How do US Postal Money orders work?

[Lone_Gunman]

Yes, this is gun related... If I sell a gun out of state, and someone pays by US post office money order, who do I know it is not counterfeit? If I carry to my bank and they cash it for me, won't they hold it against my account until it clears?

Can I cash it at a post office immediately? Is the post office able to immediately make sure the money order is for real?

 

[John828]

LG,

You can cash them at any Post Office. AFAIK, the instruments have a number on the back that you can call to verify whether the PMO is real or not.

Also, I think there are some "encrypted" identifiers on the PMOs themselves similar to watermarks and other identifiers on currency. I'd go to the post office website and look up money orders.

 

[Just One Shot]

I've used these a number of times while selling used auto parts. When you recieve it you can go to your local post office and they can verify it's authenticity for you. If it's not too large an amount they should be able to cash it for you right there at the post office.

It's good to be wary because the post office has had some legitimate PO money orders stolen. They have the list at your local office with the numbers of those that were taken.

Good luck with your sale!

 

[subknave]

My wife sells lots of stuff on Ebay and yes you can take a Postal Money order to the post office and cash it. I doubt the risks of getting a counterfeit postal money order are any greater than getting a bad check or other monetary instrument. Your bank would probably hold the funds until the money order "clears" based on the banks policies. Today that is kind of a misnomer because the transfer of information is almost instantaneous but banks still hold the money (and use it) for anywhere from 1 to 10 business days. In the "old days" the actual check had to be transferred to the originating bank before you would know if it was good or not. If someone wrote a check on a west coast bank on the east coast that could take a week. It led to a lot of fruad and bank and business policies of not taking out of town checks. Today it is done electronically and might take 24 hours.

 

[John828]

Guns/Guns/Guns/Guns/Guns

Just keeping it on topic

LG,

Just for kicks, what were the terms of the sale as far as when were you obligated to ship the gun?

There are two parties with different angles of trust in any transaction, so the buyer is probably on another forum asking, "I sent my PMO, what is the seller does not ship?"

 

[Lone_Gunman]

There are two parties with different angles of trust in any transaction, so the buyer is probably on another forum asking, "I sent my PMO, what is the seller does not ship?"

I had specifically tried to sell face to face to avoid these problems., and the potential buyer contacted me to ship... so he must be not as concerned about it as I am.

 

[waterhouse]

As mentioned, the handy thing with Postal MOs, especially if you are shipping a long gun through the post office, is that you can walk in with the gun boxed up and ready to go, hand them the MO, make sure it is valid (they will either cash it or they won't) and when they hand you the cash you hand them to box to ship.

Saves a trip to the post office and you only have to wait in line once to get your money and ship the gun.

 

[twoclones]

As a buyer, I prefer PayPal and will 'pass' on a deal if the seller insists on Postal Money Order.

 

[Logos]

The best way, by far, is to cash it at the post office and have the cash in your pocket before you ship the gun.

If it's for a lot of money don't try to cash it right away in the morning.....about 1 to 2 p.m. is best.

They will hold it up to the light to check it and they know immediately if it's good. They have never checked it against any lists of numbers in my experience.

One the other hand, the bank just deposits these things until they clear and if something goes wrong--you are the one who is out of luck.

Cash in your pocket is the best way.

Oh yes.....and as a buyer it is best to pay with a credit card unless you absolute cannot find a way to do it. When paying through PayPal always use the credit card option. If there's a gun you absolutely HAVE to get and can't do it another way, be sure your seller has excellent references and feedback before you take the risk.

You can always do a chargeback on your credit card.....no other form of payment protects you that way.

 

[Titan6]

There were a lot of scams going around a few years ago (and maybe even still) with people offering up bogus cashier checks and postal money orders for purchases. So long as you take it to the post office and don't put it into your account you should be ok.

A couple of red flags:

- Never accept a payment for more than the amount (with you returning the rest). A classic example is a cashier's check for $4000 for a $3200 gun. The man asks you to cash it and send him a check for $800. This is very old scam and still gets people from time to time. The cashier check may actually take a couple of weeks to come up as hot or bad and now you are out $4000.

Tips for postal customers

* Be skeptical of anyone asking you to wire money to overseas bank accounts, or to cash money orders or checks, on their behalf.
* Know who you're dealing with--never give out personal or financial information to anyone you don't know.
* Familiarize yourself with postal money order security features.
* Never wire funds to anyone unless you're sure the money order or check they gave you was cleared by your bank and the funds released.

https://postalinspectors.uspis.gov/radDocs/consumer/moalert.htm