@bigkid posted:...I do want to give a shoutout to the people running this, they did a great job, and having done volunteer work like this it can be one of the most thankless things you can do, I made it a point to try and thank the EDTCA people I ran into (sometimes literally).
About the only thing I would say to the folks running York and even other train shows is finding a way to make it easier for dealers and people with tables to accept credit cards and the like. Given how expensive this stuff is, it is kind of clunky to have to carry around a lot of cash and the ATM machines have limits on how much you can take out (I know, this is nothing new). You don't even have to use credit cards, it is possible to use payment vendors like Venmo to send money via email for example. I think people would make a lot more sales if that was made easier,especially if they want to attract younger people, where cash transactions are not all that common...
Re showing appreciation, I'd like to encourage everyone to send an email to Mike Petronella (contact info on EDTCA's website) - I don't know how many of the meet volunteers are on this forum, so they might not know how much we appreciate the effort.
Re the payment situation, vendors that run as a business have many options for non-cash payments if they choose, but there are several reasons why sellers often prefer cash - no fees, simplified bookkeeping, and privacy. And from a buyer standpoint, cash helps with budgeting and negotiating, and some folks don't want their significant other to know how much they spent. In addition, many dealers will discount to "pay the tax" when cash is used - on a $1000 purchase, this amounts to $60. I don't know about you, but I'd rather buy another boxcar than send that money to the PA dept. of revenue.
It's 6 months until April; start building that stash of cash now...
