Cash Transition

[walkitout]

CoinStar (now Outerwall) integration with PayPal

http://www.selfserviceworld.com/article/209045/Coinstar-rolling-out-kiosks-with-PayPal-integration?rc_id=25

Just in case you were wondering how this would work for the un(der)banked.

PayPal has been extending its reach to POS:

http://techcrunch.com/2013/01/15/paypal-partners-with-point-of-sale-and-hardware-maker-ncr-to-expand-its-retail-footprint/

PayPal and Discover made a deal as well: http://www.forbes.com/sites/chrisbarth/2012/08/22/discover-and-paypal-join-forces-in-the-war-against-paper-money-banks/

I was talking to my sister about garage sales, because while obviously people who have moved to selling online whether through eBay or other, are going to have the ability to take payment cards, PayPal, etc., and presumably anyone using Craigslist has the capacity to figure out how to make PayPal or some similar payments system online work for them, only people who do really frequent garage sales are going to set up Square, say, and a lot of the people going to garage sales aren't necessarily going to have a smartphone with them to use an online payment mechanism.

But then she pointed out that at least around where she is, she's not seeing hardly any garage sales anymore, and I realized that the only ones I seemed to see anymore were sort of the running-a-junk-shop-in-the-front-yard type of thing. I'll have to keep an eye out for signs for a while, but maybe garage sales were long ago done in by eBay, Craigslist, freecycle [eta: , consignment stores], and so forth, and I just failed to notice.

ETA: http://www.garagesaleboston.com/

Wow.

Okay, but this is more relevant to the question. They have not gone away.

www.yardsalesearch.com/

ETA: R. sent me this:

http://blogs.seattletimes.com/monica-guzman/2013/09/07/are-wallets-an-endangered-species/

If Dick's starts taking cash, well, wow. I feel bad for the ATM guys, in a way. This could be that last bloom of hyperactive life before extinction.

Then again, maybe not. Seattle has been an early adopter of all kinds of things vs. most of the rest of the country. Seattle could get rid of cash (what would you give the Real Change guys instead of a $1?), but that doesn't mean the rest of the country will.

This article does illustrate a typical flaw of payment system coverage, in that one system (cash) is treated as no-cost, and an alternative systems costs are mentioned negatively. Cash _is not_ free. "The government" (which, let's face it, we do all pay for, one way or the other) and the banking system, merchants and so forth are paying costs associated with cash. Really.

(A grand don't come for free. I sure love The Streets.)

Comments

[rolandgo.livejournal.com]

The boy & I cycled past a yard sale on Hayward St yesterday. It was notable in that it had for sale yet another copy of the cross stitch clock project that my Grandmother did. I didn't think there was a good reason for a 3rd copy, so we didn't stop.

[ethelmay.livejournal.com]

I have been trying to decide whether there is any point in hanging onto my mother's very ragged Persian lamb coat from the 1940s. Finding an almost exactly similar one in a flea market for eight bucks makes me think there's really not -- not because I really cared about the economic value anyway, but because seeing another one that wasn't my mother's made me realize more fully that I don't actually care about the coat, only my memories of Mom showing it to me and my thinking it was cool. But I might take a couple of pictures of my daughters in it before it goes in the trash.

You could ask if either of them want it, while you are at it

[walkitout]

I like the idea of getting pictures, not only of the coat, but of
them wearing grandma's coat. I had a bunch of clothing from my grandmother that I've mostly gotten rid of and it would be nice if I had any pictures of some of the things. I kept one sweater, and I still use one of the little wooden boxes to store handkerchiefs next to the chair I sit in in the living room.

It's tricky figuring out what to keep, and I definitely agree that seeing The Same Thing at a yard sale can bring a lot of clarity.

Re: You could ask if either of them want it, while you are at it

[ethelmay.livejournal.com]

I've asked them, I think (E. at least). E. suggested donating it to something like Coats for Cubs. But if I do that I have to hang onto it until the program is next accepting donations, which may not be until January from what I'm seeing.