Although I'm new to TER, I've been an active hobbyist for many years. In years past, many agencies would accept payment via credit cards with a very discreet billing. Lately, it seems this has become a strictly cash business although, I have seen a few providers that say they will accept PayPal.
What's the general feeling Providers? What do you prefer and why?
The AMEX Cheques are the SAME as cash. If he signs them over to you, the money you get is almost better than cash because it's already be PAID. Who's to say what service was provided for the money? The other way was to take the cash (half) and offer an half hour. Either way you win.
I prefer credit card. I own a legitimate business and having a merchant account is evidence of that. If I were to rip a client off, they would have more legal recourse through their credit card company than if they had paid with cash (I'm not planning on doing this, but people familiar with merchant accounts understand this concept and are more comfortable paying w cc).
Also, there are situation where the honor system (cash) is simply not enough to make me comfortable entrusting a stranger with my time. If I am booked for a long-term engagement or long-distance travel, credit card deposits are manditory with me.
Plus, the way my merchant account is set up, I can bill corporate account cards with total discretion. Guys are more likely to spend a few grand of their company's $$ and write it off as a business expense than spend the same ammount of their own loot, right?
Another aspect is that by maintaining my merchant account in constant good standing, my credit is constantly improving and I am always establishing the depth of my business' legitimacy.
Cash is only king for a few more years, guys. For those of us who pay taxes and go about establishing our financial domain legally, there is no fear of a paper trail.
And for the "charge-back" argument: it's hard for Joe Blow to get Visa to do a charge reversal if I email them his reservation form, and fax them the signed and imprinted copy of his receipt.
ITgirl, I was both impressed and curious about the details of your response.
Without telling us more than we need to know, are you able to share a little more about the "company" you set up that you bill through?
Your sentence about being able to write off charges to corporate business expenses is interesting. You may have discovered a whole new level of potential clientele.
You are correct, in many ways those of us on expense accounts are more prone to spend company money than we are personal money.
I wish more providers had your attitude and confidence.
While I agree with 90% of your post, I do caution you on one point. There was an agency in Houston a few years back that had many "business type" clients that charged their entertainment on corpoate cards and subsequently wrote the charges off as business expenses.
Unfortunately the agency was busted and the paper trail of CC transactions was passed on to the IRS with the predictable results. By no means do I want to rain on your parade, just a word of caution.
I am a legitimate business expense! I have been hired numerous times as a closer.
I've entertained plenty of gentlemen who were unaware that I was being paid to court their time, whisper so many good ideas in their ear and urge them to make certain decisions while holding their cock between my tits and letting them cum all over my pretty face...
They not only walked away thinking they were GODS, but also signed whatever, called whomever, did whatever it was I was paid to get them to do. And for every success story there is a fat bonus that I invest. Yes, I will be a billionaire. Then I can afford seven Pool Boys. And a Pool Girl.
But no worries, I have a great working relationship with the IRS.
CASH ONLY. I don't fuck around with anything else when I work.
I've had friends go so far as to carry money pens now, too, because some of the cash they receive isn't legit. However, as one of my other friends told me, you can always dump fake bills at IHOP. They don't look at shit.
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