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No convenience at all, I was hoping to offer a different angle to B2, it was so minimal I could afford to pass over it. If you have an alternative I’d love to hear it. As I’ve said many times-intelligent discourse is the way forward👍🏻😊

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I suppose a small barber might not previously have taken cards, but surely most hairdressers did well before COVID. A hairdressing client of mine took about 30% of their takings in cash during the calendar year 2019. During 2022 it was only 11%. I just checked this from the actual figures. I would have thought that fairly typical for multi-chair hairdressers. Of course this is a big change so COVID certainly had its effect.

I can't remember where it was, but I bought something in a Club shop last year and they had their own card machine - not the clubs', but their own. One of those little white SumUp machines. We had a brief discussion about it and they thought it invaluable and I am sure I recall the lady saying that a number of site warden had started to use them.   

The competition among providers of card services is much greater now than it once was and charges have fallen. A typical rate of 3% at one time is now more typically half that. SumUp's charges are 1.69% plus they have a great app for monitoring card sales which itself saves time for accounting purposes. (I don't have an axe to grind for SumUp in case anyone wondered - no connection whatsoever).  

Cash is not totally cost free; banks make charges for paying in cash and cheques and businesses with a lot of cash have to pay someone to count it, reconcile it and bank it. On the whole a cashless business probably saves money with less admin, reduced bank charges and higher sales making up for the card charges - although I admit that probably would not apply to a small, low turnover, club shop.    

  

That’s a good narrative👍🏻, the thing is cashless fits with my personal ideal. I will be more than happy to waive the wallet & the flappy notes without even starting on the last century shrapnel to lug around. Nope, my phone with an App(sans wallet, the male purse) is a joy, I won’t mourn the old ways. Everyone with power makes money from us I have chosen who & how they make money from me-minimally & at my convenience👍🏻😊

They swallow the sales pitch because it is one of the rare sales pitches that happens to be true - for both buyer and seller. 

I think it more likely that charges will fall rather than rise as card use increases yet further. Also, it is a heavily regulated industry.

 Moreover, as I said above, it is quite wrong to assume that cash is cost free to the seller. 

Nothing official micky but I nor anyone I know in this club have ever heard of a CAMC employee going to work for the other club. Speaking to the incomers it does seem as though this club's T's & C's, staff benefits and conditions win the day by a wide margin. I know that's just talk and I haven't set foot on one of the other clubs sites in 14 years since I was sworn at by the site manager 3 times in an hour!! but I know I'm glad they didn't like my cv all those years ago when we applied to both clubs

 

I'm not biased because I'm an employee but from our interview then induction and subsequent training events I've always felt respected and "looked after", even more so since covid. 

JK

Thanks JK. Reminds me of my ‘apprentice’ years when a rival company set up. They undercut but had a heavy and very regular turnover of staff, it became very apparent that they cut several corners, both of employment law and H&S. Not suggesting anything other here than those old adages, “you get what you pay for” and , “the grass is often greener on the other side”. In both cases costs to the purchaser can be more when due diligence is applied.

As a matter of interest what do you do a when staying on a CL, for instance, and the owners request that you pay in cash?

Presumably terms would be discussed at the booking stage?

JK

I would have it sorted at the phone call stage as in-bank transfer or online pay, failing that I shop elsewhere. CL owners are part of the modern world NTF they are primarily business minded which can be attested by them moving with the times & increasing fees rather than allowing greedy people to ruin them, good question👍🏻