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why do most sellers insist on money orders?
- Thread starter Blackhearted
- Start date
Money Orders -
Well, for one it takes the "will you take my personal check" out of the equation, "will you trust me for my check", having to say "no" to that etc, though just last week I had a firearm sale complete on gunbroker and the guy sent a personal check instead of the requested money order, I shipped his gun the same day ($500 transaction), it just felt clean to me and hopefully I was right, won't know till it bounces LOL.
That and a lot of people don't like getting whacked for the % paypal takes, I had a $1,200 purchase I reluctantly accepted paypal for, got whacked with the 3% which adds up.
Nothing is perfect, no payment method is perfect, but postal money orders (though as recently stated on another thread there can be fraud) is kind of leaning things away from danger, as possible, for the seller (and for the buyer, if nothing ever arrives, there's a degree of benefit of maybe getting the postal service involved with the "there's been mail fraud here, and I paid with a postal money order and mailed the payment through the post office" thing...).
They are pretty cheap to buy in the states, cheaper than most banks charge for a money order. Bottom line, more than most other forms of payment, postal money orders tend to be "trusted" as pretty much 'instant good money'.
Frank H.
Well, for one it takes the "will you take my personal check" out of the equation, "will you trust me for my check", having to say "no" to that etc, though just last week I had a firearm sale complete on gunbroker and the guy sent a personal check instead of the requested money order, I shipped his gun the same day ($500 transaction), it just felt clean to me and hopefully I was right, won't know till it bounces LOL.
That and a lot of people don't like getting whacked for the % paypal takes, I had a $1,200 purchase I reluctantly accepted paypal for, got whacked with the 3% which adds up.
Nothing is perfect, no payment method is perfect, but postal money orders (though as recently stated on another thread there can be fraud) is kind of leaning things away from danger, as possible, for the seller (and for the buyer, if nothing ever arrives, there's a degree of benefit of maybe getting the postal service involved with the "there's been mail fraud here, and I paid with a postal money order and mailed the payment through the post office" thing...).
They are pretty cheap to buy in the states, cheaper than most banks charge for a money order. Bottom line, more than most other forms of payment, postal money orders tend to be "trusted" as pretty much 'instant good money'.
Frank H.
- Joined
- May 3, 2002
- Messages
- 6,192
What I don't get is that they want POSTAL money orders. As if that would make it easier to get your money back if somebody ripped you off.
YEAH! Like I want to have to deal with a sleezebag AND the Post Office.
No thanks! Gimme a money order from the grocery store or something. Or, make it a personal check and if it bounces I'll send my Bladeforums homies after you.
Cash will do. My grandma used-ta always send me cash in my birthday cards.
Someday I'm going to send one of you guys a big box of CHANGE!
.
YEAH! Like I want to have to deal with a sleezebag AND the Post Office.
No thanks! Gimme a money order from the grocery store or something. Or, make it a personal check and if it bounces I'll send my Bladeforums homies after you.
Cash will do. My grandma used-ta always send me cash in my birthday cards.
Someday I'm going to send one of you guys a big box of CHANGE!
.
- Joined
- Jun 3, 2005
- Messages
- 147
The post office is reporting a high rate of fraud in their money orders and I laugh when people insist on them. The funny thing is, the seller who goes to the post office with the money order, is the one who is held responsible and could be prosecuted!
If you insist on paper money - Cashier's check is the only way to fly!
If you insist on paper money - Cashier's check is the only way to fly!
The reason for insisting on Postal is the higher degree of safety.
I'd feel a lot better as a seller with a USPS than a "Bob's Mart" MO showing up. The additional hassle of having a bad MO takes the fun out of the transaction.
Plus, it actually does provide the buyer with some higher degree of safety in that should the seller "fraud" the transaction, mail fraud charges can be pursued.
Personal checks can be accepted of course, but the risks have to be understood and accepted.
I'd feel a lot better as a seller with a USPS than a "Bob's Mart" MO showing up. The additional hassle of having a bad MO takes the fun out of the transaction.
Plus, it actually does provide the buyer with some higher degree of safety in that should the seller "fraud" the transaction, mail fraud charges can be pursued.
Personal checks can be accepted of course, but the risks have to be understood and accepted.
Money orders are like cash no clearing time just cash WHAM in your hand. They've been paid for. A check doesn't mean the person has been too careful with their spending as of late and occasionally will be over drawn. Not everyone has over draft protection either and it can get sticky. I've had to wait too long twice trying to get paid by check.
Money order = Cash!
Check = Cash?
It's just easier. Postal money orders are good because you can cash them and mail the item all at once. They are actually a little easier to track and get re paid on than other Money order services. That all said, I've been paid in the past by checks here on BF and it has almost always been fine. 98%
As well, some of the knife buyers/sellers out there just don't have a Bank account.
Money order = Cash!
Check = Cash?
It's just easier. Postal money orders are good because you can cash them and mail the item all at once. They are actually a little easier to track and get re paid on than other Money order services. That all said, I've been paid in the past by checks here on BF and it has almost always been fine. 98%
As well, some of the knife buyers/sellers out there just don't have a Bank account.
- Joined
- May 3, 2002
- Messages
- 6,192
RDT said:
The Post Office will cash a Postal Money Order?
That would be one less trip.
I thought you had to take it to the bank.
.
- Joined
- May 3, 2002
- Messages
- 6,192
SuperD said:
Wow. I NEVER knew that! Well, that changes EVERYTHING!
(I could have saved SO many trips...)
Bounced checks are no fun, postal MO's can be verified at the PO prior to shipping and a cashier's check is king!
I just sent a MO from my bank to a seller, I bank at a subsidiary of ABN AMRO and if the money from them is not good, we all got other problems.
I also have been known to send cash - several hundred to over a thousand dollars if I know you.
FYI, BankAmerica has a cool widget which will allow an account holder to electronically expedite a money order from the account, send it from BOA, then email the recipient payment is enroute, along with the name and address of the remitter. That, my friends, is cool shizzle and offers me ultimate confidence as a seller.
I just sent a MO from my bank to a seller, I bank at a subsidiary of ABN AMRO and if the money from them is not good, we all got other problems.
I also have been known to send cash - several hundred to over a thousand dollars if I know you.
FYI, BankAmerica has a cool widget which will allow an account holder to electronically expedite a money order from the account, send it from BOA, then email the recipient payment is enroute, along with the name and address of the remitter. That, my friends, is cool shizzle and offers me ultimate confidence as a seller.
- Joined
- May 9, 2000
- Messages
- 29,205
IamMatt said:
Yep!
Being a Canadian and doing most of my purchases from the US, I find Postal money orders to be the best way to pay and be paid. I can cash the money orders at the Post Office which I can go to on a Sunday if I want. I have never received a fraudulent money order.
Blackhearted said:
Not sure where that came from...but your's is the only edited post. Shrug.
I prefer usps m.o.'s over anything but cash. I keep the reciept from the register with the tab portion of the m.o. as a reminder of what I bought and how much I paid. I've never heard of anyone I know getting a bogus postal m.o..
Just wondering why you guys do not use electronic bank transfers? I can send payments up to 2500 USD to anyone in my country for less than 0.20 USD using internet banking and electronic transfer. Actually our banks are forcing us to use such payments since they would charge me about 10 times more if I did the transfer in the bank (no one uses personal checks or MO here, COD is the second most popular way how to send goods).
David
David
- Joined
- Jul 6, 2005
- Messages
- 307
hey folks,
lots of replies to a thread id hoped would be deleted
had my original post stayed, perhaps the responses would have been different.
in a nutshell, i was asking why people preferred money orders to paypal. being in canada, a USD postal money order is both a nightmare for me to obtain and cash (if i get one), not to mention i live 45 min from town so its a lot of driving for me.
so basically, to get a money order involves a lot of driving, standing in line, an extra $1 postage (sometimes there is a fee for the money order as well, and many places dont issue them here or issuue the wrong ones), and at least a week or two added on to the entire transaction time as i wait for it to arrive.
then, i have to pray that it actually arrives.. because if it doesnt then i have just lost the full amount. or if the person cashes it and says it didnt arrive. there is an added inconvenience on the part of the seller as they have to make a trip to the bank/PO and stand in line as well to cash it.
now if the person doesnt ship out the item, or ships out a different one than agreed (or an empty box), then i have absolutely no form of recourse or buyer protection. a money order is the second worst thing to a western union transfer - your money is gone.
so there are so many risks the buyer is taking:
-loss of money order in the mail
-seller saying they didnt receive it
-seller never sending the package
-no form of recourse/buyer protection
and there are many inconveniences:
-extra cost involved (minimal, but a factor)
-extra time involved (min 1-2 weeks)
-driving to bank/PO, standing in line, etc
also: with paypal there is never any issue of the payment getting 'lost in the mail', the money is transferred instantly and you receive a receipt of payment. this is another protection for the buyer who sends his money in blind faith.
so what baffles me is that when a buyer offers to pay the extra 3% paypal fee, why many sellers still refuse to accept it? keep in mind that most sellers have paypal accounts of their own and participate often in ebay/forum sales, etc. ironically, these same people often insist on paypal as their form of payment as well when they are purchasing something.
the only reason i can conceive a seller would refuse paypal is because they want to remove that possibility of recourse from the buyer. my first reaction to that is:
#1. it is unfair. the risks are all so rediculously stacked against the buyer in most online transactions its not funny. the miniscule chance that if they get supremely ripped off they can recover some of their money through paypal is but a small comfort.
#2. the fact that someone would go to lengths to remove any possibility of buyer recourse triggers some red flags for me, since in any honest transaction this issue never arises.
i think it is unfair. perhaps i am biased because 99% of the time i am a buyer (i hate parting with my knives so i rarely sell them), and i would come around to a different way of thinking if i were a seller. however the inconvenience and added risk of money orders seems unfair to me for those sellers who have paypal accounts as well. hell, even a cheque would be more fair to me - i have cheque return service so when someone cashes my cheque i get it mailed back to me with their signature and the bank stamp on it, so i can prove that it was cashed. i can also just write one sitting at my desk and mail it a block away as opposed to having to go through the post office hassle.
the reason i posted this is because ive recently gotten a very good offer via email... but the user insists on postal money order as a form of payment. the offer is almost 'too good to be true', and due to the circumstances of the sale and the fact that i will have absolutely no form of buyer protection if i pay via money order i am going to walk away from it.
cheers,
-gabriel
lots of replies to a thread id hoped would be deleted
had my original post stayed, perhaps the responses would have been different.
in a nutshell, i was asking why people preferred money orders to paypal. being in canada, a USD postal money order is both a nightmare for me to obtain and cash (if i get one), not to mention i live 45 min from town so its a lot of driving for me.
so basically, to get a money order involves a lot of driving, standing in line, an extra $1 postage (sometimes there is a fee for the money order as well, and many places dont issue them here or issuue the wrong ones), and at least a week or two added on to the entire transaction time as i wait for it to arrive.
then, i have to pray that it actually arrives.. because if it doesnt then i have just lost the full amount. or if the person cashes it and says it didnt arrive. there is an added inconvenience on the part of the seller as they have to make a trip to the bank/PO and stand in line as well to cash it.
now if the person doesnt ship out the item, or ships out a different one than agreed (or an empty box), then i have absolutely no form of recourse or buyer protection. a money order is the second worst thing to a western union transfer - your money is gone.
so there are so many risks the buyer is taking:
-loss of money order in the mail
-seller saying they didnt receive it
-seller never sending the package
-no form of recourse/buyer protection
and there are many inconveniences:
-extra cost involved (minimal, but a factor)
-extra time involved (min 1-2 weeks)
-driving to bank/PO, standing in line, etc
also: with paypal there is never any issue of the payment getting 'lost in the mail', the money is transferred instantly and you receive a receipt of payment. this is another protection for the buyer who sends his money in blind faith.
so what baffles me is that when a buyer offers to pay the extra 3% paypal fee, why many sellers still refuse to accept it? keep in mind that most sellers have paypal accounts of their own and participate often in ebay/forum sales, etc. ironically, these same people often insist on paypal as their form of payment as well when they are purchasing something.
the only reason i can conceive a seller would refuse paypal is because they want to remove that possibility of recourse from the buyer. my first reaction to that is:
#1. it is unfair. the risks are all so rediculously stacked against the buyer in most online transactions its not funny. the miniscule chance that if they get supremely ripped off they can recover some of their money through paypal is but a small comfort.
#2. the fact that someone would go to lengths to remove any possibility of buyer recourse triggers some red flags for me, since in any honest transaction this issue never arises.
i think it is unfair. perhaps i am biased because 99% of the time i am a buyer (i hate parting with my knives so i rarely sell them), and i would come around to a different way of thinking if i were a seller. however the inconvenience and added risk of money orders seems unfair to me for those sellers who have paypal accounts as well. hell, even a cheque would be more fair to me - i have cheque return service so when someone cashes my cheque i get it mailed back to me with their signature and the bank stamp on it, so i can prove that it was cashed. i can also just write one sitting at my desk and mail it a block away as opposed to having to go through the post office hassle.
the reason i posted this is because ive recently gotten a very good offer via email... but the user insists on postal money order as a form of payment. the offer is almost 'too good to be true', and due to the circumstances of the sale and the fact that i will have absolutely no form of buyer protection if i pay via money order i am going to walk away from it.
cheers,
-gabriel