Hello all,

After a longtime (I think almost 7 years) I want to make my "come-back" on the streets, but oh....
What a big step to take to the streets again and stand there...
And yet it will happen in the coming weeks!
It must be done!
The first time will probably be the hardest time, once this goes away I will start to enjoy it again and noticeably start to relax.

I still have my set-show as I did before. I will use this as I know it worked for me.
Now I want to work on character development, create a personality, costume, etc...

For online payments, it's the very first time I'll gonna use this, I want to use "Stripe" by The Busking Project, but I read they have 1 euro transaction cost per tip. Via PayPal there's no transaction cost...
Are there some European buskers here who take online payments?

Pff...what a messy message...no structure...

But I'll keep you all updated when I find the guts to go out again!

Greets,

Kim

Welcome back Mik-Kido.
Things have changed a bit out there since 2017.
People are carrying less and less cash.
Tap payments....I dunno. Be careful. If you set up a business acount with Paypal rather than a personal account, your revenue/tax agency will have access to it.
But of course we all declare every cent we make on the street...nicht wahr? LOL

But don't let this put you off. One good thing after all the chaos of the last few years, is there is less competition out there in many places so you may do very very well.

PayPal, Venmo, Zello, and CashApp all have "Brand Recognition." People know what they are, have (varying) degrees of trust in them, and so you may have better luck with them...

You can create QR Codes that folks can scan and take them directly to your PayPal account. You can even set it up to predetermined amounts...so suggested tip amounts.

I think in some countries this must be true. In Belgium I think it's not too bad in Belgium.
In my opinion a lot of Belgians are still carrying quite a lot of money on them.

But for those who are not, I think not having the possibility to give an online tip is missing every chance...
I found out already a few systems, but it looks like that in every country you'll gonna need to use another system...

What a revolution....

I think for us in Belgium PayPal will be one of the best options. We also have Payconiq here that is very common in use.
In Holland they use Tikkie, but you'll need a Dutch bank account for that... So depending on where you play you'll need to display different QR-codes.

But we'll gonna need to have to deal with it and find a way in the (for me) labyrinth of online possibilities.

Now waiting on a bit warmer weather here, it's almost May but the temperatures are still freezing cold to go out.

June 1, I have to perform on an event I'm organising. We have a gathering with Classic Campers (Campers in Belgium is what they call RV in America I think) and on Saturdau I will bring my busking show after 7 years to bring in some money to organise the next gathering. This opportunity will ensure that the ice is broken for me to pick up everything again. So at least then will be the next time I go out. I hope a little earlier...if the weather cooperates a bit...

People still carry cash!

I've been making more money with venmo and cash app lately then actual cash... I've even worked it into my hat line patter.

I'm not 100% thrilled about digital payments, but I will say this, people are less likely to tip you a single dollar with venmo than they are cash. And they never throw change via Cash app..


Just sayin'

Break a leg!