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I don't break bills that are $100. Sorry, MOST people at least around here, carry that when they come to a FM or Fair. I am not about to lose money on a fake bill and those pens don't always work. I don't have time to fiddle with all that. If I lose out on a $20 no biggie.
I will break a $50 if they are buying a couple bars and up, but not for a Lip Balm.
I have a ton of Till so it isn't like I Don't have the change, I just won't do it.
If I lose a sale over it, so be it. I had one person that wanted to do that, there was someone else in the tent looking and hears it all. When I told them I can't, they were a slightly miffed but not mad. The other customer was like, WOW Why would someone do that ?

I also DO NOT punch in numbers on a CC if the strip is not working. Not playing the wheel of 'Is it stolen' since you can get a replacement easily now a days
 
I'm right there with ya, cmzaha. This isn't my full income either and I don't think this makes us bad business people. We're just creating good karma.
And like you, I have no problem breaking big bills. I start out every festival with $200 in the till for this very reason. Sometimes people just don't think about this, particularly if they've never been vendors themselves.
:thumbs::thumbs: Yup! Most sellers would also be appalled at what I will give away. Recently I gave away a 10 oz jar of a Tea Tree salt charcoal scrub. Scrubs just do no sell for me and I gave it to a gal to try out. She was happy and it was one less I had to carry back and forth. I just told her if she loves it and needs more to just let me know and I will make it up for her.

I guess I have been fortunate that in my almost 10 yrs of markets, and I used to do 4-5 per week I have never had a bad bill large or small. Last year I did have my first theft, someone stole 7 of my foot bars. :(
 
I also DO NOT punch in numbers on a CC if the strip is not working. Not playing the wheel of 'Is it stolen' since you can get a replacement easily now a days
This is why I have the Square Chip Reader in addition to the magstripe reader. If neither of them work, then I ask for cash.

:thumbs::thumbs: Yup! Most sellers would also be appalled at what I will give away. Recently I gave away a 10 oz jar of a Tea Tree salt charcoal scrub. Scrubs just do no sell for me and I gave it to a gal to try out. She was happy and it was one less I had to carry back and forth. I just told her if she loves it and needs more to just let me know and I will make it up for her.
Again, I'm right there with you! It makes my husband crazy at how much I give away! If I have a customer who is counting their cash or checking their bank account balance to see if they can afford my products and then putting stuff back - I just give them the extra stuff. I'm a student of Ayurveda and I firmly believe that what we give to the world comes back to us. And my religious beliefs are the same - I will never grow poor by sharing my blessings with others. I have zero interest in being wealthy, I only strive for a happy, peaceful life :)
 
@cerelife I didn't get around to buying the chip reader this year. Most of my people are cash I have found so I may just keep the free strip reader. And honestly, if someone signs for charge without a pin then I don't see how 'more secure' it really is... unless you are also looking at a Drivers Lic too to verify signature. That's just me, everyone has their own opinion.

Ditto on the freebees, I have also lowered a price for some people too when they are looking for extra money. Or a teenager that ran over to their Folks and they said no. I called a group of 4 girls, about 14 y/o, over when they did that and gave them each a bar of their choice. They were so happy and that is all that mattered
 
I too have the chip reader. I get some large credit card sales where I have my shows as I'm only there once or twice a year so they stock up. I also give away things or will give discounts to large orders. I especially cut the price for kids that are using their own money.
 
Most sellers would also be appalled at what I will give away.
Not this one! I had a rather long discussion about shampoo bars with a gal at a show I did in August. She had bought 'hair soap' (lye based) from a local maker. She said she had tried it once and it fried her hair, but the maker reformulated with different oils so the customer was currently using new soap. I explained why lye soap is bad for hair, why my shampoo bars are true shampoo bars and my own experience using lye based 'hair soap'. The customer bought a bar of regular soap and a lip balm from me and said "well, now I have your information in case the shampoo bar doesn't work", and I grabbed one of my shampoo bars, put it in her bag and said "I can guarantee you're going to need to this. This one is on me." Yep, she emailed me a month later to let me know I was right, she went in for a haircut and the hairdresser was shocked at all the damage done in just 5-6 weeks of use (all that 'body' they claim to have is really just damaged hair). The customer had brought both soaps in to get the hairdresser's opinion and the hair dresser said [of course] that if the customer wouldn't use the expensive salon products, mine was the better to use. Totally worth the giveaway to get a customer a better option and the future sales. Kindness is always remembered.
 
can I ask what reader you are using at your shows? the chip reader or the mag strip? is there price difference for the two?
Mag strip, it was free and most of my stuff is paid by cash.
This was posted back in Oct 2019 so I am sure everything might have changed.
 
can I ask what reader you are using at your shows? the chip reader or the mag strip? is there price difference for the two?
There's no fee difference between the chip reader and the mag strip. There is however a fee difference between manually entering the number and swiping/inserting it (manual being more expensive).
 
There's no fee difference between the chip reader and the mag strip. There is however a fee difference between manually entering the number and swiping/inserting it (manual being more expensive).
Thanks so much, I have never done a market before I wan to be prepared. Do you think the chip is a quicker transaction? I feel that the mag strip can be temperamental sometimes.
 
I like the chip reader alot better. Depending on the wifi or data connection, it works very fast. Most customers are surprised how quickly it goes through. Plus bonus points for not having to handle other people's credit cards. I just set the chip reader in front of my checkout area for the customer to use. It's so easy that at my last market my 13 year old daughter was my checkout girl.
 

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