Are money orders guaranteed?

Are USPS money orders guaranteed to be deposited just as long as it's not a fake money order?

I am going to try to sell some camera equipment locally and do not want to accept a check since they can bounce so I am thinking about only accepting cash and money order. Anyone have any experience with this?

Thanks

aIpha wrote in post #4348872
Are USPS money orders guaranteed to be deposited just as long as it's not a fake money order?

I am going to try to sell some camera equipment locally and do not want to accept a check since they can bounce so I am thinking about only accepting cash and money order. Anyone have any experience with this?

Thanks

I believe MOs can be cancelled.

THIS might help

USPS MOs are as good as cash as long as it is legit!!!

As long as your name is on a postal money order , it can be claimed lost and after [was] 90 days they replace it . If someone puts your name on it when they buy it , they also put your address on it [International] .
The government will go after other party if you deposit it in your account with your home address .
Pretty safe as compared to paypal which can be cancelled . Personal checks are best , just don't send item until check clears and insist on insurance and confirmed delivery . Costs a couple extra dollars - but worth it .

Thanks guys!

Trying to sell locally (in person) so trying to just accept cash or money order since checks might bounce.

MO's are same as cash. Use caution though. I've been told that by postmaster that some forgeries are so good that it's not caught until after it's cashed. Then the usps comes looking to you to make good.

As already stated, MO's are the same as cash just as long as they are legit. BUT, there are a lot of MO scams online with USPS MO's. If the buyer insists on paying you with a MO, then I would be a little skeptical. A lot of scams involve people sending out or giving out fake MO's that the bank will deposit, and often times they dont find out that its a fake MO until a few days or even weeks later, which is too late.

If you dont want to accept cash, walk into the bank with them and have them purchase a certified bank MO.

Ask for a certified check and you will give them the cost of the Certified Check back. It's like paying for insurance. Not worth it on small cost items, but well worth it on large ticket items.

Bill

wcstory wrote in post #4351106
Ask for a certified check and you will give them the cost of the Certified Check back. It's like paying for insurance. Not worth it on small cost items, but well worth it on large ticket items.

Bill

Unfortunately, certified checks are often forged as well.

A lot of bad people making very realistic documents out there. I had someone give me a money order.......I was suspicious of it. Called the bank it was issues out of---they did not know if it was real or not. I even called the corporate fraud dept for the bank and they did not know. I took it to my bank----I had the bank manager call the issuing bank and well after everyone said it was good---it came back weeks later being a fraud.

stathunter wrote in post #4351544
A lot of bad people making very realistic documents out there. I had someone give me a money order.......I was suspicious of it. Called the bank it was issues out of---they did not know if it was real or not. I even called the corporate fraud dept for the bank and they did not know. I took it to my bank----I had the bank manager call the issuing bank and well after everyone said it was good---it came back weeks later being a fraud.

Forged money is also a big issue. They caught several gangs in Britain with millions of pounds of forged money - so well forged the Royal Mint could not distinguish between the forgeries and the real thing. The only way they could tell was by looking up the serial numbers.

I'm glad you brought up the issue of forged MOs and forged cheques. Forged cheques aren't such an issue in Britain. The problem there is more of bouncing cheques hence the insistence on a cheque-guarantee card.

stathunter wrote in post #4351544
A lot of bad people making very realistic documents out there. I had someone give me a money order.......I was suspicious of it. Called the bank it was issues out of---they did not know if it was real or not. I even called the corporate fraud dept for the bank and they did not know. I took it to my bank----I had the bank manager call the issuing bank and well after everyone said it was good---it came back weeks later being a fraud.

Yep, it happened to me also with a certified check

Don't ship the item until you take the USPS money order directly to the Post Office. They will inspect it, check it for legitimacy, run the number against a list of known stolen checks, and then cash it for you.

It is important that you take it to the Post Office directly and not your bank if you want to know if its legit right away.

If the buyer INSISTS on a USPS money order I would be skeptical, but if YOU initiate the request I would feel quite confortable.

One caveat, I have heard of rare instances where even the Post Office was fooled but I feel this is probably the closest to 100% guarantee that you are going to find other than cash, obviously.

PS. Money orders purchased from 7-11, Quick Check etc. are not the same thing as USPS money orders. Use extreme caution accepting those.

Boxmannn wrote in post #4351899
Don't ship the item until you take the USPS money order directly to the Post Office. They will inspect it, check it for legitimacy, run the number against a list of known stolen checks, and then cash it for you.

It is important that you take it to the Post Office directly and not your bank if you want to know if its legit right away.

One caveat, I have heard of rare instances where even the Post Office was fooled but I feel this is probably the closest to 100% guarantee that you are going to find other than cash, obviously.

probably a good idea... I think Craig's list has a tutorial on fake
checks and there were some instances of fake usps money orders
that looked completely real.