To think cash transactions above £250 should be banned

[coconuttella]

Because let’s face it, the vast majority of cash transactions above that level are done to evade tax in one way or another... and those cash transactions that aren’t could easily be done another way.

No cuboid I mean when you meet the buyer in person and you see the goods and are both. It avoids paying high fees

Are both satisfied I mean. When you are collecting something that doesn’t go in the post, everything else is PayPal

Wow, so judgemental!
How many £10 transactions does a window cleaner collect a day - but in your mind that’s fine?

"items costing well over £1k are not uncommon. Cash really is the only option here."

I don't really get this. Would you really feel safe carrying around thousands in cash? Is it in a briefcase or something?
It's the Newark antiques fair, not the bronx. Really not a big deal. Why would I put it in a briefcase? That would just draw attention to it. Obviously you do get the odd opportunistic pickpocket, so I wouldn't leave cash in an open handback etc., but you're not going to get mugged. There's security on the gates etc. Been doing it for years, never had a problem.

How does the seller know none of it is fake? Do they check every note?
Couldn't really say on that one, I'm not a seller. But presumably they have something worked out, because they keep doing it.
Just seems so risky to me. Not that there aren't risks with other methods...
I think you'd be surprised how many people walk around with large sums of cash on them (I do occasionally out of necessity). It doesn't make me any more likely to be a target for a thief than anyone else, because you can't know that I have the cash just by looking at me. In fact, I'm generally so scruffy looking, I'm probably the last person to be targeted!

A meal in a decent restaurant, or a bar tab can easily come to twice that much and many people, myself included, like to pay cash in these circumstances.

Where I work most transactions are by card but we have the occasional customers (usually elderly/or very young) who pay cash. The sums are sometimes in the 1000's and we have to bank it ASAP so not held in the shop overnight. My first big cash sale was a bit of a shock but having worked in retail for over 40 years cash used to be the norm it was just because last few years it's mostly card. I don't care how a customer pays as long as they do, the sales keep coming

I always withdraw cash to pay tradesmen. Maybe a few of them are evading a % of tax. I can't begrudge them that when we have billionaires doing the same using cards and bank transfers to offshore accounts.

At the other extreme, the hotel I'm staying in next weekend doesn't accept cash. The end. Payment card, or no deal. Not for the room, not for the bar, not for anything. They're not interested in dealing with cash (banking, counting, securing, insuring) in exchange for the minute number of customers who might be turned away.

OP, is this seriously the biggest thing you have to be concerned with??? Why does it matter so much to you out of curiosity?

Yes , as someone raising a family on a low income I don't have access to a debit card so using cash is the only option I have . Yest I could get one , but using cash allows me to budget not falling for the unreal world of digital money and debt

Since I moved from London to Vienna I discover a capital city that actually often prefers cash to card. And sometimes they expect you to pay rent in cash. Or at least the whole initial payment. That is usually 1-3 months rent, 2-3 months rent worth for security deposit, and 1-2 months rent worth for agent fee. That could mean thousands of euros in cash. Yep. Was shocked when I found out people consider this normal here haha.

You are more than a little silly really, OP.

Ha, YADBU! Username says it all: cocoNUTtella, very nutty indeed. And snooty.

How ridiculous.

*OP, is this seriously the biggest thing you have to be concerned with??

I come back to find it’s still going :) Firstly, no it’s not... I didn’t realise AIBU could only be about deadly serious matters that keep you awake at night! It was just an idea one morning I had that I thought i’d test... Secondly, I’ve agreed it was an ill-conceived idea with all sorts wrong with it... mea culpa!

Ifailed, you replied to my post on page 9 wrt Financial Repression

"Apollo440 what you describe is effectively already in place. The total value of cash in circulation in the UK is only £73 billion - compare that to the total wages earned in in 2017 of £850 billion and a GDP of £1,972 billion.
Less than 4% of the UK's earnings are held in cash."

On the surface what you say looks correct as cash is only a small part of the money supply BUT the important point is that cash isn't illegal (yet). So if, for instance, the government wished to impose negative interest rates on us then we could withdraw our savings as cash. As there isn't enough cash to go around this would cause a bank run, which is why they couldn't do it. However, if there was no option to revert to cash......

As I said in my earlier post, cash keeps Central Banks honest. You will find those pushing to ban cash are those very Central Bankers. As such, you should be suitably suspicious of the reasons they give.

simple answer NO

"It's the Newark antiques fair, not the bronx. Really not a big deal. Why would I put it in a briefcase? That would just draw attention to it."

But it's not just at the fair that you have the cash. It's the whole journey from the bank. How do you carry the cash?
I feel terrified with just a few hundred in my wallet. I'm not thinking of muggings, just of losing it! You can cancel a card, but if you lose cash it's gone forever.

"A meal in a decent restaurant, or a bar tab can easily come to twice that much"

You pay 500 pounds just for you or you and your partner in a restaurant or bar!?!?

"And sometimes they expect you to pay rent in cash. Or at least the whole initial payment. That is usually 1-3 months rent, 2-3 months rent worth for security deposit, and 1-2 months rent worth for agent fee."

I used to live in a European country where part of a house purchase deposit was paid in cash, many thousands. The reason why it was paid in cash was because a part of it was done under the table.

I wonder if Austria is a bit like Germany. Apparently there's a bit of a distrust of non-cash methods in Germany and it's because the Germans insisted on it that we have the 500E note.

My old landlord made me pay him in cash in person every month, even the bank I withdrew the money from thought it was weird. Also who pays by cash anyway, I pay for everything online or through my bank's app. I don't remember the last time I used physical money, probably that landlord lol. Also it's easier to track money paid online than cash. I've had a lot of building work done to my house and I like being able to check online exactly when and how much was transferred because then it can't be doctored or erased by anyone else.

The rent was £1000 a month btw so obviously a lot to withdraw and hand over. I had an old fashioned style rent book he would sign (this was like 2016 so old fashioned today) but still.

I mean the receipt they give you can't be doctored. Also it can't be lost!

This is worth a read OP, HMRC consider high value cash payments to a business for goods to be over EURO 10K and you have to register as a high value dealer under the Money Laundering Regulations:

www.gov.uk/guidance/money-laundering-regulations-high-value-dealer-registration
www.gov.uk/guidance/money-laundering-regulations-apply-for-the-fit-and-proper-test#if-you-fail-the-fit-and-proper-test

Yes yabu