If you’re selling something worth a few thousand dollars, what is the safest form of check to accept? I’ve seen the terms:
money order
cashier’s check
certified money order
certified cashier’s check
bank draft
postal money order
…etc–maybe some of the above are synonymous?
…is one of these, or some other check type, the most-absolutely-guaranteed safest?
Appreciate any tips–first time I’ve dealt with this–
[Note: cash isn’t an option]
I would say this is sort of the wrong way to think about it.
Well, if you’re concerned that the payer might not actually have the money in their account (and thus, a personal check is not a good choice), then they’re all pretty equally good.
If you’re concerned that that the payer is a (possibly professional) scammer who is going to try to defraud you, then they’re all pretty equally bad, since they all can be forged, and if you don’t know how to authenticate what a real one looks like, then what difference does it make how safe the real thing is when you might get a fake one?
Is this something you’re selling in person, or is it getting shipped?
If in person, I suggest: accompany the seller to a physical branch of their bank. Both of you go up to the counter, and they request a cashier’s check in your name, and the cashier hands it to you. Pulling off a fraud in this case requires a fake physical bank branch, which is probably out of the fraudster’s budget for an item in the thousands of dollars 
This is an in-person transaction with somebody I know but don’t necessarily trust. Your suggestion of going to the buyer’s bank and doing it there might be the best solution.
Yes, your principal risk is simply a forged document, a red flag would be (say) a cashier’s check from an obscure bank in a distant state. You don’t necessarily need to go with the buyer, but if (say) it’s a cashier’s check you need to contact the bank directly to ensure that it’s genuine. Much easier to do this with a cashier’s check drawn on a major bank with a local presence where you can just walk in there and ask them, algthough in general you can do this over the phone too once you have the document in your hands.
Alterntatively, ask for a wire transfer. Wire transfers are irrevocable, and don’t involve any of this nonsense where a check can a appear to clear, and they be revoked days or weeks later.
We use wire transfer when dealing with large sums of money from customers who have not established credit terms with us.
Once your bank has accepted the transfer, the deal is done and can’t be undone from his end.
Iamthewalrus(:3= left out one step. After the teller hands you the shiny fresh cashiers check you endorse it, hand it back, and say “I’d like hundreds please.”
After you walk out with greenbacks there’s no way the transaction can be rewound. Otherwise there is.
I used to sell used cars out of my house. This was my SOP: Go to the buyer’s bank with the buyer and have him/her convert a check or withdrawal into greenbacks on the spot. I’d sign the transfer papers there in the bank lobby with the green in my pocket.
↑↑↑ This period dot. 
This is new turf for me. So you can get say $5k cash-currency from the bank w/no problem? I guess I thought there were strict controls or something, related to illicit stuff like drug trafficking etc–Or does that kick in at the $10k range?
It hadn’t occurred to me to get cash currency–and I like the idea…
I was never a professional carseller, but back in the '80s there was a paper-and-ink analog to Craig’s List that we referred to as “the classifieds”. Once I bought a used a car in exactly that manner, and once I sold one ditto.
I’ve sold cars on Craigs List several times, and every time the buyer arrived with cash in his pocket and handed it to me. Any reason you couldn’t ask your buyer to just arrive with the cash?
–Mark
There are practically zero restrictions on banks handling cash. You can walk in and cash a $50K check. Or deposit $50K in 20s. The only issue with withdrawals is whether as a matter of policy they’ll have that much on hand or give it out in one lump. The amount needed to buy or sell an ordinary used car is no big deal. Planning to ask for $50K in cash would definitely be worth a call ahead.
What *will *happen if the amount coming or going exceeds $10K is something called a “cash transaction report” or CTR. This is a simple Federal form that says who, where, and how much. It goes into the giant database in the sky. It’s not considered income. It’s not reported to the IRS. It’s just a record of a single cash transaction. If you were moving big lumps every week eventually some algorithm might look at you to see if you look enough like a money launderer. But that’s it. Many tellers fill out several CTRs a day.
Protip: doing anything to try to evade the CTR rule *is *a federal crime. Like depositing 5K cash each into two bank accounts (or the same account on two nearby days). Don’t do that. The banks have software to detect that. And are obligated to notify the Feds when it alerts.
Money orders can be drawn from banks, the post office, or private. They do not need a payee.
Cashier’s checks require a payee, and the bank has a record of it and who it was made out to. If it’s a local bank, you can go to the branch to verify it. As soon as it is printed, the money is removed from the buyer’s account (same with money order), or cash is used. It could be counterfeit, and if so possibly on some obscure bank that is not local, but otherwise they are safer than money orders.
Cashier’s checks are sometimes known by different names: “official check”, “bank draft”, etc. This has no legal distinction.
Traveller’s checks are a semi-archaic pre-purchased currency that can be returned if lost. They are a pain in the ass to issue.
**Cash **in/out of >$10,000 triggers a CTR. Purchasing a cashier’s check, money order, etc. with >$3,000 to $10,000 cash triggers a Monetary Instrument Log, which is a similar concept. The bank is required to do one if triggered and doing is not because you are doing a suspicious thing, it is routine and does not put you on any watchlist. Lots of legitimate people do these all the time, but if you were doing something illegal it just adds to the body of evidence. Note LSLGuy’s tip: intentionally avoiding this by doing multiple transactions, getting out $9,900, etc. can trigger a Suspicious Activity Report and you don’t want to do that.
The only reason a bank wouldn’t like to do a lot of cash is if they don’t have any on hand. I mean, they shouldn’t ever run out but it’s not like the vault has millions and millions of dollars in your typical bank.
Fear of counterfeits. It’s just too expensive a risk for a novice.
In addition to this, I’d rather do a large cash transaction with somebody from Craigslist away from my home, and in a safe public environment. If it’s going to be cash, meeting at the bank and getting the notes from the teller seems far more sensible.
or you can download one of those apps that lets someone get paid with an debit/credit card that way you get paid whether he has the money or not (if he has a account set up that way anyways -
the guy down the street from me sells video games and systems and he uses google pay I think and I bought like 1 k of stuff form him over the last 18 months
or use paypal…
There are lots of PayPal et al. horror stories where the buyer initiates a chargeback and the PayPal takes their side and the seller is SOL.
The CTR threshold is $10,000. The suspicious activity threshold is $5,000. The latter can be triggered by anything the bank chooses to call suspicious.
But I believe it has to be actual cash, not a check. Last year I deposited a check for over $10,000 and did not have to fill out a CTR, although I expected to have to.
Yes, cash only, feel free to deposit a $1,000,000 check without a CTR. All that will happen is that because this transaction is (probably) out of character for most of us, there will probably be a hold on a portion of the funds for a specified period of time. MIL is similarly only when a bank instrument transaction involves cash, and does not occur if you directly use funds in your account.
My understanding is that the whole point of the CTR is to establish some minimal sort of paper trail. It would be total overkill in your example.