Howdy all, This might be a silly question, but do dealers accept credit cards at Botcon (Discover in particular)? Just want to make sure. ~X
with all the show I have gone to in the past. about 85% of the dealer DO NOT take credit card. Only tho that are truely toy store will. Most dealer at show are collectors that are sell off spare. Or they do it as a part time job type of thing. With the fees that are charged to store to take credit card, plus you either have to rent ot own a swiper machine. Most dealer will NOT come off their price if you paid with a credit card due to those fees. CASH or Travel Checks are the best way to go
Something else to note: even though a lot of dealers will have laptops and so on with them, they will NOT take Paypal; if Paypal sees too many transactions with different names coming from the same place, they ccan suspend the account until it's all straightened out and explained.
The biggest two or three will. Everyone else will not. You're much better off bringing enough cash to cover what you want. The hotel will probably have an ATM, but DON'T COUNT on being able to use it. It is empty most of the weekend due to lots of people using it.
Also to note, in the past you were able to use credit cards for convention merch, i.e. the Botcon extras like shirts, extra figures etc...At least this was the case in the last 2 cons I went to, not too sure how things were handled in '04 and '05. And I can't remember correctly but I thought BBTS was accepting cards, and convention exclusive trade ins. So I brought a good amount of cash to use at other dealer tables, then I reserved my credit card for Botcon merch and Joel...and also my tab at the hotel bar.
Yeah, Joel & co. w/ BBTS usually take credit cards...but I'd say most other dealers won't because of the extra costs associated. As for PayPal, it'll be interesting to see how the Hartman bros. handle that since they've stated they'll be accepting PayPal.
It's not so much about cost (when I guess on a certain level it is...) - You have to realize that probably 50% of dealers at Botcon are not professional dealers. We don't have stores or web-stores. We are collectors just like everyone else here. We just happen to have extra toys and set up at Botcon to sell some of them. It's no different than if I came up to you at your yard sale wanting to use a credit card. It's just not practical. This may be the first year we see this. Wireless internet access through the cell phone carriers is now to the point where you can connect some cell phones to a laptop for internet access. If you have Paypal, you can type in the payment right on the spot. One of my partners may try to have this available. Of course if the signal isn't strong enough, forget it. The best option, still is to BRING CASH or traveller's checks. Cash is 100% accepted and TC's are maybe 90% (some overseas dealers won't take them.)
The Toy Addict will be accepting credit cards. If I remember correctly, they usually accept them for transactions over $50.00. They will also be taking in the exclusives in trade during the show, although I do not know what thye offer will be. Come by the booth for more details.
Personal checks are not looked kindly upon by most dealers. Too little recourse if you get a bad check - It's tough to chase someone across the country. Most dealers will take Traveller's Cheques - But Cash is king. No one will turn down cash. Oh, and I expect most dealers will take the show exclusives in trade (the at show ones - not the box sets)... I bet there will even be a bit of a bidding war between dealers who want to get them!
