USPS money orders, love 'em or hate 'em?

[One-Eyed Jack]

People seem to love or hate to receive USPS MOs as payment on SH. I'm one who loves them and thought I would mention why.

A cashier's check is one of the worst way to get paid because they can be faked - there are a million different styles, so how do you know it's real when it arrives in the mail? Your bank has to fund a cashier's check if it appears to be real (certain markings are required), but weeks later you may find out it's a phony and you're on the hook for the money.

On the other hand, I know what USPS money orders look like -- they are all of the same design with certain security features, so I feel more confident after I've examined them. Also, I can take them to the Post Office and have them examined.

Apparently some people want to cash MOs at the Post Office (I see lots of comments that often the PO doesn't have sufficient cash), but I've never done that. Instead, I simply deposit them at my bank (the Bank of America or my credit union) as I would any other check, either at the teller's window or the ATM. The BofA funds USPS MO deposits the next day (same as a cashier's check), and my credit union credits my account immediately - so there is some variation in how these institutions handle USPS MOs.

Before you say you don't want USPS MOs as payment, ask your bank or credit union how they process them. I've had no problems at all, and you can verify their authenticity at a Post Office.

If you want the use the money immediately, deposit the USPS MOs in your account knowing that they are real and use other money in your account to pay for an immediate purchase. The deposited MOs will clear according to your bank's policy, and you will get the funds.

 

[ridurall]

Re: USPS money orders

My best friend just got screwed out of $700 when he sent a postal money order to MN to purchase a handgun. I always thought it was federal offence. But it didn't stop that crook. I wonder how many people he got selling that gun on the Arms list?

 

[Oakland Tactical]

Re: USPS money orders, love 'em or hate 'em?

Love them, on the outbound if somone screws you its mail fraud and easier for the USPS to track them. On the inbound Im with you I feel more confident that its not forged. I have had forged Bank MOs before(not from the Hide).

 

[Switchblade]

Re: USPS money orders, love 'em or hate 'em?

Use them a lot

 

[sobrbiker883]

Re: USPS money orders, love 'em or hate 'em?

I hate trying to cash them out at the PO is I don't want to run them through my bank.

I recently found out that USPS money orders are the #1 forged monetary exchange document these days (from either Chase or USPS).

Big ticket items, I want certified funds (bank cashiers check or mo from MY bank), and I ship after payment is coverted to cash in my hot little hands. Smaller items, I'll take pretty much anything-karma type stuff. If you want to screw me for a $50 piece of kit, have at it, you'll get yours and vice versa, I'm not about to screw my karma for ripping someone off.

I miss honor and integrity.....

 

[sobrbiker883]

Re: USPS money orders, love 'em or hate 'em?

I keep my gun/fun transactions seperate from my household budget, so I prefer not to deposit gunfunds in my bank account that Mrs sobrbiker uses....

 

[Slapchop]

Re: USPS money orders, love 'em or hate 'em?

Does the post office still limit you to a max of $700 per money order? If so that can be a pain in the ass for higher dollar purchases but if security and ease of mind is the trade off than so be it.

For those of you who use USPS money orders a lot, how do they fare when compared with credit/debit cards?

 

[One-Eyed Jack]

Re: USPS money orders, love 'em or hate 'em?

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: sobrbiker883</div><div class="ubbcode-body">I recently found out that USPS money orders are the #1 forged monetary exchange document these days (from either Chase or USPS).

I miss honor and integrity.....</div></div>

USPS MOs have security features that you can recognize or take to the PO to verify, but not cash.

I miss honesty as well. Do unto others, ya' know?

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: sobrbiker883</div><div class="ubbcode-body">I keep my gun/fun transactions seperate from my household budget, so I prefer not to deposit gunfunds in my bank account that Mrs sobrbike.r uses.... </div></div>
My wife and I have both joint and separate accounts, so we don't ask each other about personal purchases except when it's an obvious thing to do. I have a fun money account to keep track of whether I'm above water or not.

 

[One-Eyed Jack]

Re: USPS money orders, love 'em or hate 'em?

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: Slapchop</div><div class="ubbcode-body">Does the post office still limit you to a max of $700 per money order? If so that can be a pain in the ass for higher dollar purchases but if security and ease of mind is the trade off than so be it.

For those of you who use USPS money orders a lot, how do they fare when compared with credit/debit cards? </div></div>
The largest amount for a USPS MO is $1000. So a $2500 purchase would require three MOs, but they are incredibly inexpensive.

Many purchases on SH are person to person arrangements; it would be unusual for the seller to accept credit cards, and then there is the fee (roughly 3%). PayPal would be more common, but there are usually fees involved and PayPal prohibits payments for firearms purchases.

 

[chpprguy]

Re: USPS money orders, love 'em or hate 'em?

I think the main complaint is when you have to send a USPS MO.... receiving one is great.... sending one out is not.
The post office will do little to nothing to help if the sellers stiffs you.....

I am surprised that wire transfers aren't more common.....

 

[bikemancs]

Re: USPS money orders, love 'em or hate 'em?

I've done Western Union (while I was in Iraq) and USPS MOs. in the terms of ease, I prefer to do the USPS MO. I've never been on the receiving of a MO yet, so I don't know if one is easier than the other.

I do feel a bit more 'security' in sending a USPS MO vs Western Union.

 

[ORD]

Re: USPS money orders, love 'em or hate 'em?

I would say that out of all the transactions (buying and selling) that I have done online with private individuals (not companies with secured CC payment options), 98% or more of them have been done with USPS MO and with ZERO problems. I have used them and will continue to use them in the future.

 

[1911jerry]

Re: USPS money orders, love 'em or hate 'em?

"Cash never makes enemies...."

From an old movie in which the actor (Robert Urich?)was named "Cash"

I thought it was a pretty cool statement back then.

Jerry

 

[ISBe]

Re: USPS money orders, love 'em or hate 'em?

I've always used USPS MO's and have never had a problem *knock on wood*. I take mine to my bank and usually cash them. Today, I cashed 3 MO's and she ran them through a machine (authenticity?), handed me the cash and I was on my way.

How can you tell if they are fake?

 

[smokshwn]

Re: USPS money orders, love 'em or hate 'em?

I have been told several times that they are one of the most forged/copied/screwed with forms of payment....

I have had good luck so far with them , but I much prefer cashier's check.

 

[dmuldrew]

Re: USPS money orders, love 'em or hate 'em?

I had an interesting experience about 6 years ago with postal money orders. I sold 2 rifles and 2 scopes and had about $7k worth of them. My bank, I found had a policy of not cashing them at all because of multiple instances of fraud, and the PO didn't have enough cash to cover them. I no longer bank there, but the PO fixed me up after a couple of days. Thought I was fooked...

ETA, not ever a problem with em prior to that or since.

 

[Lucks]

Re: USPS money orders, love 'em or hate 'em?

I always cash MO as soon as I get them. Then when I have the cash in my hand, I send the buyer the goods.

 

[shulette]

Re: USPS money orders, love 'em or hate 'em?

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: One-Eyed Jack</div><div class="ubbcode-body">
Apparently some people want to cash MOs at the Post Office (I see lots of comments that often the PO doesn't have sufficient cash), but I've never done that. Instead, I simply deposit them at my bank (the Bank of America or my credit union) as I would any other check, either at the teller's window or the ATM. The BofA funds USPS MO deposits the next day (same as a cashier's check), and my credit union credits my account immediately - so there is some variation in how these institutions handle USPS MOs.
</div></div>

I suspect that this is not a function of how the institutions handle Money Orders but the basic difference in how transactions are posted in general. Most credit unions have low transaction volume and can use 'real time' posting whereby each customer's transaction is processed and the amounts are credited and/or debited to the account immediately. Most larger banks, like BofA, have very high transactional volume and still post the items to customer accounts during batch processing sometime in the early morning hours of the next day.

 

[unrepentant]

Re: USPS money orders, love 'em or hate 'em?

I used to work at the post office. Worst job I ever had, but I learned a lot about their practices and the knowledge has come in very handy for internet transactions.

Money order hot list

I'd prefer to get paid with a USPS MO. I'd take it down to the post office near closing time to be sure they've got enough money on hand. They have a 'stolen' list they can check for fraudulent checks. Print it out and date it when you cash your MO. At least you can point the finger at them as the reason they got stiffed. I would never deposit a USPS MO into my bank account. If it is a fraud (counterfeit or stolen), they'll automatically debit your account and some banks won't even notify you. Years ago when I heard about this practice from a customer (across the post office counter) he said it had been a couple months he'd deposited the money.

I would NEVER use a USPS MO to pay for a transaction.

1) you can't stop a money order like you can personal and certified checks.
2) USPS requires 30 wait before it will acknowledge that a money order is missing.
3) the fee to investigate your claim is at least $5
4) read this for content: <span style="font-style: italic">The post office <span style="font-weight: bold">never</span> pays out for a money order twice.</span>
Lemme state that last part as clearly as I can-- Assume you make a claim that your money order is lost, or cashed by a bogus seller. If it's lost (i. e., the USPS can find no record of anyone cashing it) after a mandated waiting period, they'll refund you. If it's been cashed,<span style="color: #CC0000"><span style="font-weight: bold"> IF</span></span> they look for the bogus seller <span style="color: #CC0000"><span style="font-weight: bold">AND</span></span> they find him and recover the money, <span style="font-weight: bold">THEN</span> they'll give you a refund.

I pay by certified check; it's the least of the 5 evils.. (money order, personal check, cashier's check, wire transfer)

Also, just in case it hasn't occurred to someone--NEVER send a personal check unless you don't care who's got your bank routing number and your account number...it's printed on the bottom of your check.

 

[ubet]

Re: USPS money orders, love 'em or hate 'em?

I like using certified bank checks, everything is guaranteed. I hate usps, hate dealing with them, hate their mo because they never have the money in the till, and they are just infuckingefficient

 

[CMH]

Re: USPS money orders, love 'em or hate 'em?

Not much power to dispute a bad transaction with a MO. I like paying with my credit card if possible. Easiest thing to dispute with if it comes to that. I was stiffed once on an eBay transaction witha MO, and was hopelessly screwed.

 

[soleus123]

Re: USPS money orders, love 'em or hate 'em?

I sent a money order and got scammed. Post office said they will look into it and I haven't heard from them since.

 

[[email protected]]

Re: USPS money orders, love 'em or hate 'em?

I've never had an issue with them, and neither does my bank.

 

[Cinch]

Re: USPS money orders, love 'em or hate 'em?

I like to get them, hate to send them. Pain in the ass to get to town when they're open and have cash on hand to boot. Especially during the holiday season...

 

[Fisky]

Re: USPS money orders, love 'em or hate 'em?

I've used USPS MOs quite a bit in the last year or so. I don't know, it just convenient for me at this time. I don't have a bank in the town I'm currently living in, so I'm kinda stuck with that option for now. On the flipside, like already mentioned, the tills never have sufficient funds to cash the MO. So I have to mail it back to my bank. Therfore I never have "cash in hand" before I mail the goods. I usually send the goods out and send the MO to my bank at the same time. I do have USPS verify the MO though, before shipping the items.

Once I decide on a bank in the town I'm at, I'm going to open up an account and do everything through them via certefied check I think.

 

[hayboy]

Re: USPS money orders, love 'em or hate 'em?

Works for me, but Postmaster told me that their MO machines is what they stole in a PO robbery that got 1 killed. I forget where it was. I was asking about the pic on the wall when she told me this.

 

[SmokeRolls]

Re: USPS money orders, love 'em or hate 'em?

I have used USPost office money orders on many deals on the Hide.
Once I receive the money order I just take the money order down to a small post office and have the postmaster call it in and verify that it's legit and was bought and issued in the same location for the same ammount. When he verifies that my money order is legit then I am home free and have cash on hand that my bank accepts perfectly.
The postmaster also showed me the water mark that can be seen on the back of the money order when held up to a light, it's a head picture (Or Bust)of George Washington.

There are many ways to get funds to another location but I would rather have the resource of the post office to verify each money order before I consider it cash in my hand. If it's not legit then I report it to law enforcement/USPOST office and then they try to track it down and hopefully bust somebody's butt. And then I keep my item since it's not a legit cash ticket. I'm not out anything and cannot be hurt.

There are a massive amount of FAKE certified checks / money orders running around from many differently named banks so be careful.
Verifying funds is the key to a successful transaction.
If you can't verify then you are rolling the dice on if you are getting stiffed.

You can do an electronic funds transfer but you need to set up an account to use that has no affiliation with your other accounts which can be kinda hard to do and you are already giving potential theives /hackers more info than you really need to give them, like your banks routing # and that you have accounts there and you just gave them one of your accounts.
Banks even caution you at doing this and they get alittle vervous because they know that you are giving out some of your info.

Do what you think is wise and safeguard yourself as best as possible.
I wish life was at it once was when a handshake was all you needed..
.....SmokeRolls

 

[johndoe]

Re: USPS money orders, love 'em or hate 'em?

Allways had good luck with them but they are small amounts never
big purchases. Everybody here that i've done buisness with here on the
Hide are stand up.

 

[Only10x]

Re: USPS money orders, love 'em or hate 'em?

i like them though as a buyer I always fret over the possibility of being taken for a ride, though out of all the payment methods I believe the USPS would prob be the only service to look for a solution/ investigation in cases of fraud.

 

[ToddM]

Re: USPS money orders, love 'em or hate 'em?

Cash is the only way to not get screwed, it's just not safe to send in the mail.

A postal MO is great if you are seller, and you make sure to just get it cashed (as someone else said don't deposit it because if it's bad they will remove the funds from your account). A MO can suck if you are the buyer because there's no recourse for you if the seller screws you.

I'm amazed so many people like cashier's checks these days. Not only are they the most forged form of payment, but as a seller unless you hold shipping the item for 10-14 days after it's deposited, the buyer can stop payment on it just like a personal check. You can verify the check is good with the issuing bank (remember to look the bank phone number up, if it's forged the phone number might be to their cell phone). It still does not stop the buyer from stopping payment on the check right after you send the item and you being screwed. To me a cashiers check is no better than a personal check aside you can verify the buyer actually has the funds in the account. It says nothing that they won't stop payment on the check, or that it's not forged.

Basically if they want to screw you, there's no payment method aside face to face with cash that is fool proof for both buyer and seller, and even then it's not 100%.