Con tip

[ogremarco]

Here's a new series about gaming cons, though a lot of this advice is good for SF and Fantasy cons as well as other esoterric geek cons.

Take Cash
A lot of small vendors and publishers either can't take your card or offer discounts for cash. It always seems like these are the vendors that have the book or trinket you want the most. Also, take your

Comments

[will_h1]

On a tangential note, I saw a cool thing at NeonCon last weekend. A guy selling a book couldn't take plastic and the girl who wanted the book didn't have cash. They whipped out their iPhones and did a PayPal transaction right there. That there is the future.

[haate]

also, another note:

Don't rely on the ATMs to have cash. Get cash BEFORE you get to the con, as any atm within walking distance of the con will be out of cash.

Edited to remove the additional word that my brain was thinking of when I was typing.

[waiwode]

Not wanting to seem like "Mr Beeg Spender" or anything ... but if they *do* take plastic I use plastic, saving my cash for those who don't. Cash is king, but when dealing with RPGs and board games I find that I continually run through cash faster than anticipated.

Doug.

[em_gumby]

The downside of cash is that it crawls out of my wallet more readily than plastic.

[mtfierce]

Which is a point as a vendor to communicate with other vendors - sometimes you can fix your price break so that you can have a vendor WITH "plastic abilities" take your people immediately for a small transaction fee. I've been on the both ends of this one and I can tell you the vendor taking my plastic has also gotten a sale or two they wouldn't have out of the deal just because I get a moment or two more to look at their booth.