4 ms·

> It's also normal to not pay sales tax in the city at smaller cafes and every bodega; this is normally passed off as a "cash discount," but it's conspicuously

> It's also normal to not pay sales tax in the city at smaller cafes and every bodega; this is normally passed off as a "cash discount," but it's conspicuously 8.875% rather than the normal credit processing fee. For what it's worth, I live in NYC and have never experienced this. Lots of smaller places give cash discounts, but in my experience it's in the range of 3–4%, which sounds like a CC fee.

woodruffw 4y ago
Which part do you live in? This was the norm in the neighborhood I grew up in (north of UWS), as well as everywhere I've lived (Harlem, north Brooklyn). I wouldn't expect it to be the norm in areas where the foot traffic might pay credit cards by default; I think it's mostly in areas where cash business comes first anyways. Edit: I wish people wouldn't downvote you. It's a massive city, and it's entirely possible to never experience this!
- Wowfunhappy 4y ago
  I live in Manhattan. My apartment is in Harlem, but I don't spend much time there, I'm usually further downtown.
  - woodruffw 4y ago
    That tracks with my experience: I've never received a tax discount for paying in cash downtown. I think some of that has to do with who owns the real estate: ownership tends to be corporate and structured downtown, so businesses' finances tend to be correspondingly more accountable and "by the books."
singhrac 4y ago
I have definitely received larger than 3-4% discounts (5% is pretty common, I've even seen 10%). At the time I had a pretty long discussion about reasons with my friends, but there's a lot of illegal and legal reasons to prefer cash: (a) you can pay employees quicker since credit cards don't disburse funds immediately, (b) you can pay employees "under the table" i.e. ignoring income taxes, (c) you can pay off your suppliers faster (as above), which is really useful for businesses with poorly documented credit (i.e. receiving net 30 or no credit). Depending on the use of the cash, I could see it being economically valuable to offer even a 15% discount (for illegal use) or 5% (for legal, CC processing + credit reasons).
- Wowfunhappy 4y ago
  To be clear, I've definitely seen higher than 4%, just not frequently. What I have personally never seen is a discount of exactly 8.875%, I would have noticed that!
  - woodruffw 4y ago
    Do you have a local coffee place that'll sell you a coffee for 2.75 instead of 3.00 if you pay cash? That's the kind of thing I'm thinking of (and that's normal in the neighborhood I currently live in.)
ryanwaggoner 4y ago
Same here, UWS

woodruffw 4y ago

Which part do you live in? This was the norm in the neighborhood I grew up in (north of UWS), as well as everywhere I've lived (Harlem, north Brooklyn). I wouldn't expect it to be the norm in areas where the foot traffic might pay credit cards by default; I think it's mostly in areas where cash business comes first anyways. Edit: I wish people wouldn't downvote you. It's a massive city, and it's entirely possible to never experience this!

Wowfunhappy 4y ago
I live in Manhattan. My apartment is in Harlem, but I don't spend much time there, I'm usually further downtown.
- woodruffw 4y ago
  That tracks with my experience: I've never received a tax discount for paying in cash downtown. I think some of that has to do with who owns the real estate: ownership tends to be corporate and structured downtown, so businesses' finances tend to be correspondingly more accountable and "by the books."

singhrac 4y ago

I have definitely received larger than 3-4% discounts (5% is pretty common, I've even seen 10%). At the time I had a pretty long discussion about reasons with my friends, but there's a lot of illegal and legal reasons to prefer cash: (a) you can pay employees quicker since credit cards don't disburse funds immediately, (b) you can pay employees "under the table" i.e. ignoring income taxes, (c) you can pay off your suppliers faster (as above), which is really useful for businesses with poorly documented credit (i.e. receiving net 30 or no credit). Depending on the use of the cash, I could see it being economically valuable to offer even a 15% discount (for illegal use) or 5% (for legal, CC processing + credit reasons).

Wowfunhappy 4y ago
To be clear, I've definitely seen higher than 4%, just not frequently. What I have personally never seen is a discount of exactly 8.875%, I would have noticed that!
- woodruffw 4y ago
  Do you have a local coffee place that'll sell you a coffee for 2.75 instead of 3.00 if you pay cash? That's the kind of thing I'm thinking of (and that's normal in the neighborhood I currently live in.)

ryanwaggoner 4y ago

Same here, UWS