Author Topic: checks and craigslist  (Read 13978 times)

COguy

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checks and craigslist
« on: August 20, 2013, 09:40:41 AM »
I am trying to make a craigslist transaction on the order of ~$1000.  The person I am selling to wants to give me a check.  She offered to give me a copy of her driver's license and a business card.  She doesn't type poorly and offers to meet in person.  Should I accept the check?

anastrophe

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Re: checks and craigslist
« Reply #1 on: August 20, 2013, 09:51:52 AM »
No. Way too many red flags.

CNM

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Re: checks and craigslist
« Reply #2 on: August 20, 2013, 09:53:47 AM »
I would require cash.  $1000 in cash isn't that hard to get. 

SwordGuy

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Re: checks and craigslist
« Reply #3 on: August 20, 2013, 09:59:54 AM »
If the person wants to buy your stuff, load it up in the car and have them follow you to the bank.

Safe for both of you.

Numbers Man

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Re: checks and craigslist
« Reply #4 on: August 20, 2013, 10:03:43 AM »
I once accepted a check and it was stopped by the maker. Caused me some fees. Lesson was learned that cash is King!

MountainFlower

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Re: checks and craigslist
« Reply #5 on: August 20, 2013, 10:22:55 AM »
No.  Cash only.  $1000 isn't that much, even if like another poster mentioned it takes a few days for them to get it from their atm.  If someone comes along in the meantime and buys it, too bad.  Cash only. 


Simple Abundant Living

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Re: checks and craigslist
« Reply #6 on: August 20, 2013, 10:24:47 AM »
I put on all my listings:

Cash only, please.

End of discussion!

Mr.Macinstache

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Re: checks and craigslist
« Reply #7 on: August 20, 2013, 10:28:19 AM »
If she can give you a check, she can go to the bank and get the cash.

arebelspy

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Re: checks and craigslist
« Reply #8 on: August 20, 2013, 10:28:34 AM »
No.

I've sold stuff on Craigslist, had met with a guy several times over several months and sold him several items.  The last item was for $700, he gave me 600 cash and a check for $100.

Yup, it bounced.  Never heard from him again.  Luckily I refused to take much in terms of checks (finally caved on that one because it was a small amount of the price, and we'd done business multiple times before), but proved even when someone seems on the up-and-up, it still may not be.

If they have the money in the account to write a check, meet them at the bank and they can pull out cash to pay instead of doing the check.  If they don't have the money in the account... well then the check will bounce.  If they anticipate getting the money before you cash the check, tell them to contact you when they have the money and you'll let them know if it's still available.

Cash only.
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Forcus

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Re: checks and craigslist
« Reply #9 on: August 20, 2013, 10:29:51 AM »
They should be able to get a postal money order if they truly have the cash in checking. Or Paypal.

Peter

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Re: checks and craigslist
« Reply #10 on: August 20, 2013, 10:39:15 AM »
I sold something for $900 on kijiji once. The buyer didn't haggle me, wanted the item quickly, and said he could only come up with $700 cash today. I took a post dated $200 cheque for the difference and it all worked out.

I wouldn't reccomend it as a rule though...


Mr.Macinstache

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Re: checks and craigslist
« Reply #11 on: August 20, 2013, 11:26:39 AM »
And if people are trying to use checks for their 'buy now/pay later' scheme, we are only encouraging that by accepting those checks.

Hunny156

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Re: checks and craigslist
« Reply #12 on: August 20, 2013, 11:50:42 AM »
Craig's List sales should always be cash n carry only.  Like others have said before me, getting $1K out of an ATM isn't hard to do, especially over the course of a few days.

Way too many scammers have taken over that site, so protect yourself and only accept cash.  If the items for sale are small enough, I don't even let people near my home - we meet in the parking lot of a nearby mall.  For larger items, if I can store it in the garage, that's all they get to see of my house, and I always have someone else home with me.  You never know.

wing117

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Re: checks and craigslist
« Reply #13 on: August 20, 2013, 11:54:34 AM »
I sold something for $900 on kijiji once. The buyer didn't haggle me, wanted the item quickly, and said he could only come up with $700 cash today. I took a post dated $200 cheque for the difference and it all worked out.

I wouldn't reccomend it as a rule though...

Post-dated doesn't mean much, I've found. From the Wikipedia post:

In the United States, national banks are permitted to pay checks even though payment occurs prior to the date of the check. According to the Comptroller of the Currency: "A check is a negotiable instrument—the payee, the person to whom the check is written, may negotiate it through the banking system at any time". Nonetheless, if the bank has been given proper notice of the post-dating, the Uniform Commercial Code requires that the notice be honored, or the bank be held liable for damages.

In short, I'd say Cash only.

GuitarStv

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Re: checks and craigslist
« Reply #14 on: August 20, 2013, 11:59:44 AM »
No.  Cheques are not money, and bring with them a whole raft of problems.

Cecil

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Re: checks and craigslist
« Reply #15 on: August 20, 2013, 12:07:18 PM »
Cash only.

The only time I had to pay by cheque was when I bought a car on the spot on a Sunday for $2500 and the banks were closed. My, my wife, and my parents all maxed out our ATM cards and only came up with about $2350, so I wrote him a cheque for the remaining, which he was kind enough to take.

MissStache

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Re: checks and craigslist
« Reply #16 on: August 20, 2013, 12:26:02 PM »
They can get a money order from a post office or most grocery stores.  I certainly wouldn't take a check.

Samsam

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Re: checks and craigslist
« Reply #17 on: August 20, 2013, 01:32:52 PM »
Cash only!

Also, tell them to bring the full amount! The last couple times people came to buy something from me, we had agreed on a price ahead of time say $100; then they get there and then only have $50 and try to haggle off of that.  Now I warn everyone ahead of time, have the full amount that was agreed upon before arriving or you don't get anything.  That has stopped a lot of those types of people from wasting my time.

Mr.Macinstache

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Re: checks and craigslist
« Reply #18 on: August 20, 2013, 01:38:41 PM »
Cash only!

Also, tell them to bring the full amount! The last couple times people came to buy something from me, we had agreed on a price ahead of time say $100; then they get there and then only have $50 and try to haggle off of that.  Now I warn everyone ahead of time, have the full amount that was agreed upon before arriving or you don't get anything.  That has stopped a lot of those types of people from wasting my time.

And this is why I never "meet" people further away than a block from my house. Because they want me to drive 20 miles to sell a $20 part. Or they will try to haggle me down or what not.

I don't know why so many people on CL is like this, but it is. Overall I don't have any problems, just set the rules and the good people will go by them if they want to make the purchase.

Samsam

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Re: checks and craigslist
« Reply #19 on: August 20, 2013, 01:50:14 PM »
Cash only!

Also, tell them to bring the full amount! The last couple times people came to buy something from me, we had agreed on a price ahead of time say $100; then they get there and then only have $50 and try to haggle off of that.  Now I warn everyone ahead of time, have the full amount that was agreed upon before arriving or you don't get anything.  That has stopped a lot of those types of people from wasting my time.

And this is why I never "meet" people further away than a block from my house. Because they want me to drive 20 miles to sell a $20 part. Or they will try to haggle me down or what not.

I don't know why so many people on CL is like this, but it is. Overall I don't have any problems, just set the rules and the good people will go by them if they want to make the purchase.

Yes!  I do not travel for anyone just for those same reasons.  I keep talking to people on CL like that too...that want me to drive or try and send them the item...NO!

NumberJohnny5

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Re: checks and craigslist
« Reply #20 on: August 20, 2013, 06:10:29 PM »
I took a check once for a phone; we were near a military base, and sometimes they just don't have a local account. Luckily it worked out, but I wasn't entirely happy.

Another time I took a cashier's check for $7,500 (sold an rv). I had said cash-only, but understandably the guy would have trouble coming up with that kind of cash quickly (had a military account, Navy Credit Union or something like that). Plus he was taking a greyhound to pick it up (I took several thousand in cash on a greyhound once, but I wouldn't recommend it). I did call the bank/credit union directly, took a while to find someone who knew how to verify a cashier's check, but finally they did.

I don't even take PayPal. It's cash, or nothing. Had two people want to buy a phone I had listed on gumtree (like Craigslist), told them they could deposit cash into my bank account or do a bank transfer into my account. Oddly enough, they did! I mean, I sent the phones...but I kept shaking my head at how stupid the whole thing seemed. Perhaps I'm setting them up for a bigger failure later on (well, I sent cash to a stranger before and got what was advertised, guess I feel comfortable doing it again except for thousands of dollars this time).

Anyways...cash only unless there's a very good reason not to. And then, cover yourself every single way possible.

Russ

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Re: checks and craigslist
« Reply #21 on: August 20, 2013, 06:32:18 PM »
Not that it hasn't been said yet, but cash only. I took a bad check from a guy when I was working retail, got his license number and everything, and it still tool the PD 6 months to catch up to him. I'm not sure they ever would have if our shop didn't work on all the department's bikes.

Also, tell them to bring the full amount! The last couple times people came to buy something from me, we had agreed on a price ahead of time say $100; then they get there and then only have $50 and try to haggle off of that.  Now I warn everyone ahead of time, have the full amount that was agreed upon before arriving or you don't get anything.  That has stopped a lot of those types of people from wasting my time.

Haha I enjoy this. To me the experience of telling people who do that to piss up a flagpole is worth whatever time they've wasted.

ender

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Re: checks and craigslist
« Reply #22 on: August 21, 2013, 05:29:04 AM »
You could always offer to drop the price by $4 or whatever the ATM fees would be :P

jrhampt

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Re: checks and craigslist
« Reply #23 on: August 21, 2013, 09:59:20 AM »
I had to do a larger transaction when selling an item once, and they put a deposit on it through Paypal and paid the balance in cash.  I think one other poster also mentioned Paypal as a good option, and I second the suggestion.

Samsam

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Re: checks and craigslist
« Reply #24 on: August 21, 2013, 10:24:48 AM »
Have to be careful with paypal.  My old roommate sold her laptop and the guy paid over paypal.  The guy claimed fraudulent charges (or something of the sort) and paypal gave him back the money.  That was a couple years ago, I don't know if they have changed any of their policies. 

Hunny156

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Re: checks and craigslist
« Reply #25 on: August 21, 2013, 11:03:39 AM »
Have to be careful with paypal.  My old roommate sold her laptop and the guy paid over paypal.  The guy claimed fraudulent charges (or something of the sort) and paypal gave him back the money.  That was a couple years ago, I don't know if they have changed any of their policies.

Yup, be super careful w/PayPal.  They have lots of rules that protect the buyer over the seller.  Many Ebay sellers have gotten scammed this way - purchase an item worth $250 or more, and PayPal requires you to mail it w/signature confirmation.  It's maybe $2.25 more, but most people forget to check the box or are trying to save a few dollars.  When the item arrives and it's not signature required, a shady buyer will file a claim w/PayPal and will win, b/c the seller won't be able to prove signature delivery.

Seems like a lot of banks are getting into the peer to peer transaction service.  I personally have used Chase QuickPay several times, and it's pretty quick and easy to set up, and the funds are in your account within minutes.

Mr.Macinstache

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Re: checks and craigslist
« Reply #26 on: August 21, 2013, 11:08:25 AM »
I've never had a serious issue with Paypal in the 10+years I've been using it. And I do a lot of transactions. They've always been more than fair to me. Maybe because I pay a huge amount of annual fee's to them.

I recently sold a car to a guy in the Netherlands over the internet. He gave me a $500 PP deposit then wired the rest of the funds into my bank account. All went smooth. I then allowed the car to be picked up.

For large transactions, only accept wire transfers.

livetogive

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Re: checks and craigslist
« Reply #27 on: August 21, 2013, 01:48:04 PM »
+1 for cash.

I've bought and sold Motorcycles valued between $1,000 and $8,000 on craigslist with cash.  The first time was scary but afterwards it gets easier.  I'll likely buy my next car with an envelop of cash as well (if I can't run a credit card and get 2% back lol).

SJS

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Re: checks and craigslist
« Reply #28 on: August 21, 2013, 06:17:09 PM »
NO!  NO! NO!!  Tell her to go to her bank and get the cash - or to get you a personal money order.  But absolutely NO personal checks.   Too risky!  If she has the money in her account, shouldn't be a big deal for her to go to the bank, get the cash to hand over to you. 

Samsam

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Re: checks and craigslist
« Reply #29 on: August 22, 2013, 07:08:58 AM »
I personally have used Chase QuickPay several times, and it's pretty quick and easy to set up, and the funds are in your account within minutes.

Chase QuickPay changed my life.