Postal money order versus bank money order

Planning on buying a tractor some distance from me. Will send local trucker to briefly inspect the used tractor and pay for it. Don't want to send cash, he is someone that I don't personally know. Am I correct in that a USPS money order is pretty much same as cash, and bank money order must wait for clearance?

I would use neither. If I am buying equipment that I am not personally picking up I get the sellers bank information and have my bank do a wire transfer of the funds. It is much safer. You have proof of when and where the funds go. A money order or cashiers check you have zero control of after you hand it the the person doing the hauling. The cost is about the same. At most banks it is usually $5-10. If the seller will not work with me about doing this I usually just drop the deal. Reason being that the bank wire transfer is way safer for the seller too. He knows right aways that the funds are there and good.

A money order or cashiers check can both be counterfeit. Plus it take time to find out they are fake. As the seller that could be as much as a week. So your stuff is long gone by then.

For me, cash is king.

How far away is it? To me it almost sounds like how most of the stories start on guys who've been scammed out of what they were selling and some money.... minus the overpayment part.

Donovan from Wisconsin

EITHER is usually made out PAY TO THE ORDER OF so and so if a person takes it to a bank etc., depending on what proof they require, it can be signed and cashed REGARDLESS if that person is reallyyyyyy the Billy Bob you intended. Of course, Id expect the bank or whatever institution to ask for a picture ID and other info prior to cashing it, but things happen !!! The "Law" is available to help in either instance, but after the fact can be tough grrrrrrr. SO YES EITHER CAN POSE A RISK. Still, its obviously safer then handing hard cold cash to a stranger or the truck driver etc. !!!!!!!

You may wanna take a look at alternative payment methods such as perhaps Pay Pal and Western Union. I have bought and sold items worth several thousand using Pay Pal and felt safer then handing cash to a stranger. Theres also more protection using a Credit Card then a Debit Card.

Unless youre there in person to inspect the equipment,,,,,,,,Take a look at things such as Serial Numbers,,,,,,,,,,,Have some idea of proof of ownership,,,,,,,,,Obtain a Bill of Sale,,,,,,THERES AN OBVIOUS RISK INVOLVED and heck even iffffffffff you exercise due diligence as noted above YOU CAN STILL GET RIPPED OFF

As an Attorney I can relate to the old wives tale "Posession is 9/10 of the Law" is fairly accurate, because a "Peaceful Posessor" has superior right and title to alllllll the world EXCPET FOR a true rightful owner. i.e. just because a person stole something (NOT true owner) that doesnt allow you to steal from him and claim "hey it wasnt his, he stole it" he as the current peaceful posessor (even if he stole it) still has superior title over yourself

Best Wishes

John T

I darn sure would not hand you my banking info for any reason. That's what you are asking the seller to do for a bank transfer. They have to give you the routing # and account #. That means that even if you are honest and lets say I email that to you and you computer has spyware or gets hacked.....well then it's my problem.

Rick

Your bank can set up for a wire transfer using temp acct numbers that are only good for that transaction. keeps both ends safe
BTDT

Ron

(quoted from post at 16:30:51 10/20/12) I darn sure would not hand you my banking info for any reason. That's what you are asking the seller to do for a bank transfer. They have to give you the routing # and account #. That means that even if you are honest and lets say I email that to you and you computer has spyware or gets hacked.....well then it's my problem.

Rick

Click to expand...

Do you write personal checks on your bank account?

It seems to me that every personal check I have ever seen contains the account number and the bank routing number at the bottom of the check, I know that mine do.

Every time you write a personal check you are making that information available to the payee.

postal money orders have a 1000 dollar limit, but at 25 cents each, you can get quite a few for what your bank will charge you.... Also a felony offense to screw with postal MO's...We just sent several to buy a horse.... Guy just takes them to the PO for cash..... depending on the amount, you may have to give em a day or so notice (??).....

I always use PayPal for these transactions it about the safest way to buy something. One you don't give out any personal info and the don't either. All you get it his email address and that can be changed the same day he gets the money. It also free hard to beat that. It also has a money back garrantee I case the deal goes bad.
Walt

Take the ride with the trucker and inspect the tractor yourself. If you don't like what you see walk away. It it looks ok to you after taking the tractor for a spin pay the man and load the tractor. Enjoy the ride. Hal

Guys you are making this hard. All the information I need to send a guy money from my bank is his name, the bank's name, and the banks phone number. I do not need any account number of his or he does not need mine. My bank calls his bank and they transfer the money between their accounts at the Federal reserve. Then his bank deposits the funds in to whatever account he choses. I have done this for over thirty years. It is by far the simplest transaction you can have.

As far as PayPal like some on here have posted. I will never take Paypal for anything worth more than a few hundred dollars. The account holder at Paypal can say you sold him something that was bad/wrong/shortage. Then Paypal takes the fund back out of your bank account. I sold a parts tractor a few years ago and the guy wanted to use Paypal. So no big deal I have sold some stuff on Ebay and this was only a $750 deal. He came and got the tractor and I got the funds through Paypal. They transfer them into my business account. He files a claim with Paypal saying I had shorted the delivered item. They pulled the funds back out of my business account at my bank. I called Paypal and they told me the dispute was between me and the buyer. They would not honor the payment. So the jerk had his money back and the tractor I sold him.

Lucky I found out where he lived and it was just down in the Quad-city area. I went and collected the money. He tried to weasel out of it but I was able to make him understand that he really did not want to make me do it the hard way.

Since then it is cold hard cash or a bank transfer to people I have not know a long time.

I get the sniff of a CL scam. No way I'd give anyone a pile of money in any form to go buy a mavhine for me that I haven't seen from someone I don't know. My 2 cents, your nickle...

A postal Money Order can be cashed at any bank,
just like a check...You don't have to go to the
Post office...AND, if it's a large amount, a
small town Post Office may not have enough cash
on hand.