When I post firearms for sale on a local Facebook group I prefer to be paid with a Money Order, and draw up a Bill of Sale.
Although I’ve never had a bad experience with cash in the past, I just feel that a Money Order is safer.
Am I crazy for wanting a Money Order instead of cash in face-to-face private sales?
My wife works at a bank and they get a decent amount of fraudulent money orders. No matter what there is a risk of getting scammed, so take a picture of their photo id and I like to require the buyer being a cfp holder.
USPS money order carries “some” risk if counterfeited, but probably no more than cash.
All other money orders and cashiers checks are frequently fakes. Probably safer taking a personal check.
As stated above, a good way to weed out the bad guys is to only deal with those who have a concealed weapons permit. It’s hard to get one if you have past criminal charges.
Interesting. I was actually just thinking about that as I was explaining the rationale of a money order to someone who was advocating “cold hard cash to the face”.
Yeah, I guess FTF isn’t really the way to go in terms of “insurance”.
I would actually prefer cash in a FTF. Carry a counterfeit pen and light (if dark outside) to check to make sure it is good cash, but there is no other more secure way that I could think of for payment. A CC permit is a plus and Mil/LE ID is alittle more re-assuring.
I’ve thought about that as well.
Probably the way to go. Thanks.
Unless the person is known to me or someone I would never accept anything other than cash. If it’s forged, then so be it.
Same here. But then again most of the time I am selling to someone I know or at least a friend of a friend so not a lot of risk.
Are you saying you prefer Money Order because you’re worried about getting counterfeit cash? If so, I’d wager you’d see fake money order before fake cash or at least you’d stand a better chance at spotting fake cash over a fake money order. I prefer cash and Bill of Sale with people I have no familiarity with.
Can’t see why I’d take anything other than cash when doing a FTF. And I’m not conducting background investigations either. Person looks like they’re OK and doesn’t talk nonsense I’m selling. If you’re worried why not simply let a dealer handle the transaction?
Cash and No Bill OF Sale for me.
It is easy to learn and look for the anti-counterfeiting features in modern bills.
Cash only for me in person. Bill of sale has same info as SBR engraving -ser.#, name, city and state. Just had a guy with pre-printed form that wanted my street address and DL number. Sheesh.
And I pass up all those smaller deals on the EE that demand PITA money orders. Just wait for the bank or personal check to clear if you can’t bear to trust a fellow member with 100% pos feedback.
Cash only when face to face for me. Although I’ve never even thought to check the cash other then a quick count.