Wanderer

It's hard to believe that a local Western Union office could not verify if their money order was legit! MHO!

joe englert

For sure. The employee at my bank said that she would be shocked if the money order bounced after two weeks, but then she said she would not promise me that it would clear after two weeks. The vintage bike is a pretty nice one that I sold to the buyer for 425.00. For sure, great idea to get the buyers address even though he seemed to want to deal with my LBS directly about shipping the bike. That was also a bit interesting as, in the past, when ever I sold a bike out of state (on ebay-this is the first time I sold a bike out of state on craigs list-even though I only used local cr to advertise the bike) the buyer just paid me the shipping fees and left it to me to ship out the bike using my LBS to box it up for me.

gomango

This is the way I see it as well.

ChicAgo steel

I've got a couple of these transactions under my belt now, the latest was consummated today.
A clean Schwinn Paramount was listed on Craigslist in Spokane WA, Falcon3 posted it, 30245. The seller was emailed about my interest, we agreed on a price. CL let's you see approximately where the ad was generated from. Research and a phone call to each verified the LBS would pack and ship. Seller was given the choice of three LBS's to drop the bike off at for shipping. He picked WinterSport, took the bike in, the manager on duty was given the heads up, tells me the bike is in the shop, I pay the seller our agreed price via Paypal, seller walks away paid and happy. Now I've become a customer of WinterSport, who has this P-13 packed up already, will ship tomorrow and have it in Chicago later this week, woohoo!
Thanks to:
Austin-the seller, who put the original wheels back on.
Falcon3-the poster
Adam-LBS guy on the phone
Cast of characters in the C&V division!, cause it takes people, always terrific people!

italianbiker

So, you really don't have the guys address? If the Bike shop is willing to ship it thats great or does he arrange FedEx to pick up a package?

The price your dealing with is not an insane amount of money at least. But I would still wait until the check clears.

So, the board is split, half say ship it. I say don't ship it. Get the guys address. Wait for it to clear. I buy and sell a lot on CL and Ebay. I collect vintage watches and will always wait for my funds to clear before I expect a seller to ship something. It reduces their anxiety.

Here is #4 rule from CL: Don't accept cashier/certified checks or money orders - banks cash fakes, then hold you responsible.

CroMo Mike 

I remember a case here that was reported in the paper. A team of swindlers was buying cashiers checks for a small amount, then altering them to reflect the asking price of used cars they would buy from private sellers. In one case the seller took the cashiers check to the issuing bank's branch manager who confirmed it was a good check. The seller then deposited the check in her own account at another bank and let the car go. The buyers hauled her BMW away on a trailer behind a pickup truck. Three (3) weeks later, her bank informed her that the $15,000 check was no good. The car was long gone and apparently couldn't be traced. The bad guys were locals and got caught when another seller got suspicious and called the cops while the crooks waited for her to close the deal.

Morals of the story: (1) A deposited check can bounce after 3 weeks, even when drawn on a local bank.
(2) Crooks can convincingly alter an otherwise valid cashiers check to make it reflect a larger amount.
(3) Even if a bank official tells you it's good, it can be dishonored and bounced later when it goes through processing.

Would anyone go through this much trouble to get a bicycle? I doubt it, but I'm surprised someone would invest in a rechargeable angle grinder and risk arrest to heist a $100 bike. Strange world out there.

KonAaron Snake 

I don't think there are that many people stealing bikes with angle grinders...at least not in philly. Pro thieves here steal motorcycles and scooters. The high end biles you see stolen are more likely break ins.

joe englert

So, I took the bike up to the shop at this point. The buyer did give me the name of his employer which is a health care facility in Colorado.. I looked up the facility on the internet, called them up and talked to a lady that answered. She confirmed that the buyer has been an employee there for several years, collects vintage bikes, and could be trusted. That was enough for me. Now, if he had just given me a number to call, that would have been different, but with the name of the company, I just looked it up on the computer to make sure it really existed.