Will the real Bike Shady, please take this money? ;-/
Sorry, someone had to...
Anyways, a receipt book might be good.
Afaict, you don't have to have a 501c3 to have an account at a bank, but it helps...
Paypal, and credit card transactions might make it seem more legit, but then they have to enter their information on some computer/ handheld, which has to be trusted, by the card company too...
I've been to farmers markets where they have little add ons to the cell phone and swipe cards. I'm sure there is a percentage the bank charges for transactions and a minimum to make it worth it for you to do the transactions...
You have at least VistaPrint business cards? Some stationary? A donations form looking like letter head?
On Wed, Aug 3, 2011 at 3:29 PM, Leslie Peteya lesliepeteya@gmail.com wrote:
We have a greeter who helps manage the traffic flow of our shop, and they have an official- looking desk that they sit behind. We use a cash box for cash and checks that goes in a lockable file cabinet you can get from Office Depot or whatever, and only the greeter (also a trustworthy person) gets access to that key. At the end of the day the money gets counted, matched against our computer system, and then deposited at the local bank. 2 or more people ride to do the drop for safety reasons.
-Leslie, Durham Bike Co-op
On Wed, Aug 3, 2011 at 3:24 PM, Ryan Feller ryan@bikebroward.org wrote:
Hi all! We're a new bike collective operating out of a 10x10 storage unit. To raise funds, we're selling a few of our nicer bikes on Craigslist at market value, but when someone pays us, I think it looks unprofessional (and perhaps even shady) to just stick the money in one of our pockets. We don't have the space, money or need for a "proper" electronic cash register.
In all honesty, after the customer leaves we'll just put it in an envelope and stick it in our pocket until we get to the bank, so this is just a matter of what the customer sees.
Here are a few options:
- I have a little metal cash box. We could mount it to our tool pegboard
and put the money in there, but then again, putting a customer's $100-$300 in a tiny metal cash box in an open space with lots of teenaged volunteers around could look just as bad.
- Maybe we'd be best off pulling out an envelope, writing "Bike Broward
customer name $100" on it, putting the money inside the envelope and into our pocket, then writing them a receipt on carbon paper?
- We could also request payment by check for bikes over, say, $100, but we
don't have our 501(c)(3) yet, so it'd have to be in my own name, which isn't a much better option.
Am I just overreacting? We're all 18 or younger and won't have our 501(c)(3) for a couple of months, so I've been putting a lot of work into having a reasonably professional appearance.
Thanks so much!
Ryan Feller, Co-Director Bike Broward (954) 232-3790 www.bikebroward.org
Thethinktank mailing list Thethinktank@lists.bikecollectives.org To unsubscribe, send a blank email to TheThinkTank-leave@bikecollectives.org To manage your subscription, plase visit:
http://lists.bikecollectives.org/listinfo.cgi/thethinktank-bikecollectives.o...
Thethinktank mailing list Thethinktank@lists.bikecollectives.org To unsubscribe, send a blank email to TheThinkTank-leave@bikecollectives.org To manage your subscription, plase visit: http://lists.bikecollectives.org/listinfo.cgi/thethinktank-bikecollectives.o...