Anyone ever buy something from someone (fishing graph) sending them a money order or a postal order and on them receiving it they send you the goods? I have not and have been trying to buy something from someone and they want to do it this way. I am just kind of sketched out by it, hard to trust people.
I have done it in the past. The person I sent the money order to was a very well respected person on an ATV forum. Not sure I would send one to someone without a couple references, however.
Yeah, looks he has been a member of the specific forum since 2009, but has only posted 2 times. Seems legit, but I have been fooled trying to buy some archery equipment from a guy once and I am not going down that path again.
I do things like that but I make sure they have a history on the site I am using. Typically it is just IDO. The few I have done (both me buying and selling) have worked just fine but as mentioned I don’t just nilly willy make that type of deal with anyone and typically they are only sales up to $50 also.
sent a money order a couple of years back for an item of $100
didn’t get the goods, USPS didn’t do nothing to the person other then show me that he did indeed sign for the certified mail as well as sign and cash the money order.
You’re basically flying without a net. The money order is untraceable after it gets delivered and even then nobody’s going to be very interested in helping you out if the goods never arrive.
I’ve done it before, but ONLY when buying through classifieds on established sites where the seller has feedback showing a history of selling transactions.
Grouse
These guys hit the nail on the head as usual. I did it once, felt uneasy about it the whole time, but it did work out. Where are you buying it from? For a bigger ticket item, I would rather find an impartial 3rd party that lives near by to do the transaction in person, and pay that person for their efforts, than just sending a few hundred dollars on a wing and a prayer.
Did a money order once on eBay for a used lower unit that I really needed and didn’t want to pay through the nose from a dealer. Like BigWerm said I felt unneasy the entire time waiting, but the guy did have a few hundred positive reviews so that calmed my fears a bit. It all worked out in the end.
Will the seller accept payment via PayPal ?
He is an older gentleman & he said he is not set up for paypal.
A money order is traceable but it’d cost you around $7 to have it done, if it was delivered to and cashed by the person on it then your sol, I just went through this and the guy never received the money order so I had it done, he never received it nor was it cashed, the postal service service said it must of got lost, anyways I had to wait 60 or 90 days after it was issued, I had the receipt and a photo of the date so I eventually got my money back
What I have done is offered a personal check. Tell him to deposit it in his bank account, wait a week, to make sure it clears, and then send me the item. It is a risk, balance the cost vs. what you are willing to loose.
I have done is this on a Marcum Showdown, a Humminbird Map chip and few other items.
The seller can understand this way that you are taking all the risk. But with on line banking you can monitor when the check has been deposited. You have some tracking that you don’t have with a money order.
Trust is a two way street. his request of the money order says, “I don’t trust you, trust me, I will ship it to you”
If it doesn’t feel good don’t do it.
How far away is he and how good a deal is this? If it’s a red hot deal on a rare unit grab some cash and go get it. If it’s a common unit at a decent price keep looking.
Some effort is required when buying used. If you want easy buy new.
One thing I’ve done in the past is to send it USPS with a photo image of the tracking number, date, name, and address. Set it up for him to do the same on the same day. If he doesn’t sent you his photo image the same day then put a stop payment on your check before it arrives to him. This is of course done assuming you both have photo/texting capabilities on your phones.
There’s always a risk. You have to gather as much info as possible then decide to take a leap of faith. I have never been ripped off in a internet transaction with individuals. Best if you can talk to them.
Thanks guys. I think that it would probably work out, however its not that smokin of a deal and its not worth the uneasy feeling so I am going to pass on it!
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