Now Who's in Charge Here?!?! "So to recap - a person was in the store who tried to purchase an item, a computer system flagged the item and, because this item triggered the "no sale", said system (based on what was a clear-text description in the receipt) flagged the item by the seller, not because of an actual problem. "The buyer was told he'd have to 'return' the item." (The reason he had to "return" the item is because it's an item which can't be returned - it's cash which can't be refunded. The seller knows what he's selling and if he's not satisfied with a product, he sends it back.) "...He was only told about the sale flag when he argued with a store manager for not being able to purchase an item." "Apparently some of those 'items' (cash-free purchases) were not even for sale in their stores and that the stores are supposed to take measures to block those items." "Now, all this is before 'fraudulent' purchases were even taken into account. But a business that sells electronics, cameras, phones, etc, that allows online shopping should at least be able to block the purchase of 'cash-free' items by blocking IPs through some sort of filtering service." "Now this is just a few stores in San Jose and in Silicon Valley, so obviously these sales aren't happening everywhere. But even one is too many. If it happens once, it happens twice - a pattern that is so obvious that such an action would eventually create the 'No Cash-Free' movement. And if other stores begin to sell cash-free items, why wouldn't other stores follow suit?" How to Make A Purchasing Boo-boo! Let's suppose a person who makes several orders for cash-free goods online every month wants to buy something from a local store - say, a set of tools. A simple solution might be to request that the cashier (or whoever is working the register) take a picture of your receipt and the item, and then let you try and scan the number. That way, if you bought the item online using a credit card, it should be able to be redeemed at the store. There is one problem with this idea, though. Let's say the person who went online and ordered items from a store that has the sales system mentioned above - how would the clerk determine whether the items purchased are actually "cash-free"? For example, suppose the person just said "I want to buy an item online" and then paid for it online. Now imagine there are several people sitting around a computer buying items at a local shop that has online ordering. How can the shop clerk keep an eye on all their transactions to prevent them from being used to commit fraud? It would make the problem of making an order and redeeming cash-free goods at the store more of a hassle than it would be for the person buying cash-free items online from the store. To solve this problem, when the person uses an online merchant to buy an item that is not cash-free, the online merchant should be able to verify the purchase by requesting the customer provide either his/her photo ID or credit card. The merchant could provide the customer with a way to prove he/she really made a purchase. The photo ID can be used as identification for the person at the store. The customer can also use credit card, provided that the customer pays for the item using credit card. Online merchants should be able to know, using credit card verification, whether the online buyer made a purchase using credit card. All this is done to make sure online buyers who are shopping at stores that have the same system in place (and other online vendors such as eBay) aren't using said system to try and make a fraudulent purchase. If online stores like eBay or Google or Craigslist can use credit card verification to prevent online buyers from making fraudulent purchases, how come big box store employees can't? As of this writing, there are many customers who know the ways to take advantage of the computer system, and these customers know how to get their hands on cash-free goods at these stores. How to Catch Those "No Cash-Free" Fools It's impossible to know how many stores that have some sort of system to keep a check on all online purchases have figured out a way to help their cashiers and store clerks to detect if an online user who claims to have bought items cash-free is actually attempting to commit fraud. In any case, it's very unlikely that the no-cash-free movement would die off overnight. Somebody must be doing something right to ensure that some buyers are taking advantage of the no cash-free system. If any cashier in a store tries to stop a customer from buying items they are buying online, the cashier might be called "racist" by someone. And if the person tries to be clever, and asks for credit card, he/she is likely to be told "we don't accept credit cards here." "Credit card fraud" is more than a clever way to avoid paying for items, it's also about trying to avoid the hassle of trying to contact the online merchant and asking for a refund. And this could be as easy as emailing a picture of a receipt for an item that is not a cash-free item to an online merchant. That's why online stores need a system to detect fraudulent purchases and prevent online buyers from using other buyers' names (instead of their own) when making fraudulent orders. I can only imagine how many other store's cashiers are going to be insulted if online buyers try to get away with this. This post was written by Justin J. H. Smith - yes, that's his name. Here's a short bio: Justin J. H. Smith is a freelance writer, specializing in online marketing and publishing. He writes for numerous online websites and blogs, and loves helping companies find solutions to their problems. The following is his personal blog on how to promote goods without a web site. Comments This blog is full of really useful, straightforward, common sense information that businesses can use to their own advantage. I read all the comments and tried to answer questions the best I could. I hope it has been helpful. About Us Business Advice Forum is a very active, friendly webmaster and business forum, where members can get advice and support for their small business or website. The majority of our discussions relate to online business, with the majority of the members being webmasters.