How much cash?

[Hercules]

I know it's an obscure question.....but what the hey. Got credit cards but know cash is king.

I like shows. Have a fetish for tankards, hip flasks. Kinda lite on buying garb. For opening weekend how much? Any guesses?

PUHLEASE tell me there's no tipping of ladies at the drum line. I hate to carry that many $1's 

[Laird Fraser of Lovatt]

There ARE ATM's... about a half a dozen of them.  Carry as much as you feel comfortable with.

[Bonny Pearl]

You really only need cash for food, beverages and tipping.  The vendors take Lady Visa and Master Card.

[isisdy]

All of that being said, if you are camping I would not want to carry too much on my person if I were you. Unfortunately thefts do happen even when camping with a large group. So your best bet is to have minimal at night and hit the ATM in the morning for lite spending cash and use the card for any memorabilia.

[*Teach*]

If you're trying to figure out budgeting, think of it as "disneyland" prices
We are a captive audience, and they know it
Tankards, depending on style can be over a hundred or as low as 25 for something that looks faireish
Hip flasks run the gambit from 10 for a plain one to 80+ for some seriously fancy ones and/or add 20-50+ for a nice leather case. 
(Both of those are things I love shopping for myself)
Tipping is highly encouraged at the shows. The performers are paid, but the majority of what they make comes from tipping. Depending on the show, the amount I tip caries widely.
I can't think of running into a vendor in recent years that did not accept some form of credit cards, so cash itself for us is generally only for food and drink and a few extra for smaller purchases and tips.

*I don't worry about the idea of it being stolen at faire while walking around as much as losing it when digging through pouches while blitzed on rum*

[Hercules]

At Scarborough there were two vendors who were willing to barter if I paid cash. More economic fall-out but the consumer is on the winning side there. 

And for some reason. The performers seemed to like getting tips in the new gold dollars. Couple of them thanked me for the gold "dubloons".

I hate ATM fees. 

[Laird Fraser of Lovatt]

The TRF fee's are a wee bit steep. 

[HollyAtFairyEffects]

You really only need cash for food, beverages and tipping.  The vendors take Lady Visa and Master Card.

Well...not all of the vendors take credit cards.  We're looking into it, but we probably won't be set up for this year.

At Scarborough there were two vendors who were willing to barter if I paid cash. More economic fall-out but the consumer is on the winning side there. 

And for some reason. The performers seemed to like getting tips in the new gold dollars. Couple of them thanked me for the gold "dubloons".

I hate ATM fees. 

We tip in gold dollars, too.  It's just fun that way

[ravic]

Bring as much cash as you are willing to leave at my booth. 

Seriously tho, most of your cash outlay will be for food, drink & show tips. Most but not all of the vendors take credit now. HOWEVER, many of the vendors do not have a phone line & are restricted to the old knuckle-buster card machines. I have had several customers that ID theft issues refuse the purchase because of this. Also, some of these vendors may not take debit cards or gift cards. They are getting burned too many times by "empty" cards.

Even so, I rarely have a bad credit experience  & only 3 bounced checks in 17 years. And never from Renfolk.

[Hercules]

I've never used a personal check at Scarborough. I asked one time and got the " " look and haven't tried since.

[Bonny Pearl]

You really only need cash for food, beverages and tipping.  The vendors take Lady Visa and Master Card.

Well...not all of the vendors take credit cards.  We're looking into it, but we probably won't be set up for this year.

Oops!  I get so mixed up sometimes between the mundane world and faire world.  I forgot that some of the vendors don't have connectivity and so on.     I beg pardon for that error. 

[Hercules]

Bring as much cash as you are willing to leave at my booth. 

How many wenches you got working at your booth? For some odd reason there appears to be a correlation between the number of wenches and the amount of my dinero disappearing.

[eloquentXI]

Two of the different ATM machines at TRF that I went to get cash from had either a $5 fee or a $7 if I remember correctly. I was astounded.

That's why, not only to help budget, do I get cash out teh bank before I get to faire.

[mpullen]

Yep, the gold dollar coins are great. They don't blow out of the tip baskets and you can toss them in from a distance. Last year, I made sure I flipped in the tip BEFORE the end of the performance, just to show the other audience folks that the basket was for tips and that tipping was good. Even got bows from the performers which I returned.

Plus, a sporran full of gold coins makes a happy sound and the bouncing is so...ooops ignore that.

[Laird Fraser of Lovatt]

Yep, the gold dollar coins are great. They don't blow out of the tip baskets and you can toss them in from a distance. Last year, I made sure I flipped in the tip BEFORE the end of the performance, just to show the other audience folks that the basket was for tips and that tipping was good. Even got bows from the performers which I returned.

Plus, a sporran full of gold coins makes a happy sound and the bouncing is so...ooops ignore that.

Painful?