OT: Postal Money Orders

[Doug Shepard]

I had an ad in the local CL for something and someone from the next state over contacted me and wanted to know if I could ship it to him and if so, how I wanted the payment. I agreed to do it and didnt want to take Paypal for this so I'd have to wait for his check to clear my bank first. So I got a Postal MO from him yesterday so I "won't have to wait for a check to clear". I think I'm covered but on the other hand I've never recieved a Postal MO before or know if there's any way he can stop a payment on one. Any reason I should deposit it and wait? Or go ahead and ship?

[Anthony Anderson]

I had an ad in the local CL for something and someone from the next state over contacted me and wanted to know if I could ship it to him and if so, how I wanted the payment. I agreed to do it and didnt want to take Paypal for this so I'd have to wait for his check to clear my bank first. So I got a Postal MO from him yesterday so I "won't have to wait for a check to clear". I think I'm covered but on the other hand I've never recieved a Postal MO before or know if there's any way he can stop a payment on one. Any reason I should deposit it and wait? Or go ahead and ship?

Take it to your local PO, and they can clarify that it is legitimate. They also can answer your questions regarding stop payment. This seems like the safest bet. Possibly, next time accept Paypal and charge an extra 3% for the extra Paypal fee.

I am not sure if the PO can cash the PO money order, but if possible cash it at the PO, and deposit into your account. If it is possible to do this, then you do not have to worry about "stop payment" on the MO. Good Luck, Bill

[Chris Damm]

Take it to your local PO and cash it. A USPS money order seems to be the most secure because the purchaser has to pay cash for it so I don't know how he could stop payment on it. I use them all the time and never had a problem.

[Scott Shepherd]

It's supposed to be the same as cash. I've cashed plenty of them over the years and only had one issue. I showed up in Las Vegas for a seminar we were doing, and many of the participants had paid with money orders. So I had a stack of money orders in my wallet, knowing they were the same as cash. I showed up at the Air Port, they had a post office in the air port, and I went to cash it. They refused to cash them and said the fraud rate in Vegas for them was so high, they wouldn't cash it at that location.

Banks wouldn't cash it because I didn't have an account with them. Finally found a post office off the main area that took them all and cashed them no problem.

There is no way to stop payment on one. They would have to file a claim against you, and that's a different animal.

[Randal Stevenson]

There is no way to stop payment on one. They would have to file a claim against you, and that's a different animal.

I ordered something off of Ebay years back. It was a company selling it. A bit later, they state that they hadn't received payment (even though I had a signature). So I filled out the form, they tracked and printed a copy of it which they sent to me, and the postal inspectors contacted the depositing party.

Never have I receieved my merchandise and a refund (for the second one) so fast.
Turned out, the employee quit or was fired, after depositing (but not recording) his last days work.