Selling and money orders - What can go wrong?

[devnulljp]

With the world so full of scammers, I'm usually pretty careful.
It's been great dealing with people on here too - never been a worry.
Craigslist is another matter though*. I've got a guy interested in buying some gear I'm selling. But he isn't local and wants to send a money order and I'll mail the gear -- What can go wrong with a money order? Isn't it as good as cash?

I've got more local buyers lined up, but this way all I need to do is go to the PO instead of head into the city and try to arrange multiple meet-ups.

*(I should add that a while back I decided to do an experiment and sold a relatively low-value item to a guy via craigslist...I sent the pedal before he sent payment and said he should just send a cheque. Cheque showed up in the mail a few days later. So, although the scammers are there, I've yet to really have any trouble with one.)

[zontar]

There is the chance of a counterfeit money order. You cash it and you'll have to pay it back--at the very least. It can be a hassle at best if that happens--and you're out the money. Of course if you check out the money order BEFORE you ship the items, you can cut down on the hassle if it's a fake.

I believe most people would send the real thing, but I'd still be careful.

[dwagar]

you can send him your account and transit number and he can deposit directly into your bank account, that's probably the safest. Or set up a Paypal account and do it that way.

[devnulljp]

you can send him your account and transit number and he can deposit directly into your bank account, that's probably the safest. Or set up a Paypal account and do it that way.

Isn't it generally a bad idea to give people your bank account number?
I'm trying to shoot for EMT or paypal, but I'm constantly surprised by the number of people I meet that seem inherently scared/unsure/distrustful of online banking and paypal in general. I always figured that by the time someone can figure out how to send an email they should be able to figure out paypal...

[Milkman]

Money orders are risky unfortunately. In fact many Canadian banks won't even touch a US postal money order due to increasing fraud. I had a couple I received for CD sales and had to wait until I was in the US to cash them.

The drag of it is, it can be weeks after you think the sale is complete when you get the call from the bank.

The international types you get from your bank are less risky apparently.

[nitehawk55]

Tell him you'll accept a "pink" US postal MO only . If he starts to come up with other options or avoiding your terms tell him to hit the road .

Craigs list and Kijiji are full of scammers .

[devnulljp]

Thanks all, I just killed the deal and sold locally - it might have been legit but not worth the worry.