USPS Money Order Question.

Methuselah

Methuselah

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Hey everybody,
I have normally only done business on the forums through PayPal for payments.
Today I have someone who wishes to pay me with a USPS money order.

Can they always be trusted to be authentic?

I am aware of some scammers who are known to run money order scams and their money orders are not to be trusted.

Just looking for advice from others who have dealt with USPS money orders.

What can I expect?

Thank you.
 
Just my opinion, but in 2018 why would someone need to pay with a money order? No Bank account?, no debit card? I would be leery.
 
Travis Cottrell said:
Just my opinion, but in 2018 why would someone need to pay with a money order? No Bank account?, no debit card? I would be leery.
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I have noticed many folks that try to avoid using PayPal because they don't like to be involved with the fees for one thing, many times they prefer to trade their knives straight up, and sometimes they're just older folks who prefer to do things with money orders and generally they use USPS money orders. I have also had a couple guys who put cash right in the envelope to me with their trade item .
Had my specific transaction B involved with somebody with a high trading level I wouldn't worry about it but this guy has no trading history and joined last Monday
 
Methuselah said:
Hey everybody,
I have normally only done business on the forums through PayPal for payments.
Today I have someone who wishes to pay me with a USPS money order.

Can they always be trusted to be authentic?

I am aware of some scammers who are known to run money order scams and their money orders are not to be trusted.

Just looking for advice from others who have dealt with USPS money orders.

What can I expect?

Thank you.
Click to expand...

If you don't agree to ship out before you receive that USPS M.O. and have the time to take it to the USPS to cash it, I don't see a problem other than having to wait for your funds to arrive.

Is it antiquated in todays age of instant funding processes? Yes! But for their own reasons, some buyers prefer it in that manner. If you're willing to wait for that "check in the mail", you will put 2.9% of the transaction + $0.30 (in other words,100% :D ) more in your pocket!
 
Yes, only accept a USPS money order, I don't believe they can be faked. Tell the buyer once the M.O is received and cashed, the knife will be mailed. I've done both, sent and gotten USPS money orders and have never had a problem cashing them.
Sometimes it's faster to send a M.O. as opposed to putting money in my PP account or bank account for my knives.
 
They have definitely been faked before, I've seen people who have lost their life savings. If you do decide to take it, call 866-459-7822 to verify it then take it to your post office for them to verify as well.
 
If you know what they look like you are not going to take a fake. They can't be made on a printer. They have security strips and watermarks. I use them often. If the amount does not exceed the amount in the PO cash register they will cash them right there, and I am sure they could verify it for you. For those who are not familiar with the USPS money order I will agree to wait a few days after delivery, so they clear their bank, before they need to send my item. Most send the item on receipt.
You can track USPS money orders online, and that system may indicate if it is a bad number-never used it that way, but you can try.
ONLY take USPS money orders
 
unwisefool said:
They have definitely been faked before, I've seen people who have lost their life savings. If you do decide to take it, call 866-459-7822 to verify it then take it to your post office for them to verify as well.
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How does one loose their life saving by taking a USPS money order?
 
Peter Hartwig said:
How does one loose their life saving by taking a USPS money order?
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Dude took $40k of them then wired the funds to Africa. Of course they come back bad and he's out the money because there is little to no chance of recovering it. He was in his late 40's.

An older lady did the same but it was only about 15 to 20k, but still, it was almost all the money she had.
 
They have been faked but if you sell by USPS money order you won't ship until you receive the money order and you can take it to the post office if you want to have it verified absolutely ... but most post offices will only cash them if it's for a small amount ... but your bank will cash it no problem ...

I wouldn't be too worried if you follow those steps you should be good ... if it's a counterfit then you will know and you still have your knife. And the postal service dies not take it lightly ... they would definately follow up with legal action on a fake money order.
 
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JJ_Colt45 said:
They have been faked but if you sell by USPS money order you won't ship until you receive the money order and you can take it to the post office if you want to have it verified absolutely ... but most post offices will only cash them if it's for a small amount ... but your bank will cash it no problem.
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The bank may cash it but that does not mean they have verified it. They will cash it against the funds in the account and if it comes back bad a day or two later you are on the hook for the funds. Need to wait a few days to make sure it doesn't come back bad.
 
If you look at my full post ... he can take it to the post office and have it verified before cashing it anywhere ...

unwisefool said:
The bank may cash it but that does not mean they have verified it. They will cash it against the funds in the account and if it comes back bad a day or two later you are on the hook for the funds. Need to wait a few days to make sure it doesn't come back bad.
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unwisefool said:
Dude took $40k of them then wired the funds to Africa. Of course they come back bad and he's out the money because there is little to no chance of recovering it. He was in his late 40's.

An older lady did the same but it was only about 15 to 20k, but still, it was almost all the money she had.
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Ok-one of the basic Nigerian scams. They do that in many forms including PP.
However the most the OP is risking is his knife, and I think he can get this done in a safe manner .If the member is in good standing I doubt any problem at all.
With that said, my rule of thumb is that if it is going to cause you undo stress and worry-just pass. Many have taken the USPS money orders from me, but some have said sorry. I don't take it personally.
 
Casinostocks said:
If you don't agree to ship out before you receive that USPS M.O. and have the time to take it to the USPS to cash it, I don't see a problem other than having to wait for your funds to arrive.

Is it antiquated in todays age of instant funding processes? Yes! But for their own reasons, some buyers prefer it in that manner. If you're willing to wait for that "check in the mail", you will put 2.9% of the transaction + $0.30 (in other words,100% :D ) more in your pocket!
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This was my plan of action to follow what you've written.
 
unwisefool said:
The bank may cash it but that does not mean they have verified it. They will cash it against the funds in the account and if it comes back bad a day or two later you are on the hook for the funds. Need to wait a few days to make sure it doesn't come back bad.
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I could be wrong but I think I'm right about fraudulent money orders when taken to the bank the bank will cash them for you regardless of the amount because it is a money order that they have not verified yet. At that point you are held accountable before the entire amount once it's verified or proved fraudulent by the bank rather they can file criminal action against you. That's why people lose their money.
Ajack60 said:
Yes, only accept a USPS money order, I don't believe they can be faked. Tell the buyer once the M.O is received and cashed, the knife will be mailed. I've done both, sent and gotten USPS money orders and have never had a problem cashing them.
Sometimes it's faster to send a M.O. as opposed to putting money in my PP account or bank account for my knives.
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How's it going a jack good to hear from you, I still often think about that small sebenza you let me borrow every time I see one or everytime I see The Notches in my workbench I did a push cut with. Thanks again and yes I'm willing to wait and take it to the post office to verify it then I'll send him his knife he's aware of that.

Peter Hartwig said:
If you know what they look like you are not going to take a fake. They can't be made on a printer. They have security strips and watermarks. I use them often. If the amount does not exceed the amount in the PO cash register they will cash them right there, and I am sure they could verify it for you. For those who are not familiar with the USPS money order I will agree to wait a few days after delivery, so they clear their bank, before they need to send my item. Most send the item on receipt.
You can track USPS money orders online, and that system may indicate if it is a bad number-never used it that way, but you can try.
ONLY take USPS money orders
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My buyer told me he would send me the tracking information when he mailed the money order. Which does lead me to believe it will be on the up-and-up.

Thank you everybody.
 
Methuselah said:
This was my plan of action to follow what you've written.
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Good! Just make sure that like I had said and also someone else had suggested, you actually cash it in at a USPS... Most USPS retail stores in most larger cities do carry enough cash to generally cover for the sort of sums I've seen knives sell for around here but if you were selling something like a Lamborghini, it'd most likely be quite a different story ;)
 
Casinostocks said:
Good! Just make sure that like I had said and also someone else had suggested, you actually cash it in at a USPS... Most USPS retail stores in most larger cities do carry enough cash to generally cover for the sort of sums I've seen knives sell for around here but if you were selling something like a Lamborghini, it'd most likely be quite a different story ;)
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If I were selling a Lamborghini, then I could certainly laugh my way all the way to the bank.............:D...:).....:D...:p......:cool:....
 
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