So in my country the Philippines, we have a lot of Sari-sari stores (Bodega Stores are the closest equivalent) where if you’re a local and a regular, some of them will let you pay stuff later and just list of the things you bought, and if nothing goes wrong, you’ll pay them later like when your salary comes or such?
So my question would be, is this or something similar also a common practice from where you’re from, in a few places and stores that allow it?
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It happens in Turkey, yes. Even my hairdresser does it (I accidentally took too little cash with me once and tried to reassure him that I will bring the rest. He was offended that I thought that he would not trust me 😂). It even sometimes happens with shopkeepers that you don’t know, especially if it’s something small and they don’t want to bother with changing large notes.
Not that common; and highly dependent on where you live and how well you know the owners. For example, my mother lives in the small town where she grew up and can run an account with some shops, but where I live (bigger town, don’t know many people) that’s just not possible.
I don’t know about shops as I don’t generally go to the same local shops regularly enough that the owner has gotten to know me …I live in the sticks so do my shopping as infrequently as possible.
Pubs though definitely. I could go into any of my locals where I know the staff, say I was just passing and didn’t happen to have my wallet/cash, could I start a tab to pay next time I’m in and all would be fine with it. These are all rural country pubs though; might be different in cities.
(UK)
It used to be a thing when stores in a small towns were privately owned and the owner knew you personally. I remember that from the 1980s.
Nowadays such stores have mostly disappeared and they are all chains now, some based on a franchise system. I am pretty sure such chain stores don’t allow it anymore. Especially with everything being electronic now. Like if they scan your items they are now in the system and at the end of the day it has to match the amount of money in the register.
In cities, no. Maybe in small villages where the shop owner knows everyone.
But even that seems unlikely to me, because small family owned grocery stores are pretty much extinct. And chains wouldn’t allow that even if the people there know you. Assuming the small village even has a grocery store left, which more often than not they don’t.
To be fair, stores that aren’t owend by big chains are so rare, that this almost never happens. You can’t do this in a chain store. I would assume in a little independent store the owner might let it slide, but I’ve never lived in a small town like that.
It’s not common practice. But I am sure when I am regular customer of a small shop I could pay later when I forget my wallet for example. But it’s not common to buy now and pay later. In general we learn from a young age not to spend money you don’t have.
No small stores where I live, just two large chain stores (Mercator and Spar), but the answer is yes, I can pay them later. It’s not common but if the salesperson knows (and trusts) you then it can be done. The expectation would be to pay back in a couple of days max though.
A small corner store or food wagon in your neighbourhood, or close to your place of work, might.
A few years ago there was a food wagon on my way from the metro to my office. I got a cup of coffee and a cherry brioche every day. After a few days, the lady would start making the coffee and packing the brioche, as she saw me come out from the metro. A couple of times, i realised i didn’t have cash on hand, and she just went “no worries, pay me tomorrow”. The next day, i had to remind her i owed her money :)).
Literally none except my barber who would accept me coming back later to pay if say I happen to forget my wallet or something which has happened. But otherwise no, such stores arent commonplace either. Such an issue is also your problem, so you’d probably have a credit card for such instances…
With independent corner shops in my hometown in England yes, *if* you’re a long-time customer and/or you have a good relationship with the staff/owner . It’s usually for small amounts though (not large sums) and it’s not something standardised, like an account you can take out. It also only happens rarely.
Paying later in any official way usually takes you into the realm of credit, or if you don’t have good credit then horrendous fees attached.