Prospective Bidder Wants Me to Agree to Accept a USPS MO on an Auction Before Bidding

[livadia]

So I have this vintage sports team lapel pin that I don't know how it might fetch so I put it up on Auction.  Get a couple of watchers right off the bat, and then a message over the weekend that asks if would I accept a USPS m.o. for this item.  Prospective bidder then goes on to say "I have 100% positive feedback and  will await your okay before bidding. If so BE SURE TO INCLUDE NAME AND MAIL ADDRESS ON INVOICE if I turn up as the winner as this info is not available thru ebay's checkout process."  (emphasis theirs.)

Wanted to message back, "Well, of course you have 100% feedback -- eBay won't allow sellers to leave any other kind!"   Would have liked to also have said, "Payment by money order is not acceptable on eBay except for a few specific categories and this item is not listed in one of them. "   Instead, I just ignored the message and blocked the person.   Just don't want to have to deal with being messed around.

But what I don't get, is this person has been on eBay since 2007, has over 1000 feedback scores (none of them that I can see as a buyer), and has bought about 150 things in the last year, most of them interestingly enough sports team-related merchandise/memorabilia.   

What do you think is going on?  Is this someone who buys on one account and turns around and sells items on another and doesn't want to have a "paper trail" in terms of the source of his/her items -- especially if he/she "buys low" and "sells high right here on the same site?"   

That's the only thing I can think of unless there's another aspect to this that's also some sort of scam...  Thoughts?

[bubbleman2010]

USPS no problem your problems going to come from someone using paypal... 100% gold or maybe gold filled? your paypal buyers will bid just to check once checked and find out its just plate back it will come for a refund..

[jason_incognito]

why does there have to be an angle. 

Some people like to pay with a money order. Not everyone has a bank account. 

He messaged you and asked permission before ding it. Right or wrong, he did nothing that should in the least throw up a red flag for you. 

[jason_incognito]

There are people who still write checks at the grocery store. It doesn't make them a scammer or make their money any less spendable.

[livadia]

---

@bubbleman2010 wrote:

USPS no problem your problems going to come from someone using paypal... 100% gold or maybe gold filled? your paypal buyers will bid just to check once checked and find out its just plate back it will come for a refund..

---

Maybe, maybe not @bubbleman2010.  I'll cross that bridge if/when it appears, but just didn't appreciate someone trying to playing me as a fool/newbie trying to get me to agree to accepting a payment method that isn't allowed for that type of item and figuring if they threw in the "Oh, and I have 100% positive feedback so trust me," I'd be none the wiser.    Just get so tired of these games as selling here these days is becoming a defensive sport - day in and day out.

[alcoforever]

usps money orders are the next best thing to being paid in gold.   Just take the package to the post office, cash the MO first, and then hand over the package.

[a_c_green]

---

@livadia wrote:

But what I don't get, is this person has been on eBay since 2007, has over 1000 feedback scores (none of them that I can see as a buyer), and has bought about 150 things in the last year, most of them interestingly enough sports team-related merchandise/memorabilia.   

What do you think is going on? 

---

Back in 2007, a USPS money order was a commonly accepted method of payment. Some old-time members don't like PayPal, and are basically willing to give up their buyer protection by asking to mail in their payment instead. A USPS money order can be cashed for full face value at your local post office before shipping. You would mark the item as Shipped, and upload its tracking number as usual. eBay gets their same Final Value Fees either way.

Note that if or when he wins the auction, you will have his email address as part of the buyer info provided to you via the "View record" action on your Orders page, and you can send him your mailing address that way if he needs it. 

You still have the usual Unpaid Item process available to you if his mailed money order never shows up, so you're not giving up any seller protection by agreeing to that payment method.

---

@livadia wrote:

Is this someone who buys on one account and turns around and sells items on another and doesn't want to have a "paper trail" in terms of the source of his/her items -- especially if he/she "buys low" and "sells high right here on the same site?"   

That's the only thing I can think of unless there's another aspect to this that's also some sort of scam...  Thoughts? 

---

All he needs is a buying account and a selling account if he wants to flip items on eBay. The method of payment doesn't enter into it. I see no hints of a scam here.

[livadia]

---

@jason_incognito wrote:

why does there have to be an angle. 

Some people like to pay with a money order. Not everyone has a bank account. 

He messaged you and asked permission before ding it. Right or wrong, he did nothing that should in the least throw up a red flag for you. 

---

Hmmm...  Well, that fact that money order or cash aren't acceptable payment methods on eBay and haven't been for quite a while is a red flag for me regardless if the person asked or not.   Throwing in the "oh, and yeah -- I have 100% feedback and make sure you give me your name and address in the invoice you send me" also sounds to me like this person skirts the rules on eBay quite often, knows what to look out for, and has been getting away with it if they can find a willing seller. 

You make it sound like I am just being difficult and don't want to "help a guy out" by taking a MO instead of electronic payment.    FYI, here's the current eBay payment policy which states clearly that money orders are not acceptable except in a few specific categories in which this item is not listed:  https://www.ebay.com/help/policies/payment-policies/accepted-payments-policy?id=4269#bank-to-bank%20...

I just don't want to mess around or be messed around by someone who wants me to violate eBay policy whether they ask in advance or not.  YMMV and that's your choice, but I am not comfortable with "the deal" that was proposed which is why I decided not to "play ball" with them.

[csbbct]

Back in 1998 when I first started selling on eBay, all we could accept were checks and money orders.  PO money orders were actually my preference because you could get cash for them immediately and didn't have to wait for the check to bounce, whoops, I meant clear.

Boy, that brings back the old days!  It was only 7 day auctions, no Buy it Now; then you waited about a week or so to receive their check; then you held it for 5-7 days to make sure it cleared; then you mailed their package.  It's amazing people bought at all considering it was about a month from the time they bid until they got their stuff.

[yuncreations]

what seller protection does being paid by money order have? I've never done it, I used to think it's easier to be scammed if I don't do paypal...

[yuncreations]

agree . Also if the eBay rules say Money order not allowed, I would follow that.

[alcoforever]

---

@yuncreations wrote:
what seller protection does being paid by money order have? I've never done it, I used to think it's easier to be scammed if I don't do paypal...

---

You have absolute seller protection; the cash in hand guarantees that.   Paypal is a scammers paradise.

I would be absolutely thrilled if all my buyers wanted to pay with USPS MO's.

[livadia]

---

@csbbct wrote:

Back in 1998 when I first started selling on eBay, all we could accept were checks and money orders.  PO money orders were actually my preference because you could get cash for them immediately and didn't have to wait for the check to bounce, whoops, I meant clear.

Boy, that brings back the old days!  It was only 7 day auctions, no Buy it Now; then you waited about a week or so to receive their check; then you held it for 5-7 days to make sure it cleared; then you mailed their package.  It's amazing people bought at all considering it was about a month from the time they bid until they got their stuff.

---

Yep, @csbbct and what's even more astounding is that "back in the old days" I never once got pimped and didn't get my anticipated item from a seller or good payment from a buyer.   People were much more patient, honest, and earnest then.  Whole new world out there, now.   😞

[chapeau-noir]

He needs your name and address so he can mail you the money order.

There's no obligation to go along with this person's request, I just don't see any red flags, either.  I still have people wanting to purchase with a money order from time to time - very seldom, but I do. It's something I don't do anymore because it's so unwieldy with the current system, and I generally just tell them that. This individual may have a large store and purchase on many different sites, and eBay is just one of them.  Or they may just have a mad on at PayPal.

I would probably politely say 'no' just because of the ever-tightening strictures here now - even just the HINT of a possible off-site transaction (even just a wrong word in a message now) can slap a seller with a FVF for an item not even sold.  But it wouldn't be because of the buyer's request.

[misfitfun]

There is only seller protection from false not received claims offered by ebay and paypal.If you upload tracking that shows delivery that is a non issue.