Help on Online Sale Options?

Question

This man wants to send me a Certified Bank Check..and then he said he will be Responsible for Shipping....Do i Trust the Certified Bank Check..?

is there a way to Cash the Check from whatever bank he has
and wait till i have the cash in hand and then hand the car over to him ?

Answer 1

Yes, wait until the check clears and you have cash in hand (or in your account). If he won't cooperate then he was never on the up and up.

Answer 2

Be EXTREMELY careful with this! There are many scam artists that use this ploy. The check can take a month or more to be discovered as fake. If you've shipped off the car in the meantime you'll be left without a vehicle AND you'll be in the crapper with your bank for the bounced check.

It's much safer to use PayPal than to deal with any kind of check. Quite frankly, I'd only do business that way myself.

If you do accept a check of any type, don't deposit into your bank account. Ask the bank to present the check for collection. Your account won't be credited until the check actually clears on the other end. Advise the buyer that this is what you are doing and that the car will not be shipped until you have final confirmation of collection of the check and that it could be 30 days or longer for that to happen.

You can also insist that the check is drawn on a major national bank that has a branch in your area, but that you do not have an account at. Cash the check at that bank and then deposit the cash in your account at your bank. This is still a bit risky as they will try to go after you if the check turns out to be fake but at least they won't be able to freeze your account since you don't have an account to freeze.

Another method would be to insist that the buyer send you cash via registered mail. The buyer would insure the package for the amount of cash and would have confirmation of delivery to you. You then take the cash to your bank and have them inspect it for any counterfeit notes and deposit the cash to your account.