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Are there any risks involved with agreeing to accept a money order for payment of an eBay auction? Is there any possibility for fraud in that circumstance. No experience with this. This auction is domestic only, no international. Thanks!

Johnny Alien

Accepting them is fine but it is risky to pay with them. I always thought that if you paid by USPS Money Order and they didn't ship the goods it was labeled mail fraud but apparently that is not true. There is almost no buyer protection with ANY money order and it is similar to sending cash. The only time I ever got ripped off on ebay was with a money order payment from me.

But as a seller there are no risks to accepting them as payment.

cb400bill

The only risk to you is if it is a fake MO. Insist that the buyer get it from the USPS and then take it to your post office to have it cashed. If it is fake, they won't pay you.

anthony691

Excepting a few categories, eBay no longer allows money orders as a payment type.

supercycle62

Yes, this is true but there are still a few eBay sellers that will accept a postal money order as an acceptable form of payment. Since I don't have a credit card I have no choice. I hear about more people being ripped off through PayPal scams so I would never use it either (both buyers and sellers). There are very few incidents of people sending or receiving "fake" postal money orders. I have not bought many items through eBay but I have never had a problem paying with a postal money order. I generally email in advance of bidding to confirm with the seller if a postal money order is acceptable payment. I think most sellers will not ship an item until either the cheque or money order has cleared payment. Doing otherwise is plain foolishness.

20grit

I used to use money orders and cashiers checks to pay on ebay. At one point my paypal information was lost and someone went on a spending spree at a dollar tree in california. I'm not really sure what someone buys for $53 dollars at a Dollar Tree... but that's a different story.

My solution has been to get a low limit credit card and link it to a new paypal account. The people can't do much damage. If there are fraudulent charges I'm protected. It also keeps me from spending too much on ebay.

I never had a problem out of using the money orders... still use them on gun broker purchases when/if i make them. But there is no real protection aside from feedback.

Wogster

One thing you can do with Paypal is setup a separate bank account just for paypal, no money stays in that account, if your buying something using paypal then you transfer money into the account to handle the transaction, if you receive a payment using paypal you transfer the money out. If your paypal information is lost or stolen you kill the account.

Nearly any kind of payment instrument can be faked, ask your local police fraud unit to explain cheque washing to you, undoubtedly they will be familiar with it. There are some rules though with money orders, domestic money orders are probably okay, because fakes and scams are usually discovered before payment is made. International money orders are a whole different ballgame, but there are some easy things to check. First of all, money orders are commonly sold in whatever funds are requested, I can buy a money order in Canada denominated in US funds. The money order will have the name and logo of the postal service of the issuing country, which going to be the country it's coming from. You can google the name of a country and postal service to find the postal service for just about any country.

bikerosity57

I ALWAYS ask for USPS money orders. I have NEVER had any problem, and if you are the buyer you have some protection. Make sure you keep your receipts!! As a seller, if you accept only USPS money orders, you will have NO problems. I sometimes accept other brands of money orders, but NEVER EVER do any Western Union bank transfers at the request of the buyer!!! This is ALWAYS ALWAYS ALWAYS a scam, ALWAYS!

miamijim

I only accept USPS or Walmart money orders. Like everything else out there do your homework. Check the buyers feedback, if its good I see no reason not to accept a money order. As a seller you have nothing to lose.

Rabid Koala

I had one instance where a seller claimed not to receive my MO. It was for a $10 sale so I wasn't out very much. For $10 I did not bother following up on the missing one.

I received a USPS money order for a sale one time, I took it to a PO to cash. The did not want to cash their own MO, which I thought was strange.

KonAaron Snake 

I have been ripped on a Money Order, but not through ebay. I thought all money orders were good if the bank accepts them, but in this case...the money order came back several weeks later and was deducted from my account. I have grown to really hate paypal...I am not certain how I want to conduct business on ebay going forward, but I find paypal and increasingly unacceptable option.

cehowardGS

If you wait until the money order clears, or you cash it, other than that you are taking a risk. Example, you get a money order, you ship the goods, and the money order bounces.

When I am selling on Ebay, I specify PAYPAL only, and even with Paypal, they will tell you not to ship until they review/verify. This is protection..

Just my opinions.

cehowardGS

Can you state why? I like to hear other opinions. So far, Paypal has been great. I am verified. When someone pays me through paypal, and they are not verified, Paypal tells me not to ship until they review the details. After their review, they tell me I can ship. That means if anything goes wrong, they will refund my loss. So far, I think they are fair. But, that is just my opinion/experience.

RobbieTunes 

I actually like USPS-only money orders, and I send them delivery confirmation with return receipt requested.
This lets me know the seller has received it, and I have leverage with eBay, and psychologically.
I've never had a problem. Plus, I have documentation if I have to get someone else involved.

When I've received money orders, I take the money order and the packed item to the Post Office.
When I get the cash in hand, I simply then ship the package. It is a short and quick transaction.

I prefer using PayPal to pay, because it's quick and I get instant confirmation, plus some protection, which I've had to activate once.
I don't prefer getting PayPal, mainly because of the fees, which can get hefty, but I'll use it if the seller prefers.

I sometimes offer to pay the fees on an offer I make, outside of eBay, like on CL, to make it more palatable to the seller.
However, if the seller requests PayPal, I do not agree to increase my payment to cover the fees.

Sometimes on CL, the seller will take PayPal to get the "bird in hand" situation. More often than not, they refuse PayPal, and about half the time after that, I get an email asking me if my offer is still good. It generally is, but without the fees.

I'd be fine if it was all Postal money order, or PayPal. I won't deal in anything else with an unknown buyer, other than a few BF folks whom I've dealt with before.

robatsu

Generally, I don't accept money orders, but not mainly because of fraud issues, simply because my model of USPS Priority Shipping, Paypal, and the integration of these in Ebay streamlines selling stuff for me significantly. I really don't have to leave the house and dragging up to the P.O. to stand in line and cash a check adds a significant amount of time overhead to an auction.

Recently, I've been having a sellathon of all sorts of things, not just bike parts on ebay and I've pretty much got it down where each auction probably averages no more than maybe 15 minutes per auction (including packing). That is allowing me to sell stuff that goes for $10-$20 that otherwise it really just would not be worth my time to sell.

It is also why I don't ship internationally for the most part, as that entails waiting in line in the PO and then transacting with the clerk.

So asking to pay by money order is one of the red flags that a buyer may be more high maintenance than I can afford to support, at least for low buck items that have a lot of lookers/watchers.

I probably forgo some money by this approach, but were I to support this type of request, I couldn't afford the time for selling a lot of stuff that I can now.

The other request that seems to pop up pretty regularly is "Can I wait until next <insert day of week> to pay?". My thought when I get this request is, "Dude, if you are so hard up that you have to issue this sort of request, you shouldn't be blowing your money on vintage bike parts". Of course, that isn't how I respond...

jesse10

As long as its usps you are good. No extra expense to you and you can cash them at the post office right before you ship to make sure they are authentic. Used them countless times on forums where people don't have paypal accounts. I used a moneygram once and that sucked, what a headache.

randyjawa 

My bank has cautioned me regarding accepting money orders, even the Postal Money Orders. Some kind of fraud going on that I do not fully understand. That said...

In today's new market place, that being the on-line one, I have decided to go electronic, at every opportunity. It is immediate. I have a record and as mentioned elsewhere, some degree of protection. As for the costs I have to pay as a seller. Well, I do think that they are pretty high but the alternative involves time consuming work or effort and, in my mind, a greater degree of risk for both seller and buyer.

This is just an opinion that defines how I prefer to pay and be paid on-line. In person, cash is still my vehicle of choice.

KonAaron Snake 

I'll be requesting payment by USPS money order after reading this thread.

My issues with paypal -

As a buyer, I had a very negative experience with an extremely dishonest seller who left ebay during the conflict. It was extremely difficult to get customer service support, I did not find them helpful and the process dragged on for a long period of time. Finally I received a refund, but without return shipping...which given item misrepresentation was extremely unreasonable.

As a seller I had a person cancel a CC transaction after leaving positive feed back and without opening a case. He just didn't want to pay and paypal withdrew those funds from my account without contacting me. Their position was that I'm on the hook despite the transaction having gone perfectly. I was offered no protection and was screwed out of the money. I found their slow support and piss poor customer service very frustrating and I was unable to speak with a supervisor who had any authority over anything.


Recently, I received a $550 payment from a buyer for a bicycle, and paypal put the funds "on hold". From a practical stand point, this meant I was expected to cover shipping out of pocket and trust everything to go well. It took an additional week to receive my funds. Customer service was again horrendous and I was unable to get past the outsourced Indian call service help. I feel that both ebay and paypal offer extremely poor service to sellers.

I resent the monopoly that paypal-ebay represents, and I feel that their very high fees, changing once a week policies and general lack of interest in supporting sellers is a result of that monopoly. I feel strongly that ebay and paypal should be separated.

From a personal stand point...the company I work for has had several problems with Paypal and I know from first hand experience that they conduct themselves in an agressive, poor manner.

There are also some political concerns, but this isn't the forum.

In short...I feel that both ebay and paypal offer horrendous service to sellers and I resent the way they conduct themselves. I personally lost money based on their policies and it galls me that they would put a payment between me and a buyer on hold. I dislike them from direct experience as a customer, from corporate dealings and because I think the relationship between the two needs to be severed.

Zaphod Beeblebrox 

i'd never accept one unless I knew the person.

money orders are the playthings of scammers.

gioscinelli 

There's always a risk when selling over the internet. So as a precaution, I find Paypal and USPS money orders closest to a secure transaction. Mike

DiegoFrogs

Shouldn't the U.S.P.S. be able to give you the thumbs up by checking their records? That way you know it's kosher (and you get your money) before you ship? I'd be hesitant about a Nigerian money order, but a domestic one wouldn't make me wet my pants.

longbeachgary

I haven't read the other responses but I'd be very careful accepting a USPS Money Order. I was selling an item on the Recycles and was sent 4 $1000 usps money orders. I took them to the post office and was told that they were legit. I asked for the postal inspector and he determined that they were fake. The fakes can be so good that your bank will cash them and then when they are returned by the usps, they take the money out of your account.

RobbieTunes 

If the post office cashes it, it's your money. That's why I only accept Postal money orders if I'm not using PayPal.

In your case, cashing the money order at the Post Office was the thing to do. (All USPS money orders should be cashed at Post Offices). Here's why: If the Post Office cashes a USPS money order, and it's fake, you keep your money. There's no account to take it out of, and the felon gets pursued, not only by the Postmaster General's office, but Treasury as well (often to include IRS criminal agents).

The protection in your case was the inspector, and you were then protected against sending the item, as the money wasn't good. You lost time, but you didn't get scammed and the time lost is miniscule compared to getting scammed on PayPal.

fas2c

I don't like Mos and use Palpal because I do not have to leave my house. I can print postage and arrange for pickup on-line through the USPO or common carrier. No lines, and driving in traffic=win for me.

RobbieTunes 

I completely understand that position. I live in a small town. 5 minutes to the post office, 2 clerks, and little waiting for clerks we all know by a first name. It really is quite different in that situation.