Not how much, but the mechanism is what I am asking in the title.

Also I am specifically asking about magic shows you get paid to do. Not E-bay or anything else. Not other businesses or any of that sort of thing. What mechanism do you use? I know this is shifting drastically in the past decade so it is interesting.

Please only answer if you perform shows and are paid to do so. If you are a busker, it would be interesting to hear how you handle tips of an electronic nature. For that matter restaurant guys and gals as well.

Does anyone take deposits and if so when and for how much? Do you get the fee prior to taking the stage or after? The stage being a metaphor for doing your thing.

It seems as if Zelle and such things are making using credit cards or checks sort of obsolete for that sort of thing.

Thank you.

For children's birthday shows (B2C), I ask for my customers to pay me in cash, or via etransfer. I won't take cheques. I ask to be paid at the show. I don't ask for a deposit.

For some of my family shows (B2C), I handle it like my birthday shows.

For my other family shows (B2B), I ask for my customers to pay me via cash, cheque, or etransfer. I ask to be paid at the show, or in advance. Again, I don't ask for a deposit.

I say that "my fee is discounted based on payment in advance or at the show." If they want to pay after the show (example - net 30 days), then "my regular fee is different" from the fee I've quoted in print / online / over the phone. I put this everywhere "my fee is discounted..." statement everywhere I put my rates in print... rates sheet, show contract, etc. So, I don't charge a late fee for payment after the show; I give a discount based on prompt or early payment.

I've had a couple of customers (B2B) who I've worked with, who paid via direct deposit. It was a hassle to set up for a one-time payment (or maybe they've used me every couple of years). It makes sense if they book my show often, but doesn't make sense for one and done shows.

I've only had one customer who really, really wanted to pay via credit card. So I accepted payment through my PayPal account.

- Donald

Over the years I’ve tried just about everything and in the last few years I’ve settled on taking full payment before the event. This eliminates chasing the other half after the event aswell as organisers backing out last minute. This works for me.

I should mention I do not believe there is a right or wrong answer. Only what works for everyone personally.

I do like the idea of getting it all up front. I generally like that arrangement.

I take just about everything at this point. Over the last month I've taken cash, check, a credit card, PayPal, Venmo, and Zelle. Someone suggested cash app but used Venmo instead.

When I take a payment depends on the type of event. For birthday parties/house parties there's rarely a deposit necessary. For most other things there's usually a deposit. Generally I take payment after a show now. Used to be a believer in taking it before the show but some folks don't like doing that for whatever reason. Never had an issue after the show yet so I doubt it matters.

The most common option private parties go with at the moment is Zelle. For credit cards, which was what someone paid with in the last show I did, I accept it through Square. Their card readers are pretty good and free.

If there's a deposit I send an invoice through PayPal.

Taking any way they want to pay sounds pretty reasonable.

These decisions hardly impact me at all. But it is interesting to see how it is done.

Keeping in mind my philosophy is to make it as easy as possible to do business with, I will accept just about anything. I don’t care about the 3% service fee. This philosophy is also one of the reasons I don’t require a deposit. Why make the customer pay twice?

However, I no longer take checks from private parties (birthday parties, etc.). I had one too many bounced checks. It didn’t happen often, but when it did it really bothered me. While I make is easy to do business with, I don’t make it easy to be taken advantage of.

Majority still hand or mail me a check - which I actually prefer. Some will ask to do a direct deposit.

I did have a client this year that paid me in cash (for 3 different events).

Last year a festival wanted to pay me by Paypal which I thought was odd, but I said sure. Found out the reason - the vendors for the festival paid for the booths via Paypal so she could pay me from that money that was living in the Paypal world.

I don't ask for a desposit anymore, just an extra step for both me and the client. I like to be paid day of, but some clients need to do a net-30 and that works for me too.

Why do you prefer a check?

I'm just a creature of habit. Being handed a check and then cashing the check = the way I get paid. That's how my first job paid me so it's built in to my mind.

To be clear, I don't tell people I prefer check, that's just my personal preference. I'll take the money however they want to give it to me! haha.

I do mainly corporate work, so whatever route the company prefers

Some like to pay via Credit cards (Square).
Some like to set up direct deposit (Zelle , 3rd party companies like Coupa, Bill.com , etc...)
Some like to send a check in the mail.

Rarely do they want to pay straight cash homie but I'll take those tax free ones
Haven't gotten offered to pay via BitCoin yet but maybe one day?

Cruise line I worked forever paid via direct deposit before you joined the ship. Magic Castle pays by check or cash if you're not from the U.S.

Some very interesting ways people do things in this thread.
For Australia, things are a little different. For me personally, I don't require a deposit in advance. Never have.
For house parties and kids parties everyone either pays in cash or by bank transfer. In my bank account, I have set up a PayID system, where the clients put in my mobile phone number into their payment section of their bank account and after they put in my phone number all of my bank payment details appear in their bank account and then it's only a couple of small steps to key in the payment amount and most of the time, it's deposited into my bank within a couple of minutes. For companies, schools where I have to supply a proper tax invoice, I give them my bank details for payment. These payments are made by direct bank transfer into my bank account.
Only some companies require me to set up as a vendor/supplier which doesn't take too long and after that it's a simple step for them to pay.
I haven't received a check for payment for a very long time. I don't know of anyone who uses checks for payments these days.

I'm with thomasR that most still pay me by check. I also have a few clients that do a bank wire transfer. Some split or percentage deals are in cash after the paid guarantee (deposit). I do have Zelle Stripe, Paypal, and Venmo if needed.

Check, credit card, Venmo, cash, and if they ask I'll do Zelle but that's rare. I don't ever remember getting a bounced check. I don't really offer credit cards for birthdays but if they want to I won't say no. For cards I figure in the cost as a sort of necessary expense. Most of my credit card charges are for preschools, most would probably pay by check if asked but most prefer to use their card so I try to make it easy for them, though some like to pay by check or cash.

Making it easy for them is a good idea.

Payment is part of the experience.

Years ago, GE Healthcare was obsessed with making faster CT scanners, so hospitals could scan more patients. They did, but customer satisfaction wasn't increasing. So GE took a step back to look at the big picture: from ordering, to installing, to operating, scanning, even to billing and finally payment. They found that a faster scan was just a few minutes in a much longer process. They they worked on all sorts of things, including easier billing. This is why GE Healthcare still has a lion's share of CT market.

Everything contributes to the overall experience in business...