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Author Topic: Seriously, carrying hundreds in cash in a crowd of strangers at Hamfest?  (Read 5302 times)

KX4QP

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I just read through this old thread, concerning paying with cash at a Hamfest.

Everyone keeps telling me to get a modern radio, not the boat anchors that actually interest me.  Are these seriously the same people who discussed payment for a page and a half and never once mentioned PayPal?  They have apps for both Android and iOS (meaning you can carry your PayPal wallet with you), and can be funded from PayPal balance, a checking account or a credit card -- and even if you don't maintain a PayPal account, you can download the app on the spot and make a credit card funded payment to a seller who isn't set up to take credit cards.

This is not news, folks.  I've been using PayPal on a routine basis for more than a decade.  It's as secure as you can make your password (correcthorsebatterystaple -- google it), the funds can be verified by the seller literally as fast as you can tell them "You've got money," and the fee to the seller is very minor (a couple percent) and can be automatically included in the amount PayPal charges your card or account.  And in the unlikely case you get home and find out that Hallicrafters S-38 has all the correct dials and connectors, but is actually full of rocks and sticks instead of tubes and capacitors and coils and resistors, you can file a dispute against the seller at the PayPal site.

If you sell used radio gear, you owe it to yourself to set up and verify a PayPal account before your next Hamfest.  Accept a bunch of cash and you make yourself a target.  Accept the same amount by PayPal, and you can walk lightly on your way home (and not just because you sold me one of your boat anchors).
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SOFAR

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RE: Seriously, carrying hundreds in cash in a crowd of strangers at Hamfest?
« Reply #1 on: February 14, 2019, 05:00:46 PM »

Good luck with that.
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N9LCD

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RE: Seriously, carrying hundreds in cash in a crowd of strangers at Hamfest?
« Reply #2 on: February 14, 2019, 06:48:37 PM »

If you THINK CREATIVELY, you can carry more cash than most hams would take to a year's worth of fests.

Don't carry a bulging wallet full of 20's.  Carry 50's & 100's.

Don't carry your wallet in your hip pocket.  That's the first place pickpockets ,look!

Don't keep feeling your hip pocket to make sure your wallet's till there.  You're telegraphing iots location and contents.

As a minimum consider a trucker's/biker's wallet on a chain.

N9LCD   
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W9FIB

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RE: Seriously, carrying hundreds in cash in a crowd of strangers at Hamfest?
« Reply #3 on: February 15, 2019, 03:18:24 AM »

Cash is king.

Show me the money.

Or someone else will.
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73, Stan
Travelling the world one signal at a time.

KE4OH

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RE: Seriously, carrying hundreds in cash in a crowd of strangers at Hamfest?
« Reply #4 on: February 15, 2019, 06:25:11 AM »

Since I can still run faster than a mobility scooter, I'm certain that I'm in no danger of losing my cash at a hamfest. I can easily catch the perpetrator and reclaim my money.  :D
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73 de Steve KE4OH

N0YXB

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RE: Seriously, carrying hundreds in cash in a crowd of strangers at Hamfest?
« Reply #5 on: February 15, 2019, 08:41:38 AM »

Since I can still run faster than a mobility scooter, I'm certain that I'm in no danger of losing my cash at a hamfest. I can easily catch the perpetrator and reclaim my money.  :D

Now that's funny!   :D
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K3GM

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RE: Seriously, carrying hundreds in cash in a crowd of strangers at Hamfest?
« Reply #6 on: February 15, 2019, 09:20:46 AM »

There was this one time ..... at Dayton..... where I got rolled for all my cash while waiting in line for a bratwurst.
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W3UC

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RE: Seriously, carrying hundreds in cash in a crowd of strangers at Hamfest?
« Reply #7 on: February 15, 2019, 05:34:46 PM »

Some of us carry real cash and even dare use our real callsigns on eHam ....  ::)
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W9FIB

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RE: Seriously, carrying hundreds in cash in a crowd of strangers at Hamfest?
« Reply #8 on: February 16, 2019, 04:00:13 AM »

Since I can still run faster than a mobility scooter, I'm certain that I'm in no danger of losing my cash at a hamfest. I can easily catch the perpetrator and reclaim my money.  :D

I put a turbo on mine...it's really fast now. Care to race?  :D
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73, Stan
Travelling the world one signal at a time.

KX4QP

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RE: Seriously, carrying hundreds in cash in a crowd of strangers at Hamfest?
« Reply #9 on: February 16, 2019, 04:16:38 AM »

Some of us carry real cash and even dare use our real callsigns on eHam ....  ::)

I surely will use my real callsign, when I have one.  Carrying hundreds of dollars cash in a crowd of strangers makes me nervous.  I have the same problem at gun shows.

I'm not worried about being able to run down a mobility scooter -- I still get around okay.  I'm worried about the usual pickpocket issue, not knowing my wallet's gone until I try to pull it out to pay for something (even if it's only a bratwurst).
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SOFAR

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RE: Seriously, carrying hundreds in cash in a crowd of strangers at Hamfest?
« Reply #10 on: February 16, 2019, 04:39:04 AM »

I never understood the logic in keeping money in a wallet.
If I carry a large amount of cash, its in an envelope, or wrapped with a rubber band, in my front pocket.

Carry $30 in small bills for coffee snacks etc., so the bankroll is not seen.
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KX4QP

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RE: Seriously, carrying hundreds in cash in a crowd of strangers at Hamfest?
« Reply #11 on: February 16, 2019, 08:32:46 AM »

I never understood the logic in keeping money in a wallet.
If I carry a large amount of cash, its in an envelope, or wrapped with a rubber band, in my front pocket.

Carry $30 in small bills for coffee snacks etc., so the bankroll is not seen.

Oh, I completely agree, in that that's the most secure way to carry cash.  I just have trouble understanding why people who put a whole PC worth of computer into a radio and carry another one in their phone still feel cash is the best option.  AND force that on others -- if I'm carrying all my boat anchor money in cash, I don't have it in my checking to fund a PayPal payment; so as long as most sellers only take cash, they're all going to get nothing else.

It's a chicken and egg problem.  PayPal isn't a viable option until most sellers accept it, and sellers won't accept it when few if any buyers can use it because no sellers accept it.
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N9LCD

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RE: Seriously, carrying hundreds in cash in a crowd of strangers at Hamfest?
« Reply #12 on: February 16, 2019, 12:03:59 PM »

SOFAR:

I wear "tactical" -- a/k/a cargo -- pants.  The leg pockets above the knees have industrial-grade velcro closures are an ideal carrying place.

If you're trying to grab my "stash", you're exposing the back of your neck to edge of my hand.  And that chop will be pretty painful!
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KB5UZB

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RE: Seriously, carrying hundreds in cash in a crowd of strangers at Hamfest?
« Reply #13 on: February 16, 2019, 01:16:35 PM »

There is also a profit motive involved. Paypal/Venmo/Square all have fees involved with certain parts of them. Generally somewhere around 3% plus or minus. If you are buying a $500 radio, that's $15. The seller pays that. So, a seller that only takes cash can have lower, more competitive prices and potentially make more money.

Then there's the shadier tax avoidance side. There's no tracking the cash - so sales tax and income tax can be cheated on. Yet another "savings."
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N0YXB

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RE: Seriously, carrying hundreds in cash in a crowd of strangers at Hamfest?
« Reply #14 on: February 16, 2019, 06:46:05 PM »

If you're trying to grab my "stash", you're exposing the back of your neck to edge of my hand.  And that chop will be pretty painful!

Yes! I like the way you think.  :)
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