AIBU to put up a sign encouraging customers to pay in cash?

[Theydidnt]

I run a small business and we are taking SO much less cash than we used to. It's really having an effect on how much we are taking. But I'm interested to know whether people would be put off by a sign with this wording or whether people support it. I know lots of people think cash is a way of avoiding the tax man and may find it unprofessional. Interested to know people's thoughts

You need to negotiate with your card machine supplier, we pay pence per transaction. Even Amex transaction % has reduced in recent years. When I took cash I used to pay fees
for banking cash, we’d have to count it up every day, walk it to the bank and collect change that we had to call up and order in. Now we are cash free it’s much quicker to cash up/reconcile, much safer, no one has to carry heavy bags of change and no one can steal from us. It’s much better.

It's too wordy and putting "CASH" in capital letters is a bit in-your-face.

Why not just put up a small sign saying something like "cash preferred, cards welcome" and leave it at that?

It really doesn't matter what people think about HMRC/ tax evasion, you know that's not the reason.

Apologies. I hadn't realised you were typing your reply.

I haven't changed the tone, though. It was always meant to be a bit patronising.

I do, although I do also have my own business on the side and I would pay a small fee to expand my client base. I don't deal with card fees though, so I don't know much about them nor their value.

I don't understand how you can say that you're doing well enough to be fine with alienating part of your client base (some people on here have said that the sign would be off-putting) but not be fine with a small card fee.

Several businesses in my local (small, rural) town do not take cards due to the costs, though fewer than when we arrived 15 years ago. I still shop there, and remember to take cash. Because they are lovely shops and traders and offer a product I want, and I value a thriving high street. Helpfully there are two cashpoints within a few minutes walk of nearly all businesses. So I reckon those who like your product will adapt pretty quickly. We run an honesty stall from home and people bring cash to pay for the product - we even leave out change for those who don't have exact money, which I get is not something you could do everywhere.

Most people are kind, considerate and don't think you are out to diddle them and the tax man. Good luck with your business.

YANBU

I prefer the sign you posted, not the "card welcome, cash preferred".

I really love when businesses put up the 'wordy' signs that you are suggesting as so many people think preferring cash is about dodging tax 🙄 when it's actually just about keeping 100% of the item price within the business and not having massive companies creaming off 1-2% of everything.

1.5% card fees on your £200K sales is £3K, anyone arguing that that's nothing is silly, that £3K could be a month's rent, or a third of the business rates, or an annual utility bill etc.

Well done for your business taking off, may it long continue!

Banks are businesses, they are there to make a profit

I don't get this - how much do you have to pay to deposit all that cash? I thought that was something like 1.5% as well, which is basically the same as 1.6% (and there shouldn't be any theft/loss too).

Agree with this. Wouldn’t see as a problem. Just need to fix a few bits

OP just to add that I do like the longer version to explain the card fee etc. some people will know but for some it won’t click.

I think the short version is a bit off. But that’s just me.

I think it's fine. I normally pay by card, but this would make me think about paying by cash instead.

I think the simple 'cards welcome cash preferred’ absolutely works

i asked the local shop what they preferred and they said they weren’t bothered. I would never use my credit card there to pay for stuff though (which I usually do for everything)

I usually put £20 in my pocket and I have a stash of £50 in my car incase any cash only places pop up

I’d rather be told there’s a 50p charge or whatever and still pay card tbh. Never have cash

I'm following a 'no-spend' 2026 and part of that is spending cash only and no impulse spending on cards, online (amazon, takeaways etc)
I love spending cash now... Feel empowered.
Your sign is great!

😂 I mean, it's an awful lot simpler than the OP's version. There's a fine line between simple and blunt.

I’m so intrigued to know what your business is!

I never carry cash so would go elsewhere. I think it’s fine to ask though. (My MIL always gives me £100 cash in my birthday card which is really kind of her, but I pay it into the bank to use via ApplePay after one year when I realised I had it in my purse from the previous birthday!)

I hope you're not as rude to your customers as you are in this post.

If you're taking £200k a year in cash, that's a lot of banking. The theory that taking cash is cheaper than card has largely been debunked because of the additional time, security and effort it takes to deal with cash.

For that reason, I wouldn't use you. You may be squeaky clean but there's no legitimate reason for asking for cash so you are bound to raise suspicion. I'd rather use a business that provides greater visibility for the tax office by processing everything electronically. So, I would preference a card only organisation over one that takes cash, even if they don't openly request it as you're considering doing.

Wouldn't you be better going down the cashless route? At the moment you have the worst of both worlds - paying fees and wasting time faffing with cash. If you took cash out of the equation completely, it would be more cost effective than taking both.

Not unreasonable at all. I mostly pay by card, however there are a few businesses local to me who only accept cash payments. It doesn’t put me off and I’ll make the effort to pass the ATM on the way to them.

I'm finding more and more businesses are doing this lately, it's becoming common to pay in cash at shops/cafes/pubs.
YANBU, it wouldn't bother me.

Why would you go elsewhere, out of interest? The sign doesn’t mean it’s mandatory…

I feel like the businesses who have signs up saying ‘cash is king’ aren’t paying tax or are reform voters personally

I don't get this argument. Bank fees have been around for a long, long time. In the past, they were factored in to your costing. It's a recent thing that businesses bleat on about them. I'm not responsible for your banking arrangements. It's up to you to negotiate better fees with your bank.

For example, in one of my jobs, I found a foreign currency provider who gave us the best market rates plus zero transaction fees, solely due to the volume of payments we were making. Fees for foreign transactions were typically $20-$30 per payment in those days, so I was saving a few thousand per month just on fees. I had foreign suppliers wanting me to also pay their bank fees to receive the funds. I refused as it was up to them to negotiate with their banks, the same as I'd negotiated with my provider.

I don’t mind saying. It’s wellness and beauty. Not modern slavery, not fiddling the tax man 🤪

Seems like the only booming high street industry at the moment sadly.

Yes, I think anyone asking for cash may not be declaring all of it. They may declare most of it, but not all. There are charges with card transactions but banks also charge for handling cash. They also have the cost of taking the cash to the bank. I am guessing anyone taking cash payments is also paying their employees in part in cash so maybe this is not declared too. Asking for cash risks losing customers as they some customers prefer to shop in a business they know is above board. Cash is on the way out.