Postal money orders

[Old TexMex]

Agreed! I prefer to hop on my corporate jet and do a face to face cash transfer.

 

[two-bit cowboy]

Even if a seller's ad says "only Postal MO" I ask if they'll accept a certified check (many say, "Yes."). My credit union does that for free. If the seller won't agree I head to the post office.

My time is valuable and I'm cheap, but I don't lament the few minutes it takes to fill out one (or five) money orders, and I'm not going to end up eating Alpo because of the fees.

There are many more things to spend my time considering in today's complicated world.

 

[WR Moore]

Another vote for certified check. The bank is writing the check on your behalf.

 

[handejector]

Agreed! I prefer to hop on my corporate jet and do a face to face cash transfer.

Don't land it on my grass!

 

[doublesharp]

The seller dictates the terms of the sale, don’t like it, move along, who cares. I’m sure if you ran into someone selling a mint RM for $2000, who wanted a USPS MO, you’d be beating feet to the PO.

Bingo! $2000 reg magnums will get me to USPS fast (so will an $800 nickel 5" mod 27 ) but most sellers have more common and more realistically priced items. Deal with the post office for a $400 mod 10... not happening.

It's been my experience that there are more sellers than there are buyers and if one seller will not accept my terms of payment let them get out of line because the next one probably will. It's a poor mouse with only one hole to run to.

 

[deadin]

What's wrong with a Western Union wire transfer???


If it's good enough for an African Prince it should be good enough for anyone........

 

[paplinker]

Actually it can be.

My post office closes at 5pm on weekdays.
Many people work until 430 and after so that leaves only Saturday for a lot of people.

Now the PO has decided to cut back hours on Saturday so the line is almost always at least twenty people deep most of the day. Hopefully there are no commitments you have on Sat to compound things.

Writing a personal check it is written in five minutes and in the mail in the morning. Big difference in aggravation and time..

 

[kraynky]

I recall receiving a MO as payment for a firearm, went to cash it at my bank. They ticked me off because they said that since I didn't already have that $1,000 in my account, I would have to deposit it, & it wouldn't be available for something like 2-3 days. "Fine, I'll go cash it at the Post Office." Right?......... Wrong

They said they start each day with $100 cash in their drawer, and if they haven't sold enough, they don't have the money to cash their own damn Money Order! EWWW, that was a bad day for me! It took me calling for 3 days straight and still having to drive 30 minutes away to a Post Office that had the dough.

Naw, I wasn't going back to my bank, I was still mad at them. LOL! What a lesson I learned that day! I was wanting to buy another MO that day to send to another fellow. It sure screwed up my plans that time.

 

[amazingflapjack]

you can still get the funds even if they are lost or stolen. The PO can check to see if they are real-before you send the gun-it is fail safe in the world we now live in.

 

[old bear]

I will not do business with anyone who will not accept a personal Check, with a reasonable time to clear my/their bank. I will not allow some total stranger dictate how I do business.

Sadly, the USPS has become a bad joke. How many other businesses can get by accepting payment for an item? I.e. a money order, but not be able to deliver the item sold, (money) on the other end?

 

[Muss Muggins]

This is just my two cents, take it for what it's worth . . .

The most counterfeited method of payment, bar none, is a certified bank check. You, as the payee, have no idea whatsoever what that thing is supposed to look like, and crooks use that to their great advantage.

Write me, as a crook, a personal check, and I have everything I need to steal every dime from your bank account.

Postal Money Orders are cheap, simple, and about as hard to counterfeit as real money. You might fool the simpletons, but most people know what a USPS MO should look like, especially if you use them even semi-regularly.

Granted, if you're dealing in amounts with a comma, and you don't have a comma in your bank balance, it's gonna take a little while to clear, but that's not really the Post Office's problem. Your bank would do the same with a certified or personal check.

As always, your mileage may vary . . .

 

[df06]

USPSMO is all I’ll accept.
In the middle of a transaction now. My ad said uspsmo only. The buyer wants to send a personal check. I told him no, and he’s pissed. Wants to send personal check and have me check to make sure it clears then ship the item.
I’ve got better things to do than monitor the validity of his checking account.

 

[ladder13]

USPSMO is all I’ll accept.
In the middle of a transaction now. My ad said uspsmo only. The buyer wants to send a personal check. I told him no, and he’s pissed. Wants to send personal check and have me check to make sure it clears then ship the item.
I’ve got better things to do than monitor the validity of his checking account.

Your terms, your sale.

 

[Old TexMex]

Don't land it on my grass!

For you, I use chopper. We land on roof, hokay?

 

[Rustyt1953]

Don't land it on my grass!

Or mine.

 

[Ματθιας]

Actually it can be.

My post office closes at 5pm on weekdays.
Many people work until 430 and after so that leaves only Saturday for a lot of people.

Now the PO has decided to cut back hours on Saturday so the line is almost always at least twenty people deep most of the day. Hopefully there are no commitments you have on Sat to compound things.

Writing a personal check it is written in five minutes and in the mail in the morning. Big difference in aggravation and time..

You're taking about actually going to the PO and their hours.

I'm addressing actually filling out the MO, which is what I think what the OP was talking about.

 

[handejector]

For you, I use chopper. We land on roof, hokay?

Paint it orange. We shoot at black ones.

 

[barbsaurus]

Bought a $20 gun bag from an online auction site and seller insisted on a USPS money order. OK...now the bag cost me almost $22. Seller got my money order and sent the bag. All is good...nope. Three weeks later I receive a non paying bidder notification from the seller. Told the seller he had sent me the bag but he didn't believe me. I go to post office and they want an additional $6 fee to "research" the money order. Long story short, 8 weeks later USPS provides documentation and seller apologized. If paid with personal check, this would have all been solved in a few minutes...not months. I'll use USPS money orders as last resort and I always ask sellers to accept personal check with an appropriate waiting period.

 

[mtgianni]

Our local PO closes at 4 PM. There isn't a PO within 50 miles that is open Saturdays. Mine might be able to cash a $50 MO before noon but probably not. The last one I took to the bank they turned it down as the payee wasn't in the spot they were looking for it. I had to explain to the teller where the payee was and note that it was listed Payee above that.
I understood that they were high on the list of counterfeited items. Put me down as not a fan of them.

 

[delcrossv]

I've had no problems with certified checks. I've had one seller insist that the check clears before shipping, and that's fine, it's never more than 2 days. They're convenient when the item is over $1k. USPS Money Orders are just an extra step for me, and I'm okay with them for lower priced items.

Not a big Paypal fan, for obvious reasons.