I need to collect money from a group of people to buy a service, how can I do this so they trust I'm not going to run off?

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I am a part of a group of people who need to club together to buy a service, if I can get enough folk to pay £50 it will benefit all of us. There is a lot of interest, but most people won't know me, so I'm wondering if there is some sort of financial service/account I can use. I want people to feel secure that I'm not going to run off with their cash and also that if we don't get enough that it will be returned to them. Does anyone know how I can go about this? I can't afford to bank roll it myself.

bump

set up account that everyone will pay into directly instead of passing you the cash? Make it need 2 signatures for withdrawals?

or get everyone to agree to the service and then contact the provider of the service and arrange that everyone pays them directly.

Thanks, but the provider of the service has already said they won't accept lots of individual cheques, also I need to know that I can get enough people to contribute so that we meet the amount the service provider need.

Can you give more details?

Is there someone the group does know and trust, who can be the other signatory on the group account? (If you're going to have one?)

mw being nosey but what service do you need?

I agree that an acoount that needs 2 signitures with an appropriate name for them to pay into directly rather than handing you £50 cash may help!

You could use an escrow agent.
Not sure how much that would cost, but you could add a small amount to each person's payment for the peace of mind it would give everyone.

Could you give them some sort of receipt that acknowledges you've been given the money and what it is intended for? At least that way, they'd have some documentation...