Jump to content
 

Please use M,M&M only for topics that do not fit within other forum areas. All topics posted here await admin team approval to ensure they don't belong elsewhere.

Paying for entrance to exhibitions.


Kris
 Share

Paying for entrance to exhibitions.  

150 members have voted

  1. 1. When you go to an exhibition would you expect to be able to pay with a credit / debit card to enter.

  2. 2. If the ability to pay with a credit / debit card was available would you use it?



Recommended Posts

  • RMweb Premium

Having been following the thread on exhibitions and reading that some exhibitions only take cash for entry I was curious as to how people felt about this. 

Obviously this is decision that can only be made by those running the exhibitions and some venues do not have mobile signal needed to run the card readers.

 

I don't run or organise exhibitions so have no hidden agenda with this.

Link to post
Share on other sites

  • RMweb Gold
1 hour ago, Kris said:

some venues do not have mobile signal needed to run the card readers.


The no-contract readers used by stall holders etc these days connect to a mobile phone via Bluetooth.
The phone can connect to the internet via the phones mobile signal, or via WiFi if the venue offers it, which can increase flexibility.

Link to post
Share on other sites

Given the after-effects of Covid, I've got used to paying with 'no contact' which I prefer. I understand though the terminals are not free AND you have to have a wi-fi connection that is not always available so credit/debit cards may just not be a viable option especially for smaller exhibitions/clubs.

 

Our forthcoming show is free as we have the Parish Hall for free (otherwise it's €600 if we charge) and we probably wouldn't have enough footfall to cover the cost otherwise. We shall have a box for donations at the exit - no coshes or lock-in :) - if the public want to. We shall make some money on food and soft drinks (definitely cash only).

 

Cheers,

 

Philip

 

Edit: Sorry, I missed the bit where @Kris already mentioned wi-fi.

 

Edited by Philou
  • Like 1
  • Agree 1
Link to post
Share on other sites

  • RMweb Gold
Just now, RJS1977 said:

A lot can depend on the type of organisation running the event. A small organisation holding a show once a year might not be able to justify getting a card reader for such infrequent use.


The basic ones I mention above cost £30 (£17.99 in WH Smith on Sunday!) and then around 2% of the transaction value in fees without a long term contract.

 

I got cash out at the weekend and had to try 4 cash points before finding one with cash available….

  • Like 1
Link to post
Share on other sites

The questions I had more in mind are:

 

  • If you turned up at an exhibition and couldn't pay on a card (and the nearest free cash machine was beyond walking distance) would that be a problem?
  • If you couldn't pay by card, would you expect the adverts to tell you that in advance?

 

Now for me, I still carry cash, but I remember even at our last pre-covid show in 2019, being near the doors and having a family turn up expecting to pay card and stumped as to what to do when they couldn't. I also see a lot of my colleagues who not only don't carry cash, but don't even carry their cards to work, relying on smart watches/apps. I've been in an office more than most over the last 18 months, and probably got out and about more as well, and beyond ice-creams from certain cash only vans, and a visit to Sandown Park and Bluebell railway swapmeets*, I don't recall the last place I couldn't use a card.

 

With the relatively low transaction cost these days it strikes me that only a handful of 'cannot do cash' customers who walk away would make it worthwhile to accept cards, and or that at least advertising to make it clear it was cash-only might be a sensible idea.

 

Jon

 

*and even at those, it was only really the amateur 'hobby' traders that couldn't have taken a card

Link to post
Share on other sites

We invested in a card machine for our show a few weeks ago. 

Most people still came armed with cash, I think, but it did also allow us to sell several items from the club sales stand which people didn't have enough cash for so a positive move in my view.

We can also use it to take subs at the clubhouse should a member so desire, so cuts out the need to bank cheques.

  • Like 2
Link to post
Share on other sites

  • RMweb Premium
1 hour ago, chris p bacon said:

For the second question I would put 'either' but that option isn't available.

Hmm, I should have added a maybe option. I just didn't think about it, saw it as too much of a black and white question. 

I won't modify the poll however as that would effectively invalidate the earlier answers.

Link to post
Share on other sites

  • RMweb Premium

My club are investigating purchasing a card reader (or two) in advance of our January show. While we will still take cash, the readers will allow the option for the door and second-hand at least, possibly the refreshments also.

 

I've been on the door at a couple of shows (pre-Covid) where there were a few potential punters who wanted to pay the entry fee via a card and decided not to bother when they couldn't - it was only a handful, but I can only see that number growing post-Covid. And certainly on the second-hand there would be definite benefits for those impulse buys.

 

My partner 'solo trades' her art via local art fairs and the vast majority of her sales are card payments - she uses the Zettle reader (sub-£30 as a one-off buy, 1.75% transaction fee, no contract, no minimum amounts per month, etc). SumUp is the other big player, similar cost but the transaction fee is a smidge less.  

  • Like 1
Link to post
Share on other sites

  • RMweb Gold

You can get card readers that plug into a phone line - and actually these are easier to satisfy Payment Card Industry requirements as over wifi needs decent security. Although phone lines are of course an endangered species now.

Edited by Bucoops
  • Like 1
Link to post
Share on other sites

  • RMweb Gold

Not sure of sumup or Izettle, but If you are only using a square terminal and their app to process payments, and do NOTHING else with cards (no storing, collecting online/by email/by phone etc etc) then there is no Payment card industry requirements - https://squareup.com/gb/en/townsquare/pci-compliance .

 

(and yes I am well aware of the deep joy a PCI DSS compliance SAQ and scans bring…..).

Edited by Jonboy
Add link
  • Like 2
Link to post
Share on other sites

  • RMweb Premium

At Rocks by Rail, we were cash only for entry and Cafe until just after reopening this year.

 

I had been pressing for us to acquire a card reader for several years, which was finally agreed to early this year.

 

Delivery delays meant that it was not delivered until the third week in August.

 

We opened on the 1st of August. 

 

In previous years we have 'lost' people, because of the inability to take cards, and as a small, volunteer run charity, every penny counts. This had grieved me somewhat.

 Being Scottish!!

 

As I was walking the dog on the morning of the 1st, I was pondering the problem, and realised that many people use internet banking on their phones, so when I got home, I printed up some slips with our bank details, etc, printed them off, and was thus able to stop at least a dozen customers getting away.

 

If a small event/venue/organisation does not want to shell out for a card reader, then this might be an option.

 

Not ideal, and takes folk a little time to make the transaction, but may be useful.

 

Regards

 

Ian

 

 

 

 

 

  • Like 2
  • Thanks 1
  • Round of applause 2
Link to post
Share on other sites

  • RMweb Gold

I’m old fashioned ive only ever attended exhibitions on the day with cash.

 

i assume traders have cards, but my styrene cup of tea, exhibition guide and my cloakroom style admission ticket  ive always assumed to be hard currency.

Edited by adb968008
  • Agree 3
Link to post
Share on other sites

I voted for ‘at larger events’ for the first question; I’ve never expected to be able to use a card at local village hall shows, but would be surprised if big shows held at exhibition centres (especially those for which the venue effectively organises the ticketing using its own systems) were cash only. It’s interesting to compare this with how we expect to be able to pay traders. I usually attend with a bit of cash for these purchases but would probably expect to be able to use a card for more expensive items from traders.

 

I understand that the card charges may still be an issue for smaller shows though - if the overall admission fee is low then the card charge represents a higher proportion of it. As mentioned already, the card reader itself is also a bit of a waste of money if only used infrequently.

 

  • Agree 1
Link to post
Share on other sites

  • RMweb Gold
1 hour ago, Jonboy said:

Not sure of sumup or Izettle, but If you are only using a square terminal and their app to process payments, and do NOTHING else with cards (no storing, collecting online/by email/by phone etc etc) then there is no Payment card industry requirements - https://squareup.com/gb/en/townsquare/pci-compliance .

 

(and yes I am well aware of the deep joy a PCI DSS compliance SAQ and scans bring…..).

 

Interesting - we ended up ditching taking card payments because of the complexity of passing the PCI questionnaires - it insisted on any computers that card details were entered into were on a separate network to anything else and so on. I say ditching, we moved it all to the website and used a plugin the card provider supplies and says covers us. Curious that cheap little boxes are exempt...

Link to post
Share on other sites

  • RMweb Gold
3 hours ago, RJS1977 said:

A lot can depend on the type of organisation running the event. A small organisation holding a show once a year might not be able to justify getting a card reader for such infrequent use.

Card readers cost about £20, so not much justification would be needed!

 

If you are involved in any activity in which you need to take money from the public (apart from outright theft) it seems to me that you will be more successful in that endeavour if you are able to take the money in any form that they want to give it to you.  We are on the way to becoming a cashless society, and more and more people are spending their money by various digital methods without actually using cash at all, and I can forsee a time when using cash will be difficult in many retail outlets and venues.

  • Like 2
  • Agree 3
Link to post
Share on other sites

There's another important option to consider - paying online before the event. This avoids queues on the day and you should be to just walk up to the door and show some proof of payment, e.g. a QR code on your phone which the door staff can scan with their phone to prove it's a genuine and hasn't already been used. There are numerous services where you can do this very easily. Taking Eventbrite as one of many examples example, you can either build the handling fee into the entry price or pass it on to the buyer.

 

It also allows the club to start getting ticket revenue weeks or even months before the event and start to get an idea of expected numbers.

 

On the subject of the cost of card readers, there seem to be a lot of closed minds that keep putting this into the "too hard" basket. Every club has a bank account but it seems very few have ever talked to their bank about what they can offer charities and other non-profit groups, e.g. loaning a card reader for the annual exhibition and waiving the transaction fees as a form of sponsorship.

 

Cheers

David

Edited by DavidB-AU
  • Like 2
Link to post
Share on other sites

  • RMweb Premium
8 hours ago, 009 micro modeller said:

. . . . . .  would probably expect to be able to use a card for more expensive items from traders.

 

 

To do that you need a reliable phone signal for the card reader to make contact with the bank. On more than one occasion, I have been walking around the car park (O Gauge show at Kettering) with the customer following me so that we could get a connection. Another problem was at Sparsholt Agricultural College (Winchester) where we lost the signal as the college switched off all the IT equipment for maintenance (which included the phone equipment) on the Saturday because no students were there, not realising that there was an exhibition on.

  • Like 1
Link to post
Share on other sites

  • RMweb Premium
9 hours ago, APOLLO said:

Whats cash ?

 

Brit15

What a lot of places still insist on for payment, much to my annoyance.

The missus is going to some exercise classes and they only accept cash and it's an organisation with website, do e-mails etc.

 

  • Friendly/supportive 1
Link to post
Share on other sites

  • RMweb Gold

I am involved with our exhibition coming up this weekend, we are cash only for entry and club sales. As far as I am aware the Summit Centre, who provide refreshments, are also cash only. I can’t speak for the trade but I would expect that they are set up for card payment, wi-fi permitting.

 

For a small club like ours the effort of setting up an internet bank account and getting a suitable phone etc is not likely to happen.

 

See Kirkby in Ashfield in the exhibitions thread for details.

 

Brian.

  • Friendly/supportive 1
Link to post
Share on other sites

  • Administrators
9 minutes ago, 88C said:

For a small club like ours the effort of setting up an internet bank account and getting a suitable phone etc is not likely to happen.

 

It must be a very small club if none of the members has a smart phone, and why can't your existing club bank account be used?

 

FWIW, I'm firmly in the "let me pay by card" camp. Stafford show became a whole lot more expensive the moment the excellent second hand stall acquired a card machine. Yet, the on-site cafe didn't have those facilities, and I saw people in the queue looking at the menu and then reducing their order when they realised it had to be a cash payment. Unless there is an on-site cash machine, this sets a limit on your spending.

 

Also, on the door, how often are card readers going to be a faster way to process ticket money than someone messing around with change? I can't be the only person who's been in the queue and watched as the person on the door appears to have never seen money before and needs to work out how it operates - every single time! :ireful:

  • Like 1
Link to post
Share on other sites

I understand that sometimes there are issues with signal, and I do work on the basis that smaller shows probably require cash, but I think we're increasingly reaching the point where the ability to pay cashless is becoming an essential. A lot of charity collectors take contactless - I even encountered a homeless man who took Paypal (I don't know how legit he was, but I gave him £3 for enterprise).

 

I recently had a rather frustrating time at a swapmeet at a heritage railway because there was no cashless facility - I'd spent the not inconsiderable amount of cash I had and neither the refreshment room nor the buffet car took cash, so wound up going without lunch.

  • Friendly/supportive 1
Link to post
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
 Share

×
×
  • Create New...