r/politics standard of commentary there 
I love David Mitchell’s articles. It’s comforting to see that there’s someone with whom I share my pedantry 
Just occurred to me that for those who regard cash as physically repulsive (ie grubby), these new notes are (as you know) all plasticky. That makes them eminently responsive to cleaning materials (Mr Muscle, Ajax, Jif (!) etc).
So that’s the cleanliness problem solved….
(Please note, this method doesn’t apply to coins of the realm).
That’s @Topsy2 sorted 
Give it a few years, will be under 10%. UK will probably be cash free by 2030/35
Nearly…… but never truly cashless (I hope).
Cash should be around for people if they still want to use it. I prefer not to use cash myself.
The only time I use cash now is when selling online. Sold two gadgets on FB marketplace this year and wouldn’t take a bank transfer. Don’t want to give someone my product for free and end up with a Cifas loading when they claim fraud the following day.
It’s a hassle to deal with scammers and once you do sell to then deposit; and I do prefer to sell to CeX, but sometimes you just get much better value by selling direct.
Is that kind of thing common? People paying by bank transfer, taking the goods, then claiming fraud to their bank with bad consequences for the seller?
I sold a couple of things on FB marketplace a year ago and didn’t think twice about whether the buyers might be scammers. All went fine, fortunately. I occasionally buy and sell things on eBay, again never had an issue so far.
It seems to be so common these days. I see many people claiming their accounts have been frozen after selling on Facebook and receiving payments by bank transfer.
Buyers claim transaction was fraudulent or didn’t get the item they paid for, and things along those lines.
Thanks, I think I need to be a bit more careful if I sell on FB again. I’m alert to most typical scams but this is concerning. Essentially, being paid for something by bank transfer from a stranger is risky it seems.
Never really given that much though - I tend to prefer it as saves me having the cash on me. Perhaps I’ll give a crypto address next time? (Joke)
And whenever possible offer pick ups and pay cash to you. If you post, that item ‘may never be delivered’.
I had several scammers back off when I insisted on collection in person in person. I offered to deliver to some who claimed to stay near by but when asked to provide their address for the delivery, they got the UK address formatting really wrong (red flag). Even those who give seemingly okay addresses (time wasters) are there and you must be aware of them too.
Some had private profiles and some who had few hints in their profiles were idiots not anywhere near the Uk.
It’s certainly common enough that it crops up on various forums every month or two. Which is enough for me not to do it – once you’re labelled a criminal it’s hard to prove your side of the story because nobody at the bank will want to talk to you. Plus you might have your other accounts closed by the time you sort it out.
It’s essentially a big enough headache for me not to want to risk it.
Also only ever do in person collection, in a public space (outside the entrance to a supermarket, bank or police station) with CCTV and heavy foot traffic because I don’t want to leave anything to chance.
People are getting more and more desperate so it’s best to protect yourself. Or just sell to a shop like CeX and accept the lower cost as a convenience fee / insurance.
Reading through this thread, I’ve just realised I’ve got a stash of cash at home from my dad who still thinks he needs to give me lunch money. I’ve told him ‘No’ plenty of times, and also said he could just bank transfer me if he really wants to, but I think he just loves withdrawing cash at this point.
Since I very hardly use cash at all, the money has been going into a savings box which I thought I’d give back to him sometime in the future. Bit of a pointless post, but it got me thinking of the cash just sitting in my bedroom.
Not sure it is pointless. There’ll be at least one person here who’s wondering:
How much?
What could you spend it on?
Might that 
be something for your dad?
(who might well not want to see the cash again)
How easy would it be to bank it?
And more questions like “Won’t your bank investigate you for money laundering for having all those sums in cash with no clear traceable source?”
Unless it’s filling the attic, probably not…
Nip it to the Post Office next time you get a chance. Pop it in a separate savings account if you need.