no more Postal Money Orders for me,,,

[hogpatrol]

Sent an International Postal Money Order to an outfitter in Alberta Canada. The Outfitter took it to his bank(RBC). They held his money for 16 weeks before crediting it to his account. Probably would not have credited his account then if I had not raised hell. Nat Lambeth

I deal with outfitters and vendors in South Africa and they want wire transfers or credit cards only. Any kind of check, m.o. or Amex payments gets held for a Looooong time. Unless you're J.P. Morgan, international payments are whole different ballgame.

 

[Dub]

I don't use postal money orders because I hate going to the post office. I will paypal or send a check and let the seller wait for it to clear.

 

[22BRGUY]

Sad to hear this. Not so long ago if someone screwed around with a PMO, it was a Federal Offense and they would have the U.S. Postal Inspector on their tail and that was worse than FBI. I know all things change but it sad to see it seemingly always down hill. Best Wishes

 

[hogpatrol]

Next time you are in a post office buying a money order, ask the clerk how many phony ones they see trying to be cashed.

 

[284winner]

Ya that's great. Too bad PayPal can't keep funds pending until the buyer gives the ok to release funds when transaction is complete.

 

[Dgd6mm]

So after 25 post I'm still not clear on the best way or even the second best way to make payment. If I have to transition to pay pal I will, or send a check.

 

[rkittine]

Face to FAce - Cash

 

[BenPerfected]

PayPal will help to settle a dispute. In essence, they work to get the dispute resolved. Some sellers are not clear about what they are selling. Face it, most/many buyers are looked for a deal. Buyers take a risk unless you know who you are doing business with.

 

[argrendel]

My wife works at a bank.

She said banks may credit an out of state check to your account, but they don't get notified of the check clearing. Only if it bounces. 5-10 days it can take. If it doesn't clear, the bank will pull the money back out of your account.
PayPal for me. Is there something better? A go-between? Gun friendly?

I trust 3 forums, and just check the post count and the date they joined.
So far so good.

I stay away from Armslist....

 

[SaulGoodman]

So after 25 post I'm still not clear on the best way or even the second best way to make payment. If I have to transition to pay pal I will, or send a check.

Paypal using the standard payment(not friends and family). There is a 3% fee but it gives you peace of mind. There is kinda a gray area for gun sales on paypal but there are loopholes. The only 100% guaranteed safe method is FTF cash.......as long as the other guy isn't handing you counterfeit bills

 

[Frankr]

I prefer a personal check I can get one cleared in two to three days. MO's you can not cash them anywhere, except PO and most PO do not have that much cash on hand at all times..your bank will put a hold on your account for five to seven days till they get their money from the PO..I do not like MO's..I do not like to deal with the post office...they once delivered a package to my house..BUT it was not here...I called and they said it must have been stolen...It was a neck expander...$50.00 dollar package..I never did get my money from the post office and had to reorder another neck expander..If it does not come UPS I wont order it..I ship suff USPO but I make sure I insure it for enough that if they loose it or miss deliver it ..it's worth fighting them for...but try and get 50.00 bucks out of them you might as well forget it..

 

[Schism]

Paypal using the standard payment(not friends and family). There is a 3% fee but it gives you peace of mind. There is kinda a gray area for gun sales on paypal but there are loopholes. The only 100% guaranteed safe method is FTF cash.......as long as the other guy isn't handing you counterfeit bills

This! ^ If you send payment and check the box that it is for goods and services then PayPal will help you out if a dispute arises. When you send PayPal payment as money to "friends and family" and the seller doesn't send the item, you are SOL. Many sellers don't want to pay the 3% fee so they ask for "friends and family" payment or a 3% increase in selling price. To me, it's worth splitting the 3% to be sure everyone is being honest and the transaction is covered by PayPal. As always, buyer beware.

 

[alf]

So UPS lost the package and everyone's ragging on the post office....

 

[LHSmith]

I can send a check and have no problem in waiting if they want to do that. Just put For Depost Only on the back. And a thief can't cash it.

George

Three problems with this. 1/ It is illegal for the check issuer to place any notations on the back of the check (unless you are writing the check to yourself). 2/ If you insist on doing so, you force the recipient to deposit it in his account which now will be on record on your account and must now be reported as income by the IRS....and if someone pulled that stunt on me I'd have the authorities on his tail 3/ as someone else pointed out that you designate the recipients name on a MO, so where is the thief going to come up with the mandatory 2 forms of ID?

 

[hogpatrol]

Three problems with this. 1/ It is illegal for the check issuer to place any notations on the back of the check (unless you are writing the check to yourself). 2/ If you insist on doing so, you force the recipient to deposit it in his account which now will be on record on your account and must now be reported as income by the IRS....and if someone pulled that stunt on me I'd have the authorities on his tail 3/ as someone else pointed out that you designate the recipients name on a MO, so where is the thief going to come up with the mandatory 2 forms of ID?

HUH? Unless it's a business or there is a capital gain, your #2 is false.


Although the IRS has a reputation for trying to get a piece of just about every cent we bring in, when it comes to the occasional garage or yard sale, you generally do not have to report the sales amounts as income.

The reason? In such sales, you're generally selling household items you purchased over the years and used personally. More to the tax point, you're selling them for less than you paid for them.

Publication 525, the IRS says, "if you sold an item you owned for personal use, such as a car, refrigerator, furniture, stereo, jewelry, or silverware, your gain is taxable as a capital gain."

The key phrase here is "capital gain," and that's underscored by the example the IRS offers:

You sold a painting on an online auction website for $100. You bought the painting for $20 at a garage sale years ago. Report your $80 gain as a capital gain on Schedule D (Form 1040).

 

[Eric Leonard]

the payment was for services..I was in the UPS hub this AM to ship a rifle and they said that UPS still had the case open,,we will see,,if they just lost it and noone cashes it in 60 days I will get my money back from the PO,,if someone figures out a way to cash it I will probably just be out the money ,,maybe I will get the 100$ standard ins from UPS but I wouldnt count on that,,

 

[LHSmith]

HUH? Unless it's a business or there is a capital gain, your #2 is false.


Although the IRS has a reputation for trying to get a piece of just about every cent we bring in, when it comes to the occasional garage or yard sale, you generally do not have to report the sales amounts as income.

The reason? In such sales, you're generally selling household items you purchased over the years and used personally. More to the tax point, you're selling them for less than you paid for them.

Publication 525, the IRS says, "if you sold an item you owned for personal use, such as a car, refrigerator, furniture, stereo, jewelry, or silverware, your gain is taxable as a capital gain."

The key phrase here is "capital gain," and that's underscored by the example the IRS offers:

You sold a painting on an online auction website for $100. You bought the painting for $20 at a garage sale years ago. Report your $80 gain as a capital gain on Schedule D (Form 1040).

Why go through all that mess when it is so easy to avoid complications....bottom line is I (the recipient) want control of that money....NOT the IRS. I want to keep my IRS income reporting as simple as possible.....I don't need any red flags that may put me at a higher risk of audit. KISS principle = less records kept.

 

[jonbearman]

I just had a guy receive a postal money order and his daughter thought it was junk mail so she shredded it. Sooo I had to fill out the form and waited some 60 days or so along with a 6 dollar charge . I finally got the check and remailed payment for what I bought.In the end this has only happened one time and the seller agreed to wait till I got the check and it is on its way to the seller right now.

 

[Eric Leonard]

in times past I have put 4-5 500$ PMOs in the same envelope and mailed them off,,,if I had known then that there was no way to stop payment on them there is no way I would have done that,,

this was for chambering a bbl and since he never got it all I can do is send him payment again and hope that no body cashes the PMO and get my money back from the PO,,

 

[284winner]

PayPal is secure if you know how to do it right. I just didn't do it right. I'll never do family and friends for purchasing anything again. I'll pay the 3% difference for the item. It's cheap insurance.