Attending 1st Show - Credit Cards Accepted?

M

miguel_SF

Joined
Jan 3, 2002
Messages
127
Hello All:

I'm looking forward to attending the Palo Alto, CA show at the end of September. This will be my first show. I assume all the dealers and factory reps will be set up to take credit cards, but will that be true of individual makers? Do I need to carry a wad of cash, just in case I see something nice, or will I be OK with just my faithful, over-worked VISA card?

miguel
 
Mine was the Blade Show recently in Atlanta, GA. I remember another forumite saying that cash spoke with great volume among the custom makers especially.


Larry S.
 
about fifty fifty on that one.
some shows have a credit card machine at the registration table for the convenience of everyone there.
 
Most manufacturer's reps don't actually sell at the shows. They don't want to compete with dealers. If they do, they're either outletting year-before-last's leftovers that didn't sell, or they're charging full retail for current stuff.

Dealers are just about 100% CC accepting, but they'll often cut 3-5% off the price if you have cash. You have to be very carefull about asking for this. Technically, their agreement with the CC company usually does not allow them to discount for cash (the CC companies don't want any barrier to the consumer using his card). So, they risk loosing their merchant account if they do this for you. But, especially if it's a dealer you know, they sometimes will.

Custom makers? About 50% of the major names accept CCs. About 20% of the minors do. New makers, about 0%. Often, you can give them a cash deposit to hold the knife for you and then mail them the rest later and they'll mail you the knife. In other cases, I've given a cash deposit and the rest as a personal check. When the check clears, they mail me the knife.

Deposits for custom orders can usually be a personal check since the maker will barely begin thinking about starting in on your knife before he'll know if the check cleared.

Cash is always king.
 
I assume all the dealers and factory reps will be set up to take credit cards
Click to expand...
At the Blade show I was disappointed to find that some of the factory vendors were NOT selling at all. Furthermore the dealers selling were strictly MSRP. Some people took home production knives from the show so it may well have been my bad luck. It worked out OK because I reallocated my Blade show budget on two custom knives that are excellent (and they both took credit cards).

EDIT: Gollnick and I posted at the same time :D.
 
Glad I asked ahead of time. Looks like I'll have to break my piggybank.

Thanks for the link Larry S, and all others for the tips.

miguel
 
To my complete and utter amazement, I've had custom makers, including a couple of "name" ones, accept my personal check at a show without checking my ID or holding the knife until my check clears.
 
We will have a credit card machine for the convience of the makers.Do it every year.
Also most custom makers take a check.
Miguel,If you need to purchase something and are having trouble,look me up.I'm the short fat guy with the beard and pink flamingo shirt.I'll make it happen.
Randy
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top