[jnordwick]

> The goods in stores that take only cash do not tend to be cheaper than those that do.

In NYC they most definitely do. A lot of the corner stores will change you less with cash. I'm not sure it is a the card payment or that they are keeping the sale off the books, but something that might cost me $18.50, I'll pay $18 for.

[jtc331]

Yes, cheaper in the same store, but not usually compared to other stores that don’t have cash discounts.

[BeetleB]

When I wrote that comment I knew someone would come out and use New York City as a counterexample.

The reality is except for a few of the really major cities those types of stores are usually more expensive than their larger counterparts in virtually all other cities in the US.

In my city I'm not going to get cheaper groceries by going to the smaller stores. They are more expensive regardless of whether they support credit cards or not. They may be superior and certain other aspects but price is not one of them.

My guess is the opposite may be true only in places where owning a car is expensive or inconvenient.