Had a client that got caught up in the 2008 bust. For a couple years after that they would come in from time to time and lay down maybe $500 - $1000 in cash against their bill (which stood at something like $20,000). We always counted it out in front of them, gave them a recei
Got stiffed once when customer gave the envelope and both assumed to be correct. Well as didn't count it there and then had to let it slide as it will be my word against his. So from then on I always count in front of them.
Special_ops, post: 420529, member: 12541 wrote: paid a 10k bill in cash
I hope you filed the correct federal paperwork. There is serious trouble to be had when transferring unreported cash over some threshold in the vicinity of that number. Also, if they pay a bill over the threshold in multiple smaller cash payments, the reporting rules may still apply. Many real estate agents have gotten in trouble over this.
Bill93, post: 420562, member: 87 wrote: I hope you filed the correct federal paperwork. There is serious trouble to be had when transferring unreported cash over some threshold in the vicinity of that number. Also, if they pay a bill over the threshold in multiple smaller cash payments, the reporting rules may still apply. Many real estate agents have gotten in trouble over this.
What Cash?
Bill93, post: 420562, member: 87 wrote: I hope you filed the correct federal paperwork. There is serious trouble to be had when transferring unreported cash over some threshold in the vicinity of that number. Also, if they pay a bill over the threshold in multiple smaller cash payments, the reporting rules may still apply. Many real estate agents have gotten in trouble over this.
IRS Form 8300.
I sold a piece of property once and carried the note with a filed mortgage myself (ssshhhh...). The buyer owed me around 11k for almost a year. He had found a young couple that wanted the property and contacted me about what we could do. All I wanted was the balance on the mortgage I held. I met them all at the courthouse. When I was told the payment would be in cash I reduced the amount to $9990.
I got paid and released the mortgage. The owner turned around and gave a WD to his buyers (I have no idea what other recompense he received), the young couple. When I got to my bank with $9990 (and that was two large manila envelopes stuffed FULL of bills) the teller wanted to fill out a Form 8300. I told her I didn't like that since it was under 10k. She explained the bank filled one out for all large cash transactions. I asked to see a bank officer and explained to him I would rather not fill out the 8300. He obliged. 10k and over is mandatory, but under 10k is optional apparently. I got my way.
They had a bill counter and it still took 15 minutes.
You don't have to rush to the bank with cash. Golly gee, guys. It's just as good tomorrow as today. Pay a few bills with cash from that supply. It'll disappear plenty fast.
Holy Cow, post: 420573, member: 50 wrote: Golly gee, guys. It's just as good tomorrow as today. Pay a few bills with cash from that supply.
Well, I don't make a practice of carrying hundreds just because they're a poor substitute for lower denomination bills if there is cash to be paid over the counter. As a result, it's been awhile since I've even seen a Benjamin and my first thought when I later looked through the stack of crisp new Geitner Benjamins with the purple racing stripes on them was that my client had paid me in funny money. I finally realized that the new bills have microprinting and the hologram-embellished stripes for security.
I break hundreds at the gas station on a routine basis. Try dropping a few in the offering plate at church and don't worry about proving a charitable deduction. I went through about 20 of them in two days a couple of weeks ago. They are real money.
The good old days. My father was in the farm equipment business and cash was a regular. When I was younger he would sometimes sit down at the dinner table and say, "If you can guess how much is in my wallet, you can have it". There were seven of us and we would never get close. Then he would let us count it. Occasionally a $5,000 bill would be in the pile, but I never recall see a $10,000, but $500s and $1,000s regularly. I delivered a $12,000 self propelled forage chopper once and my dad sent me with the bill. At the farm the owner runs into the house and comes out with a cigar box that is full. He counted out $12,000 and the box was still full. Today's farm equipment can cost more than my house.
Paul in PA
I used to work with a man named James Distel from Cincinnati, OH. that always told a pretty funny story about "cash".
Jim had just graduated HS and went to work at the local Buick dealership (where his father was a salesman) as a junior "legacy". He freely admitted he couldn't sell a jug of water to a man dying of thirst, but he tried hard. He mainly worked the off hours and was in charge of the janitorial duties there at the dealership.
Only Jim and one other salesman were there late one evening and they were about to close and lock the doors. A rusty old pickup pulled up out front with rakes and shovels stuck up in the air. A raggedy old fella got out and started for the showroom door. The older salesman told Jim to "get rid of him quick".
When the raggedy fella came in he told Jim he was interested in the shiny black 1970 4 door Electra 225 (that's a deuce 'n a quata for those not familiar with the model) that was front and center stage there in the showroom. It was top of the line with every conceivable option known to man. Jim was polite and let the man kick the tires and stick his nose in all four doors and the trunk.
Then the man asked, "How much is it?" Jim leaned over and read the sticker on the side and told him, "That's $4800"...which in 1970 was a big chunk of coin for Detroit iron. Jim was sure it would scare the guy off.
The old fella pulled a roll of cash out of his bib overalls and started counting large bills on the hood. Jim freaked and had to call the older salesman out there to help. He had to call the dealership owner to even get the key to open the double doors to get the car out of the showroom. Jim said he got home at 10:30 PM instead of the usual 8 PM.
Jim told me he made over $200 commish for that sale which was over double a week's wages for a good salesman. He thought he had found his special purpose in life as a car salesman. Must've been wrong though...he told me that story 5 years later as we were hacking our way through kudzu somewhere south of Shreveport, LA in July...;)
[MEDIA=youtube]sztf4hcGrB4[/MEDIA]
paden cash, post: 420601, member: 20 wrote: I used to work with a man named James Distel from Cincinnati, OH. that always told a pretty funny story about "cash".
Jim had just graduated HS and went to work at the local Buick dealership (where his father was a salesman) as a junior "legacy". He freely admitted he couldn't sell a jug of water to a man dying of thirst, but he tried hard. He mainly worked the off hours and was in charge of the janitorial duties there at the dealership.
Only Jim and one other salesman were there late one evening and they were about to close and lock the doors. A rusty old pickup pulled up out front with rakes and shovels stuck up in the air. A raggedy old fella got out and started for the showroom door. The older salesman told Jim to "get rid of him quick".
When the raggedy fella came in he told Jim he was interested in the shiny black 1970 4 door Electra 225 (that's a deuce 'n a quata for those not familiar with the model) that was front and center stage there in the showroom. It was top of the line with every conceivable option known to man. Jim was polite and let the man kick the tires and stick his nose in all four doors and the trunk.
Then the man asked, "How much is it?" Jim leaned over and read the sticker on the side and told him, "That's $4800"...which in 1970 was a big chunk of coin for Detroit iron. Jim was sure it would scare the guy off.
The old fella pulled a roll of cash out of his bib overalls and started counting large bills on the hood. Jim freaked and had to call the older salesman out there to help. He had to call the dealership owner to even get the key to open the double doors to get the car out of the showroom. Jim said he got home at 10:30 PM instead of the usual 8 PM.
Jim told me he made over $200 commish for that sale which was over double a week's wages for a good salesman. He thought he had found his special purpose in life as a car salesman. Must've been wrong though...he told me that story 5 years later as we were hacking our way through kudzu somewhere south of Shreveport, LA in July...;)
My Dad told of a man that lived nearby when he was a young boy (rural Alabama in the late 1920s or so). Old man Herman was the cattle farmer of the community. He always wore dirty bib-overalls and never looked as wealthy as everyone knew he was. So Old Man Herman went to Texas to buy a herd of longhorns. At the auction, he was, of course, the highest bidder. There was a slight problem when he attempted to write a rather large out of town check. No one believed he was who he said he was. A call was made to Old Man Herman's bank and after explaining to the person on the other end (that knew him) the Whats and Whys of their reluctance, they were told what question to ask that only the real Old man Herman would know. They were also told that if that was Old Man Herman, and he wrote a check on a piece of toilet paper, they had better take it. The deal was done. The Texas folks last saw him getting IN the cattle car with his new herd for the ride home.
Me. "What's the difference?"
T.C. Carroll "It's the difference between right and wrong!"
About 15 years ago my youngest daughter worked part time in a Best Buy store in Fayetteville, Arkansas. Paden's old farmer/new Electra story is a very accurate depiction of what she encountered on multiple occasions. Scraggly looking people would come in looking for about the biggest big screen TV you could put inside a house, pull cash out of their pickets, then load the big box into an old pickup that appeared to be a reject from a junkyard. Same thing with computers and all sorts of big item electronics. They had the money to spend on the things they wanted.
Bill93, post: 420562, member: 87 wrote: I hope you filed the correct federal paperwork. There is serious trouble to be had when transferring unreported cash over some threshold in the vicinity of that number. Also, if they pay a bill over the threshold in multiple smaller cash payments, the reporting rules may still apply. Many real estate agents have gotten in trouble over this.
Bill,
About 20 years ago I tried to pay the current down payment on my house with $20k in cash. I had borrowed it from my family instead of taking a bridge loan while waiting for our old condo to close or drawing on trust that had been left to me by my grand parents. The title agent went crazy. It was like they had never seen that many $500 bills, just joking. They started spouting off about drug dealers, the DEA and the IRS. I ended up giving the cash back and temporarily raiding my trust fund for the 10 day it took to get the money from our old house. In the end I used the trust money to start my business a year later.
Paid cash for a car recently and the seller didn't count the money - he said my daughter looked honest (300 miles later it's breaking down, so we will see how honest the seller is).
When dealing with larger sums of cash, I think it's a benefit to both parties to count it on the spot, generate a receipt and shake hands. It's just as easy to under-count as it is to over-count.
Holy Cow, post: 420633, member: 50 wrote: About 15 years ago my youngest daughter worked part time in a Best Buy store in Fayetteville, Arkansas. Paden's old farmer/new Electra story is a very accurate depiction of what she encountered on multiple occasions. Scraggly looking people would come in looking for about the biggest big screen TV you could put inside a house, pull cash out of their pickets, then load the big box into an old pickup that appeared to be a reject from a junkyard. Same thing with computers and all sorts of big item electronics. They had the money to spend on the things they wanted.
I had a partner in the surveying business in the '80s named Jim Gewin. And if there is anybody out there that remembers Jim (God rest his soul) he looked like an 8' tall, homeless Sasquatch...and didn't smell much better. One Saturday we couldn't get two crews out the door because of truck problems. Jim got mad, called me at home, and told me to meet him at the GMC dealership. He approached a salesman and told him he had 25K and needed three C10 or C15 pickups with automatic tranny and A/C...he didn't care what color, but no white or black. After a little negotiating we settled on 3 trucks for a bit over 27K, and they had HD bumpers on the rear. Cool.
The salesman asked us what time Monday we wanted to pick the vehicles up since it was after noon on Saturday and all the banks were closed. Jim said we were leaving with the trucks and he'd write a check. He pulled out his wadded-up personal checks (with no fancy cover and phone numbers written all over the back) and wrote them a personal check...from a bank in Miami, FL. ...and we were in Edmond, OK. The sales manager at the dealer didn't like it one bit.
Jim had a lot of family money I believe. I think the trucks merely cost a few month's interest on his and Sherry's money. He did get a little rattled when they balked at his check. He gave them a business card of the bank president that had his "marine" phone number. Jim explained he had spoken with him earlier and although he was out on his yacht, he'd be happy to speak with anyone that called to verify funds. The dealer called and it took about 45 minutes for them to swap super-secret banking numbers and we all drove off in the new trucks.
The sales manager made the mistake of telling Jim he ought to keep his money local. Jim cussed him a blue streak and told him he'd keep his money "anywhere he damn well pleased".
I miss Jim and his 'personalized' approach to people.
I would say that probably 30 - 40 % of my clients pay in cash. An old attorney that was in my area when I started my business almost 30 years ago would pay me cash for surveys that were for closings he was handling. I woul deliver a survey to his ofice, he would go into his office and get the money for my invoice out of his safe. I always get asked the same question: "How much cheaper will it be if I pay cash?" My standard reply is to ask them if the grocery store knocks some off their bill when they pay cash. I usually count it while they are standing in front of me. Had one lady that had given $500 to much, but have never been shorted. Biggest cash payment was around $50,000. Got that in a brown Piggly Wiggly bag in denominations from $1 to $100. Took about an hour to count it. Took it to the bank in the same bag, but at least I had divided the bills into the individual denominations for them, It still took them about 45 minutes to count it. Cash or check, everything gets put in the ledger so we can render unto Caesar that which is his.
Tell him you would like to give him a receipt, then count it.
Even if it's just a note "Paid in Full" on the back of your business card.
Everyone should have some sort of record of this transaction.
I learned selling to construction surveyors and seismic surveyors in the '90's never to judge a book by it's cover. The fact that a guy has a long beard and prefers overalls has no relationship to his intelligence or wealth.
You just reminded me of the great story on 60 Minutes this past Sunday featuring the kids from a specific school in Mississippi. The kids featured looked very "hillbillyish" including one wearing overalls. But, the focus of the segment was on how they are all learning to play chess and doing a fantastic job of it. Footage included their presence at the National competition where two of there teams did extremely well.