hi, all. my cousin is selling his rims for $750 on ebay. this guy from long island is picking it up today. If he pays by check, what sort of things should i get from him in order to avoid a bounce check? Driver's License? Thank you.

 

I wouldnt accept a check...period...

 

I would ask the buyer's bank to wire money into your cousin's account. or get a certified cashier's check

 

cash > paypal > *

 

I would also not take a check. Not right there anyway. If he wanted to give a check I'd have it clear then give him the ok to pick up the rims.
Just getting some info from him will not do anything short term. The most that could be done is to file a police report if the check was bad, & then you have to go to small claims court to resolve it. By that time the guy still has the rims & your still out the the $$. A court case like that could take years.

 

get cash, money order or cashiers check, no personal checks. Also no Paypal, a few people have retracted their payments after they had the item, claiming they never got it or it was damaged.

 

I agree totally. Don't take a chance on a check.

 

cash, mo, cashiers or wire

 

I would be scared if he only wants to give you a check...

 

Be careful......nobody pays by personal check anymore,something doesn't sound right here

 

Well I do. But of course I expect to wait till it clears.

 

What if you went to a branch of his bank and cashed it there with him?

 

I'd recommend that. Having worked for a bank, I can tell you that fake money orders and certified checks are VERY common. People assume they're guaranteed, so they're the most often counterfeited. I'd go with the guy to the bank and have him cash one of his checks or just do a withdrawal from his account.

 

Have the guy that is buying the rims to right himself a check for cash, cash it and give the cash to your cuzo. If not, then tell him to get a certified bank or postal check. Fuck that, i would never take a check from a stranger.

 

^^Best answer! Why can't the guy just cash a check himself and bring you the dinero. No neeed to accompany him to the bank. Make him do the legwork.

 

Cash, money order or paypal. Anything but a personal check. Or tell the buyer ot come back and get the wheels after the check clears.

 

Actually it's OK to accept a personal check if the following criteria is met.

#1 Meet him at his bank for the exchange, have him write the check on the spot inside the bank if you can (do not give him the goods yet)
#2 immediately after getting the personal check go to a clerk and get a cashiers check made. After getting the cashiers check you can exchange the goods.


This is the only way I would accept a Cashiers OR personal check. It's not neccessary to have him with you in the bank. But never exchange goods until you have the cashiers check that *you* got yourself by cashing his check at his bank.

I would never accept a cashiers check unless I was at the bank at the time it was created and saw them make it. They are pretty easy to create yourself with a color printer...

 

I just bought a 05 TL with a personal check. The seller gave me the car, but held the title until it cleared.

 

But why bother with this? If the buyer has the cash in their account just withdraw it and use for the purchase. Theirs no reason to jump though those hoops. And if your paranoid about the cash, then just meet at your bank and deposit the cash right there.

 

Here is the other problem with a check. Say you cash the check at your bank (usually the only place you can cash a check) and it bounces. What does the bank do? Take the money they gave you for the check FROM YOUR ACCOUNT!!! (plus a bounced check fee). Now you have no wheels and are $25-$50 poorer for your efforts.

 

Not everyone wants to carry $750 dollars around. And if the sale is more than $750 it gets ridiculous... unless your a drug dealer, pimp or something there's no reason to ever carry that much cash.

Dealing with the general public and protecting yourself against theft is a pain in the ass. The only way to avoid it, is to never sell anything to the general public...

When I sold my 01 CL last month $12.5k I accepted a personal check, but I did it at their bank and immediately had a cashiers check drawn. Which then guarantees me the funds. No way in hell I'd want that much in cash to carry

Some people are scam artists man.

google any of these:
"fake cashiers check"
"fake check"
"counterfeit money"

 

FYI: Most banks do not sell negoitable instruments (official/teller/cashier's checks, money orders, traveler's checks) to non-customers, even if you have the cash to pay for it. The guy buying the stuff would probably have to have the item made, by taking funds from his account, and then give it to the seller.

 

Guess I've been lucky for the past 20+ years I can't tell you how many times I have done it...

Any bank will graciously accept a check from a local account and give you either cash or a cashiers check dude. If you are not at their local branch it might prove to be difficult. But if it's a large bank like CitiBank, it won't be a problem.

 

What is a local account?

I work at a bank, we don't issue items like that unless you have an account. The other banks in the area have similar policies.

 

This BS happened to me once

I sold this guy a cell phone over in canada

He paid me with canadian postal money order which I cashed out immediately through my bank.

After 3 months, I get the original check in mail saying the check was cancelled by canadian postal service because the original buyer claimed that he never got a cell phone.

needless to say, my bank charged me what the check worth

and I lost my cell phone.. WTF?

I called the canadian postal service and they couldn't do anything about it

 

If someone from your local bank writes me a check and I bring it to you. You will cash it after I show proper identification. Why? because you can verify funds immediately. Instead of cash I can ask for a cashiers check to be written to me...

One does not need a checking account to cash a check, however usually you have to present the check to the check writers local bank branch to cash it directly.

Unless you work for some small private bank, that's the way almost ALL banks are...

I don't know why I have to repeat this to you... maybe go re-read the thread you replied too.

 

I've already read the thread, thanks.

Why are you getting so defensive anyway? I'm only sharing what my experience is from actually working in a bank and having customers try to do exactly what you're recommending the OP do. We don't do it and I've had customers tell me that other banks (6 in the immediate area of my branch, to be exact) have the same policy.

The only exception I've ever seen is when the amount of the check is over our daily cash-back limit. Other than that, the check can be cashed or it has to be taken to the payee's bank for deposit.

Maybe policy differs depending on where you're banking. Hell, if the OP wants a check, I say go for it. Check with the buyer's bank first to make sure that is within their rules and regulations.

 

You must work for a very small bank. I can't tell you how many times I have done this...

This is like the myth that I cannot send my friend to deposit a check into my account without me being there. Banks do not care who deposits the $$, as long as the check is written to me and the person has my checking account #.

Make up your mind... lol

Defensive? no, but maybe put some more thought into your response next time.

 

Actually it's the biggest bank in the DC Metro Area.

That myth is just that, a myth.

That exception I mentioned really doesn't even apply here. $750 is well within the means of any bank to provide to a customer without prior notice. I'm talking about people who come in wanting to cash checks for close to the amount of money the entire branch has available at the time.

 

So now for $750 it would work... or even up to $200k probably.

How long have you been working for the Bank? And what is your title/experience?

You DEAD wrong on the deposit. Another thing I do it all the time... ANYONE can deposit $$ into your checking account if they have the checking account number and the check is either addressed to the account holder, or signed over to the account holder.

Also..

Your wrong about taking a check to it's local branch to be cashed... however you have since corrected yourself and said as long as it's under what the bank holds... which is probably in the 100's of thousands.

Your killing me here kid.

edit

I apologize I see you actually agreed with me on the deposit. Anyhoo I don't have anymore time for this today.

 

Congrats SiGGy... Redondo Red w/ ebony, eh ?? Nice color...

 

thanks!

 

I never said the cashier's check thing would work for $750. I was talking about cashing the check, not converting it into a negotiable instrument. I've only seen exceptions made for issuing cashiers checks to non-customers when the original check is for a very large sum of money (read: much more than $750). In cases like that, it would have to be approved by someone in management, which I was not.

Regarding the deposit thing: I said the myth was a myth. I was CONFIRMING what you said, not contesting it. It really seems like you're just looking for things to go off the handle about. If you actually read what I said, you would have seen that I was agreeing with you.

I've been with the bank for 2 1/2 years. I was a Customer Service Rep. for that time. I just started a new position in our community reinvestment division.

edit: I see you saw I agreed with you. I don't have time for this either. All I wanted to do was tell you guys what my experience was having worked in banking. I realize policies differ depending on what bank you're at and where you're banking. If the OP wants a check, I hope that's what he can get. I just didn't want him to run into an issue trying to do that and come back here wondering why.