doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Accepting Cashiers Check, MO for High Grade Guns

As a follow up to shipping, I will certainly ship Post Office. Now my Bank tells me that cashiers checks and Money Order are easily forged these days. They will give me the funds but if later the cashiers check or MO comes back as a forgery it is on me to make the funds good. Of course the weapon is long gone.

Any thought on how long to let the fund set before shipping. I really want to be far to the buyers but in this case should a "seller beware."

Thanks Reggie

I hear the same thing fron my bank. As to "how long", ask your bank.

Cashiers Checks are not as good as they once were, they need time to clear like any check. My bank now puts a hold on them until they clear. I am set up for online banking so I can log on and see when it clears. A few months ago I got a fair sized cashiers check and it took OVER TWO WEEKS to clear. I think cash via registered mail is the way to go if you or your buyer are in a hurry.

Money orders are the same as a check, usually it takes your bank 4 days to see that a check clears, it also takes that same amount of time for a money order to clear the bank it was originally bought from.
I'm saying 4 days because I do my banking online and I can see if the check cleared the bank. If you have to go to your bank it might be longer because of paperwork and tellers.

There is a maximum length of time the issuing bank is allowed for making good on the funds. It stems from the federal reserves minimum processing times.
If you remember, in the old days, a check might take 2-3 weeks to clear. Not today. Depending on which reserve district it is drawn on, as little as 1 day to clear. I think the federal reserve allows 5 days max.

Most fraudulant MO's lack obvious things when presented to a bank. Watermarks, indicia, threads, ink type, etc. Most criminals are not sophisticated forgers.

So, in answer to your question, I would say "Ask your bank how they handle things", as you are at their mercy regardless of what you do, after the gun leaves your hands.

On another board, the Litt's debacle, and the difference between British and US laws was recently discussed as applied to stolen firearms. It was good reading.

So, 1. Ask your bank how they would deal with it,
2. Wait an extra day before shipping.
and 3. Set up an account just for such transactions, and keep a long arms length away from your household stuff when doing firearms transactions with unknown parties.


Better safe than sorry.

The few times I have sold a gun and a bank check was involved I had the teller call the issuing bank and ask if funds where indeed availble.That would rule out forgery.
Of course the buyer might well be able to withdraw them before it does clear but I shipped the gun anyway.
One a side note while shopping for a high end watch I found most dealers would only accept a bank wire once a certain amount (usually over 10K) was involved.I did end up wiring the funds and the watch was shipped out (overnight UPS-not my choice but it arrived safely).It does a take a big gulp to trust a business like that and you may not get a gun buyer to go for it but if you have them wire the funds they are then in your account and can not go back.

Gentlemens:

FWIW, I recently took a money order (a MoneyGram, if I recall correctly) in for deposit. The lady asked me if I knew the sender, because of the possiblity of forgery. She offered to clear it intantly if I had any doubt about the source. I had no doubt and so let it go through normal channels, but apparently another bank's money order can be cleared instantly if your bank is willing go go through the trouble.

Glenn

Looks like out of state bank check can go depending on which state your in, the full 6 days to clear for all the funds to be available;
http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.ht...mp;pagewanted=1

Best way would be the wiring of funds to your account you can ship gun the next business day and be ok.

The only form of payment I accept is USPS money orders or proven good cash in the hand.
Nothing from a bank.

The USPS money order doesn't need to go through a bank to get you paid. Just bring it to the post office and take the cash, no additional steps necessary, no wait for your funds to clear.

I've been bitten with the bank note, the cashier's check, the business/personal check...
Never had an issue with the USPS route, furthermore there's no reporting of the exchange to your accounts.



--Tinker

I take them all. I just don't ship the gun until the bank says the payment has cleared and I have it in my account. Then I ship. I tell the buyer this up front and have never had a problem.