Forum

Money Order payments on eBay
 

Ok so a buyer just asked mr of they can pay with a money order. Last I remembered this wasn't allowed by eBay but I have no idea how they would know someone accepted a MO payment.

Does anyone here accept money orders? I'm not sure why anyone would want to pay this way as there's no real protection for them, but I have no problems with it i guess. Any advice?

Yeah, i accept money orders, but it is not to be advertised on your listings, im sure you know this already, so i wait until random buyers ask if i'll accept MO's, and i reply "yes" with all of the details for them to send payment. Some people will try to scam you with money order fraud, but i have not had any probs so far.

Since you can't overtly offer to take money orders or checks.....
I put something like this in all my listings under "Seller's payment instructions"

"If you are unable to use Paypal let me know immediately so another form of payment can be arranged."

It seems to work because I get occassional payments that way. Of course I have to email them my mailing address. When I have a slow payer I also remind them in my invoice to let me know if they are not able to use Paypal and that another payment method can be arranged. I still don't overtly mention mailing a payment, but it's kind of implied I guess.

I state No echecks but payment can be mailed instead in most of my listings. Get MO's once in a while, anything is better than using Paypal

I guess I could hint to it in my listing, not that the buyer would bother to read it. LoL

Careful Melissa1971 - a wise competitor or do-gooder buyer could report you for that. This has been done...

Yeah money orders are good to accept and usps money orders do offer the buyer some protection. If cashed in and no goods received you could file a fraud claim and they will look into it so its not completely bad for buyers.

Lol. Trust me, I'd not be so lucky.
Couldn't get this Ebay account closed if I tried, and I tried :faint:

Well there's this guy on ebay thats been selling since 1999 100% fb and clearly states that he only accepts postal mo or cashier check he states that he never has a problem with it so no paypal. I needed this rare car part order it and sent him a postal mo and he ships it. It arrives broke in half and he did the worst packaging job I ever saw I was angry since that was the only part on ebay. I contacted him and he says when UPS refunds him he will refund me. Long story short is that I wasted a bunch of time and eventually after about a month he sends me a cashier check in my stealth name. I should of gave him his first neg because he wasted my time and made me wait for a refund but I didn't after it was all said and done I just gave him regular + fb.

@Oge, good to see you on the forums ha been awhile.

On the other note, that stinks about the seller. If it's really that bothersome to you, report and do a stink. But if he refunded, I would not waste my time on this - just a bummer of a seller among tons.

Hopefully you will get your part soon and proper.

Ok, I have a buyer who wants to pay with check or money order (which I have never accepted in the past) so, of course, I came directly to the forum for some advice. Sounds like its ok to go the money order route, which is good news. Thanks!

Be careful if customer is US. They have to use the right one from post office or you cant cash it. Also, scammers make ⊗⊗⊗⊗ ones and hope you ship off before it gets noticed. I've had some ⊗⊗⊗⊗. They look good. Frankly, I wont take them anymore. Long wait, pain in the ass. And the buyer nags about you getting it and shipping...

Thanks Pod. The customer is from US. Of course, I wouldnt ship the item until the money order has been cleared by my bank (and I did advise the customer of this).

I'm not worried about the customers wait time. She chose not to use Paypal and I'll send her a tracking number so that should cut down on any nagging. Also, this is actually a sale on one of the 'other' auction sites... one that I dont really care about. So I'm not real woried about negative feedback for delivery time, like I might be on ebay.

Still too risky, do you think? I'm not in the mood to get scammed.