I have seen several reports of Apple stores not accepting cash for iPads. Credit cards only is the line. Does anyone have first hand knowledge of this?

Contrary to widespread belief, there is no federal statute that requires any individual or business to accept cash in payment. There may be state statutes in some jurisdictions.

U.S. Treasury - FAQs: Legal Tender Status of currency

Do they even have cash registers in Apple stores? Every time I've purchased something from an Apple store, the employee just used a portable device to run my card.

I was in an Apple store today looking at their iPads. There was a sign right on the table that said limit 2 per customer and credit or debit cards only.

Could be because it is just too inconvenient for them to accept cash..they now checkout with iPhones all over the store. For cash sales it would require a csr to actually hold it on them until their shift ends....seems too risky.

I would recommend either putting your cash in a checking account and using a check card to pay, or buying a visa prepaid card.

Just called my local Apple Store and asked if I could use an Apple Store gift card and was told no. Since there is a 2 iPad limit per customer, he said that they want the ability to track your purchase by credit or debit card. What am I going to do with this $900 gift card I just got....

It's because they want to keep tabs on purchases. They don't want one person buying 50 iPads in a week, and seeing them popup on foreign shores with a %25 markup.

Originally Posted by gentlefury

Could be because it is just too inconvenient for them to accept cash..they now checkout with iPhones all over the store. For cash sales it would require a csr to actually hold it on them until their shift ends....seems too risky.

I would recommend either putting your cash in a checking account and using a check card to pay, or buying a visa prepaid card.

The risk is it is too easy to take counterfeit bills today. Then when you make the deposit you eat it when it is discovered.

Anyone who wants to pay me in cash over several hundred dollars, I make meet me at a bank. They hand it to the teller and if it is OK I deposit directly to my account. I never touch the stuff.

Originally Posted by 4phun

Originally Posted by gentlefury

Could be because it is just too inconvenient for them to accept cash..they now checkout with iPhones all over the store. For cash sales it would require a csr to actually hold it on them until their shift ends....seems too risky.

I would recommend either putting your cash in a checking account and using a check card to pay, or buying a visa prepaid card.

The risk is it is too easy to take counterfeit bills today. Then when you make the deposit you eat it when it is discovered.

Anyone who wants to pay me in cash over several hundred dollars, I make meet me at a bank. They hand it to the teller and if it is OK I deposit directly to my account. I never touch the stuff.

They have made all kinds of change to the currency that make it much harder to counterfeit. I don't buy that. When you only accept credit and debit cards though it is virtually impossible to have your employees steal from you.

I guess that they don't trust the geniuses with cash.

I used a gift card when I bought my iPad, but the gift card was only 150.00 of my total purchase and the rest was on credit card.