Cash in an envelope through the mail

[Steven]

1. Have you ever sent cash through the mail? How many times?

2. Have you ever been screwed by this?

3. Has a buyer ever sent you cash and you took it and lied that it never came?

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1. When I first bought games ad naseum in 2001 all I did was send cash through the mail. I must have done at least 50 transactions. All went well. Honest sellers, but I know I got lucky. I highly recommend not doing so.

2. Once, and that's when I started using Paypal or money order. Surprise too, it wasn't for games, but for books. I bought some childhood favorite books, cost me $7, female seller claimed it never came and that was that. I refused to pay again and just took the negative. I had a gut feeling she was lying and just trying to double her profit.

3. A buyer has sent me cash before, eh... maybe 5 times. I never lie about it not coming if it did. But in general I say "Please no cash" -- especially to people I "can't trust" (i.e. anyone I haven't dealt with for at least 3 times or so, and know them on a different kind of trust level) because you never know when a newbie sends cash, you get the envelope, there's nothing inside... and you tell him that and he claims you stole it. So I try to avoid that..

[kainemaxwell]

I usually only send cash in an envelope if it's under $5-6, and even then I use security envelopes and put the money in-between a letter. Anything higher I get a postal MO for.

[joshnickerson]

1) Nope. Always a check or money order

2) I hope not!

3) No.

[Steven]

I usually only send cash in an envelope if it's under $5-6, and even then I use security envelopes and put the money in-between a letter. Anything higher I get a postal MO for.

ditto.

I bought so many MO's in my life... I wonder how much .90 cents have added up... I'm scared to calculate, heh... :embarrassed:

[pseudonym]

what kaine23 said. even then i would only send cash to someone whom i trusted and/or dealt with before.

[Muscelli]

ive sent out 50 dollars cash before, glad it didnt get lost

never had problems with this, but i try to avoid using this..

[Griking]

I send cash for items $10 and under. I've done it about a dozen times now and haven't gotten burnt yet.

[dbiersdorf]

One time someone sent me $6 in quarters to pay for a game... I couldn't believe I actually got the money. x_x

[PDorr3]

I would only send cash to highly reliable DP members who I know wont screw me over.

[imanerd0011]

I always send money orders. I also don't even wanna know how much I have spent on them alone. Probabley a good $150. LOL .

[-hellvin-]

I've done about 15 bucks before. Too lazy to get a MO and didn't want to write a check. No problems.

[Videogamerdaryll]

I usually only send cash in an envelope if it's under $5-6, and even then I use security envelopes and put the money in-between a letter. Anything higher I get a postal MO for.

Ditto..

[nildem]

1. Have you ever sent cash through the mail? How many times?


I did this many times back ~10 years ago when I would buy/sell/trade baseball cards over the web and usenet. Most transactions never involved anything more than a few dollars, so spending the $0.85 on a money order wasn't really necessary. This was before PayPal and similar services existed.



2. Have you ever been screwed by this?


Not once. Those who did the screwing mainly dealt in the big-money merchandise (high-end cards, packs by the box/case, memorabilia).



3. Has a buyer ever sent you cash and you took it and lied that it never came?


No, but I did have a few cases where someone sent me cash in an envelope without a return address or a note stating what the money was for. I would just hang onto it until someone emailed me, complaining about not receiving their card/s.

If anyone reading this ever does send cash through the mail, be sure to send along a note stating what the money is for, along with a mailing address. I also use to staple the note to the money, making sure they didn't throw away the envelope without seeing the note. :P

[rbudrick]

I usually wrap the bills in a bit of aluminum foil so you can't tell what it is in the light.

If you worry about it getting lost, make it a letter they have to sign for.

Also, just avoid cash if ever possible. :-)

I'll only send cash if the seller is highly reliable.

-Rob

[WanganRunner]

I would only do it in TINY amounts, and then only to people I know/respect.

I've never done it, and I'd still rather not.

[anagrama]

I've done it a fair few times, usually with international sellers who wouldn't take Paypal. Registered post is a must (although I have got away without it in the past).

Never had any problems, though you are certainly taking a risk that wouldn't be there otherwise.

[slip81]

I've done cash in the mail a few times with no problems, but I know it's not the safest thing so I only do it for a small ammount.

I use paypal and money orders most of the time.

[Vroomfunkel]

1. Have you ever sent cash through the mail? How many times?

Yes. Many many times. Couldn't say how many.


2. Have you ever been screwed by this?

No. The only time I have ever been screwed is via cheque.


3. Has a buyer ever sent you cash and you took it and lied that it never came?

Again, have been sent cash many many times, have never lied about it arriving. One guy allegedly sent me $100 for a Mega Man: Wily Wars a year or two back, and it never arrived - but he didn't seem too fussed about the whole thing. I suspect he got cold feet and never actually sent the money.

By the time I had spent all that time waiting for the money and it not turning up, I decided I actually wanted to keep the game anyway, so I didn't even bother to leave negative feedback (yes, it was an ebay transaction).

The largest amount of money I have received in cash was about £220 - sent by Special Delivery. I would never send that through the post, even by S.D. - if it went missing you couldn't claim it back anyway, because the insurance doesn't cover cash.

I don't usually send via registered post either - I have other ways of making sure it doesn't get tampered with :)

Vroomfunkel

[KJN]

1) Yes, all the time.

2) Nope.

[goatdan]

I have sent money through the mail, but I only do it when it meets three criteria for me:

1) The transaction is under $5.00 in value.
2) The transaction does not include any change (or it is close enough to round up)
3) The person states in the auction that they can only accept money orders or checks.
4) I have emailed the person and asked about it first.

I figure that if I ever do get screwed, if I lose less than $5.00 it will be made up for by all of the $0.90 that I have saved.

I wouldn't do it for more than $5.00 because the postal service can accidentally have their machines "eat" letters. If your letter has a $20.00 bill in it and it gets ripped open and the $20.00 bill falls on the floor, they don't have a way to contact you to tell you that it happened. Someone just keeps it. With a check, as least that can't happen.

And not everyone is honest. I trust our postman, but I don't think you can with every one of them...


If anyone reading this ever does send cash through the mail, be sure to send along a note stating what the money is for, along with a mailing address. I also use to staple the note to the money, making sure they didn't throw away the envelope without seeing the note. :P

YES. This is VERY important and something I wish more people would do. The GOAT Store accepts money orders, and once in a while we will get a money order that is just the value in an envelope with no return address. We have to sit there and figure out which order the money goes too, and if there is a bunch of orders with the same amount, it could go to anyone.

No matter what, always clearly label what you're sending money for. It will make it much, much more likely you'll get your items quickly.

[otterpop]

I rarely use cash in real life anymore, let alone internet transactions. Nearly everything I do is debit or credit - once in a while a check for a bill that I can't pay on the internet. Hell even McDonalds and Burger King take them now, as well as a few of the thrift stores around me. Nowadays pretty much the only reason I ever take out cash is for garage sales, resturants that don't take plastic, or bars.

It would actually be MORE of a pain for me to send $5 cash than pretty much any other method.