Every barber I’ve been to in the UK are cash only, why?

Edit: it’s been brought to my attention that not all barbies are cash only, sorry.

18 comments

  4. Apart from your confirmation bias (not every barber in the uk only accepts cash, just the ones you have visited which is a vanishingly small sample).

    Many barbers ‘rent’ chairs from the owner of the barber shop, thus they have overheads and so accepting cash removes the need to pay a third party card payment firm.

    Also, they can massage their figures for tax purposes.

    In short, it is cheaper to just accept cash.

  6. Mine is card only, it all goes through a managing system called Fresha.

    If they don’t accept card it’s most likely because they don’t want to pay for the initial install and setup and the recurring fees afterwards. There’s just other rules and bullshit to follow, like managing chargebacks from scummy people, it’s not worth it to some.

    There’s options now like the terminals that plug into the person’s phone as a receiver for payments but they’re probably still subject to card fees, idk

  7. Ive asked my barber this exact question as, at one time, he was the only person on the High Street not accepting cards (The kebab shop tried a cash machine at one point and now only accepts cash). His answer was that the price of the cash machine was too much.

  9. Had a flat out argument with my barber one time because i forgot my wallet, completely my fault, she was cash only. She said I could return later with the cash but it wasn’t an option for me till late late. I told her this is why she needs to accept card and then she growled and kicked up a fuss again about why it’s not simple enough for her accountant and lots of other bullshit haha, undefeated each of her silly statements by presenting why card/automation is better. Anyway in the end the only option I had was to send her the money by bank transfer and she puts in cash from her purse, which we did but she complained for ages. I get it, it was my fault entirely that I forgot my wallet but over the years I’ve always suggested card as it makes life easier and cash is becoming extinct. Besides, you can sign up with a card merchant account and pay just 20p per transaction, easily added to the customers bill if they end to pay by card too. She still doesn’t take card and this was 5 years ago. She’s definitely got her accountant doing something fishy lol

  10. My barber takes cards.

    Ones that don’t are either avoiding tax or, like another one I went to recently, clearly laundering money.

  11. You will get the tax evasion response from the ignorant myth believers who don’t understand it’s WAY easier to do that via electronic payments.

    Real reason is more chance of tips and not having to pay processing fees.

    After all the issues over the past year or so more and more small businesses are going cash only.

  12. My barber had a close shave this morning as he was nearly caught fiddling the books with me paying cash in hand but because he knew all the short cuts, he’s covered his tracks for now.

    He’d better not incriminate me or there’ll be hell toupee.

    I’ve never trusted him anyway as he’s always talking behind my back.

  16. Because as a business you can ask to be paid how you want. My window cleaner only takes cash, too, btw.

  18. Tax evasion but also, many are money laundering businesses. This is a fairly common fact across Europe.

    However, there are plenty that accept cards, too. I know plenty in my area.

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