Accepting postal orders, safe??

chloe292 · Aug 4th, 2008, 11:07 AM

Hmm I cant really find anything about this as im not sure if a postal order (UK) is the same as a money order (US)

Basically im selling something on eBay and so far I have had 2 questions about it and both have been do you accept postal orders, I have said yes as im pretty sure it could only be a problem for the buyer not the seller...

Am I right?? Is there anything I should be aware of? The royal mail website doesnt really mention any cons when accepting them. Obviously just not to accept anything in excess of what the auction was won for but its going to go for less than £100 anyway so hopefully I wont attract any of those type of send me the difference scammers.

nickkyvintage · Aug 4th, 2008, 03:01 PM

Yes they are fine., It does cost the sender money to buy a postal order - so as long as they are aware of that additional cost (Which goes to the post office) then you should be fine.

There are crossed and un-crossed orders. Un-Crossed can be exchanged for cash by anybody, but Crossed can only be cashed by whoever's name is on the order. Crossed is much much safer. The postal order would be useless to anybody who isnt you. Hope this helps!! x

TheBigBagAddict · Aug 4th, 2008, 03:05 PM

Yes postal orders are perfectly safe for sellers, the buyer can ask the post office to print the name of the person receiving it into the "payee" section on the postal order and then they just go to the post office and cash it...if it's uncrossed.
If it's crossed then it can only be paid into the payee person's bank account.

imonpurseblog · Aug 5th, 2008, 01:18 AM

Just a note, in the U.S. buyers can stop payment on bank issued money orders. That's what happened to me about 4 years ago and it was $750.00. I got my money back, but only because a really nice (or very bored? or both

) cop paid a little visit to the buyer and scared them into paying me again but this time with a postal money order. That's the only kind I will accept now. They are actually purchased at the USPS.

TheBigBagAddict · Aug 5th, 2008, 07:32 AM

Wow that's scary!! Thankfully you got your money back though.

Is a bank issued money order not another name for a bankers draft? They're different to the postal orders over here in the uk (I always wait for the bankers drafts to clear in my account before sending the goods which takes the same length of time as a cheque)

Aug 4th, 2008, 11:07 AM	#1
chloe292 Member	Accepting postal orders, safe?? Hmm I cant really find anything about this as im not sure if a postal order (UK) is the same as a money order (US) Basically im selling something on eBay and so far I have had 2 questions about it and both have been do you accept postal orders, I have said yes as im pretty sure it could only be a problem for the buyer not the seller... Am I right?? Is there anything I should be aware of? The royal mail website doesnt really mention any cons when accepting them. Obviously just not to accept anything in excess of what the auction was won for but its going to go for less than £100 anyway so hopefully I wont attract any of those type of send me the difference scammers.

Aug 4th, 2008, 03:01 PM	#2
nickkyvintage Bag Pervert! Location: UK	Yes they are fine., It does cost the sender money to buy a postal order - so as long as they are aware of that additional cost (Which goes to the post office) then you should be fine. There are crossed and un-crossed orders. Un-Crossed can be exchanged for cash by anybody, but Crossed can only be cashed by whoever's name is on the order. Crossed is much much safer. The postal order would be useless to anybody who isnt you. Hope this helps!! x __________________ Welcome to Ban-City...Population 1...

Aug 4th, 2008, 03:05 PM	#3
TheBigBagAddict Member Location: UK	Yes postal orders are perfectly safe for sellers, the buyer can ask the post office to print the name of the person receiving it into the "payee" section on the postal order and then they just go to the post office and cash it...if it's uncrossed. If it's crossed then it can only be paid into the payee person's bank account.

Aug 5th, 2008, 01:18 AM	#4
imonpurseblog Member	Just a note, in the U.S. buyers can stop payment on bank issued money orders. That's what happened to me about 4 years ago and it was $750.00. I got my money back, but only because a really nice (or very bored? or both ) cop paid a little visit to the buyer and scared them into paying me again but this time with a postal money order. That's the only kind I will accept now. They are actually purchased at the USPS.

Aug 5th, 2008, 07:32 AM	#5
TheBigBagAddict Member Location: UK	Wow that's scary!! Thankfully you got your money back though. Is a bank issued money order not another name for a bankers draft? They're different to the postal orders over here in the uk (I always wait for the bankers drafts to clear in my account before sending the goods which takes the same length of time as a cheque)