Zero Risk equates to Zero Protection.
There is a reason that Ebay and other trading sites tell you NOT to use Postal Orders/Western Union (it’s not just because Ebay owns PayPal). Scammers and Fraudsters insist on using them because once they have their hands on the money, it has gone, the sender has no recourse to anyone, and the Transfer Agents have no records of where the money went or who collected it.
If you want to be really safe, use an Escrow agent - it doesn’t cost that much extra, and if the value is high enough, it makes sense.
Si
Nitpick: They don’t advise against Postal Orders do they?
Maybe not Postal Orders specifically - they certainly mention Western Union. I’ve never used Postal Orders - are they made out to a specific person, and do they require ID at the far end?
I’d still be pretty wary. I like the protection of PayPal, and anything above the PayPal limits, would use an escrow.
Si
Postal orders may be made out to a specific person or left open. I don’t know if you need ID to cash them as I’ve only ever presented them at the bank, where they are treated exactly the same as cheques.
I like the convenience of PayPal, but I’ve heard horror stories about disputes being unfairly resolved generally in the buyer’s favour.
But in hundreds and hundreds of transactions, it’s never happened to me and I don’t generally even bother with using a signed-for method of shipping - it’s not worth it for small value items - in the event that I get a claim of non-delivery, the money I’ve already saved on not using recorded delivery will have paid for the loss many times over. I know technically the buyer would bear the extra expense, but that would mean the overall cost of obtaining one of my items would be greater and this might depress sales.