

Almost everybody that I know does.....most sellers do not take anything but cash.

I say if you're going after big ticket items the buyer should have the option too pay with a card or at least with a check as well as cash.

Are you going to pick up all of the fees and my inconvenience to exercise that option?

My question is this: Should a person be allowed to go to a train show to buy whatever he is looking for when all of his purchases are with plastic only? Please let me know what you think. 

Allowed?  Sure.  Probably just won't end up buying very much......and nothing from me.  I might take a check but only after you pass your session with the lie detector and I get a copy of your driver's license. 

Get this, My local hobby shop quit  taking ALL credit cards. Check and cash only!!

He said between the fees and shipping cost it's killing him. He is an authorized Lionel Dealer and has been in business for over 25 years.  

I think it's a in convienance for the customer especially if it's a new customer who does not know.  

I don't mind because I know  and it forces me to have the money on hand.  I don't have any credit card bills for my trains   All bought and paid for.

Dave

Also at the shows, dealers quite often offer significant discounts, so they don't have as much margin to cover credit cards fees as when they sell list in their shops.

It's funny how train shows have changed over the years.
When I started attending shows in the first half of the 1970's, other than the parts folks, there were no dealers at the shows. It was all hobbyists.

Once in a great while one particular dealer would show up with current Lionel product, but he was the exception.

The NYS tax folks didn't care about getting their vig either.

Always CASH here.......folks selling off extra stuff and my age or older most times do not have a method to take credit/debit so cash always works.

Added you can deal negotiate with cash easier......hold a $100 out offering to buy seems to work better.......plastic COSTS the seller something.

Cash only at a train show. No $$, no buy.  Actually all my hobby stuff is cash.  I bought my G scale outfit with credit cards and spent way too much. That was 20 years ago. Women are the ones who really use the plastic. A lot of them carry no cash all the time. I was on the Pa. Turnpike and the woman in front of me at the exit had no cash !! At one time when I was first working I would go out in the AM with $20 in my wallet, before I retired I would usually leave the house with $100. How things changed.

DuPage/Wheaton County has an ATM in the main building.  The great LCCA/TCA show in Crown Point does not have an ATM in the building but there is one two blocks away in a grocery supermarket.  If I car pool to a show, before we pull into the parking lot we mention how much cash we have between us just to make sure if someone finds a big ticket item we'll be able to cover it.  Ads on TV stations show car phones with a bank transfer capability, I don't know if that is a sign of things to come in a cashless society.      John in Lansing, ILL

At the train shows I have been to in Florida, the sellers can't do credit cards because there is no hook-up for a credit card machine. So cash is King! I usually don't write a check.

Even when I went to Hamburg PA train show last month I carried around $200.00 in cash. I bought some repair parts for a pre war engine there.

I have seen the cell phone with the Square Deal credit app, but you need to spend some money(monthly fee?) for that if I am correct. Only a person who is in a regular line of business may have one.

Lee Fritz

Never used a credit card at a train show, only cash.
Only use a credit card with dealers/train parts people on phone orders or with paypal through eBay.
When I buy through the forum I use a check and ask the seller to wait till the check clears before sending the item out, the money is there but I want to make the seller feel at ease with the transaction. If I pick a item up from a forum seller it will be cash.

Boy, These days all you need is a smartphone along with the PayPal App and/ or card reader and you can receive $$$ from anyone. Paypal.me is a one touch solution that's fantastic and yes you can be paid via 'gift' if so desired...cash is so passe these days as they are trying to do away with it. I heard the Fed's want to do away with 100's so that leaves you with 20's...have 70 of them to pay for that $1,400 engine?? or just swipe your smartphone and money is in the virtual bank 

Although I have never done so myself, I guess that one could use a device like Square with their phone and accept credit cards.  I believe the fees run around 3%. 

Jim

Last train show I went to I brought $1200 but didnt buy anything cuz there was nothing worth buying. All the dealers I have bought from and paid cash have always been willing to make a deal after the show when I wasnt packing enough cash with. I bought an MTH Premier DMIR Yellowstone this way, Some Lionel Amtrak passenger cars and some N scale diesels.

Allan Martinez posted:

Who in there right mind would go to a train show with more than  $100.00 in cash? I say if you're going after big ticket items the buyer should have the option too pay with a card or at least with a check as well as cash. My question is this: Should a person be allowed to go to a train show to buy whatever he is looking for when all of his purchases are with plastic only? Please let me know what you think.

Your post actually made me laugh out loud.   Who in their right mind....$100...now that's funny.

To answer your question of "who in their right mind....."  -  An intelligent, shrewd hobbyist who wants to get the most for his/her money as well as that hard to find to find item they're just itching to have and would only find at a train show or meet.

- Greg

100 bucks? That will barely buy a square inch of layout.

Pete

 

Boy, These days all you need is a smartphone .

Haven't got one of those either......  Tell you what, buy me one and the plan for it and cover all the other fees - Paypal takes a cut - and I'll take it all under consideration.  Funny thing, I've never been asked by a buyer to take a CC or Paypal - maybe 2 checks in the last 5-6 years.

Although I have never done so myself, I guess that one could use a device like Square with their phone and accept credit cards.  I believe the fees run around 3%. 

Boy, These days all you need is a smartphone along with the PayPal App and/ or card reader and you can receive $$$ from anyone. Paypal.me is a one touch solution that's fantastic and yes you can be paid via 'gift' if so desired...cash is so passe these days as they are trying to do away with it. I heard the Fed's want to do away with 100's so that leaves you with 20's...have 70 of them to pay for that $1,400 engine?? or just swipe your smartphone and money is in the virtual bank 

Just curious: Do either of you folks set up at train shows?

When I sell at a train show, all items are AS IS. You can take the trains over to the show test track and try it out. If you decide to buy, it's yours. With credit cards and standard PayPal, I believe you can dispute the charges afterwards, and undo the sale.

Years ago I'd offer guarantees on the trains I sold. I got tired of having to take back and/or repair items that were "tuned up" by their new owners. Then there is always the possibility of a buyer pulling a switcheroo.

I used a credit card at a estate sale that used the Square payment system and by the time my I put my card in my wallet my phone buzzed and it was a email with the receipt from the seller.

Cash is still king though!

Franktrain 

I went to a train show with $400 cash once.  Was looking for Spirit of 76 set, 6-18030 Mikado, or Lionel Lines set.  Left with the Mikado, went to Nicholas Smith and got the caboose for it.

I bring it all! Credit Card, Debit Card, as much cash as possible, checkbook, and my Smart phone to pay via PayPal!

I use my cash as a last ditch effort to purchase something with a vendor that will accept nothing else.

York is one of those places if you see it for a good price... jump on it! For if its not gone in 60 seconds, the chances of you even finding it again are slim to none...

Went to a Greenberg show once with a few hundred dollars on me.  Saw this NY Central diesel and Bi-Level passenger car set that looked really nice. A thousand bucks.  Credit card?  No, the Dealer wanted cash.  (This was not a small individual seller at a single table...this was a dealer whom you see at all the shows, including York.)  I had a check, offered it to him, TCA number, driver's license #, phone number etc. etc.  No thanks, I want cash.  I said to him something like, how may people come to a train show with a grand in their pocket?  He looked a bit annoyed and said something to the effect of, That's not my problem.  

It was kind of annoying but, hey, he saved me a thousand dollars I guess, that's one way to look at it.  

You know, if you pay for everything in cash....or pay your credit cards off every month....you can't get buried in credit card debt.

When it comes to my hobbies, I take a very simplistic approach:  if I don't have the cash on hand to pay for an item, I can't afford it.  If I want a big ticket item, I save up for it....then buy it.

Berkshire President posted:

You know, if you pay for everything in cash....or pay your credit cards off every month....you can't get buried in credit card debt.

When it comes to my hobbies, I take a very simplistic approach:  if I don't have the cash on hand to pay for an item, I can't afford it.  If I want a big ticket item, I save up for it....then buy it.

Gee...  I thought I was the only one that subscribed to that philosophy.

Rusty

Always buy in cash at the shows and I have spent hundreds in the past.  What business it it of anyone, the way people wish to pay, how much cash they carry in their wallet and what dealers policies are?  If you like the policy you buy, if not you walk and its always your wallet to put whatever amount you want in there.  

I like cash it eliminates the harangue I get from my wife about how much money I spend on toy trains when she sees the VISA or Master Card bill which are bad enough. Not that I wouldn't like the option at shows, but I'm usually prepared if there is something I'm shopping for I've already checked it out on E-Bay or the hobby shop so I go to swap meets prepared just in case I find it there at a price I'm willing to pay. Then again, I often find something I wasn't looking for and can't live without once seen. But I was raised by Depression era parents and inspite of my life's financial success I shop hard. Then again between trains, hot rods, Harley Davidsons, and the tools and parts to support them I spend a lot of money, at least I don't golf yet.

Bogie

I always take cash to shows,you can't expect the little guy to do credit card transactions and I think that if a big dealer wants cash only that tells me he is not going to pay tax on the transaction.

Mikey

If my uncle was any indication - its probably more of a cult of personality and generational thing.

He did was a regular vendor at York for the duration - and he never took anything but cash.

But - he also never owned a cell phone - or a computer. He was probably the worlds last WebTV subscriber. Not a guy fond of change.

So - I doubt he even knew of the possiblities.

If you know the technology - use it...its probably to your detrement to stay behind. This stuff is not new - tried and true.

I can't see what the problem might be with e-transactions - if your payment gateway charges a fee - add it to the sale!

Its the BUYER who should pay for the convience of the electronic transaction - not the seller.

So - that would be an incentive to use cash.

On the other hand - York is a craphole of a city...I wouldn't be walking around with lots of cash - especially at a high profile event like this...no way!

Checks - I would not take checks...that seems the easiet path for fraud.

I think there is a way to see if a check is good - but seems like too much hassle in the middle of busy sales day.

I always bring cash, and lots of it. (Assuming I have it)  One benefit of cash is that sellers seem more open to negotiating the price when you have cash.  The aspect of negotiation seems to lessen when paying with credit card or check...at least that's been my experience.

Roving Sign posted:

Its the BUYER who should pay for the convience of the electronic transaction - not the seller.

That's.....insane.

On the other hand - York is a craphole of a city...I wouldn't be walking around with lots of cash - especially at a high profile event like this...no way!

I think you're being a little harsh.

 

Berkshire President posted:

Roving Sign posted:

Its the BUYER who should pay for the convience of the electronic transaction - not the seller.

That's.....insane.

On the other hand - York is a craphole of a city...I wouldn't be walking around with lots of cash - especially at a high profile event like this...no way!

I think you're being a little harsh.

 

 

Perhaps - I live 2 counties over - and used to regularly visit the city, but in recent years have had too many friends beat up or mugged attending events there - but yeah maybe more of West York problem - which more or less surrounds the Fairgrounds...

As for the cash vs credit...not sure it's insane, just my opinion.

Do you think eBay sellers don't consider the "take" from eBay and PayPal when pricing items? Not sure why it should be any different for in-person transactions.

Allan Martinez posted:

Who in there right mind would go to a train show with more than  $100.00 in cash? I say if you're going after big ticket items the buyer should have the option too pay with a card or at least with a check as well as cash. My question is this: Should a person be allowed to go to a train show to buy whatever he is looking for when all of his purchases are with plastic only? Please let me know what you think. 

$100 isn't what it used to be. I usually set my spending limit by the amount of cash I take and assume credit/checks will NOT be accepted. I suspect that requiring small sellers to accept checks/credit/electronic payments is the quickest possible way to kill off the already fading train shows!

As stated above, ATMs are everywhere, give the seller a $75 deposit and run out for more cash if you must. I have never had a seller refuse that! Then too, at small shows, most sellers are local, give him a deposit and meet up at McDonald's next week to swap lies, settle up and get the merchandise.

There is usually a way. If the seller insists on difficult terms, he is probably not truly interested in selling.