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Safest form of payment.

Discussion in 'General' started by rowe748, Sep 26, 2012.

  1. rowe748

    rowe748 Well-Known Member

    I'm in the process of trying to sell a motorcycle. I have a potential buyer in Florida (I’m in NJ) who wants the bike. He wants to wire me the money, but I would rather not give out my bank information. I have never sold a bike out of state before so the whole process is new to me. Are there any safe ways to be paid? Maybe a Western Union etc.? Thanks.
     
  2. njracer

    njracer Well-Known Member

    Cash....and ONLY cash!
     
  3. RubberChicken

    RubberChicken PimpMasterT

    Go to your bank and ask for a one-time routing number that you can give the guy that doesn't reveal your account information. There will be a fee, charge that back to the buyer. Western Union sucks huge. Stay far away from them.
     
  4. rowe748

    rowe748 Well-Known Member

    I'd much prefer it to be a local cash deal. Rubberchicken thanks for the information, that seems like a good alternative.
     
  5. 418

    418 Expert #59

    I'm gonna guess you've never come across counterfeit cash...
     
  6. Every time you write a paper check, you give out your bank information to total strangers.

    A bank wire transfer is the safest way to get paid.
     
  7. redleader

    redleader Member

    I work at a bank, and have for several years. All forms of payment are flawed to some extent. If it was me, and I was worried about it, I would either get a wire or a cashier’s check. A few things to make sure you are safe and protected:

    If it is a cashier’s check: make sure it is from a bank you have access to locally, so that when you receive it you can go in and cash it out. This is to make sure it is a real and not counterfeit check. If someone brings a check into my branch from another branch that is out of state, we have ways to verify it.

    If it’s a wire: Not that there is nothing like this at other banks, but at my bank there are no temp routing numbers for wires. The routing number is a set number and different from the one on your checks. The banks have special routing numbers for wire transfers. You would have to give your account number out. There is no way around that. In Europe they have something called an IBAN which is a long number string which is encoded to have the routing number and the account number in it, but there is nothing like that in the US.
    If it were me and I was worried about it? I would go to my local branch and ask to open a temporary checking account and give that one out. I’ve done it many time for my customers in your situation. Works great. After the wire(s) is done it gets closed and there is no chance for it to be compromised. When you are in opening the account get all the wire info (they should have a paper or sheet with the info on it) and ask about the wire fees, usually there is a $10-20 fee to receive a wire, depending on the bank.
    If you have any questions PM me, I’m happy to answer anything further.
     
  8. rowe748

    rowe748 Well-Known Member

    redleader thanks for all the great information. I'm going to stop by the bank tomorrow morning and I will inquire about the temporary account. The bike has to be shipped, so I believe that will give me a little protection as there should be plenty of time for the wire to clear etc.
     
  9. njracer

    njracer Well-Known Member

    I've only taken cash for the bikes I've sold and have never had a problem.
     
  10. SV Ray

    SV Ray Grandpa Ray

    Bacon, pie, hookers or blow
     
  11. Boman Forklift

    Boman Forklift Well-Known Member

    Trying to get educated here. I've wired money before and had money wired before, isn't it pretty hard for that to go wrong?
     
  12. rowe748

    rowe748 Well-Known Member

    From what I have been reading, wiring money is pretty safe. The thing that worried me most was giving out my account/routing number.
     
  13. socal

    socal Well-Known Member

    A wire, aka fed funds wire is the safest way to send money. Funds transfer instantly. The system of transfer is monitored/supervised by the Federal Reserve. Crimes involving fed funds wires are investigated by the FBI and carry severe penalties. We wire millions per day. I am an officer of a major wall street investment firm.
     
  14. trancework

    trancework It's always now...

    I've had luck with a fedex of a cashiers check, then have it clear the bank BEFORE releasing the bike.
     
  15. ThrottleAbuse

    ThrottleAbuse Will Race for CASH!

    Cash or US postal money orders. Cash is obviously pretty tough to pull a scam with unless its counterfeit which is easy to spot. With US postal money orders once you take them to the post office and cash them there is no chance for fraud. Anything else is a risk.
     
  16. I have recently seen counterfeit $20 bills that could only be identified as counterfeit by machine, like when you go to to deposit them in your bank account. Scanning and printing equipment continues to get more sophisticated and cheaper to purchase, opening up the counterfeiting game to more and more people. Unless you have a detector machine handy when you accept payment in cash, you won't spot a good fake.

    Max value of a postal money order is $1000, which makes it difficult to use for large $$$ transactions. Lots of counterfeits out there too. The number of counterfeit postal money orders has been on a dramatic rise over the last 8-10 years, again because it's easier to fake them than ever before, and also because postal money orders have a reputation of being "fraud-proof," making it easy to get people to accept them uncritically.

    If you really believe that cash or postal money orders are the safest form of payment, you may be in for a rude surprise one day.
     
  17. ThrottleAbuse

    ThrottleAbuse Will Race for CASH!

    You can feel the difference in fake cash vs. real money. Now if they washed bills and then printed a different denomination on them then its more difficult to tell. Once you cash a US postal money order it is done. Then and only then are you paid. $5000 item you get 5 of them and take them in and cash them. Sure a wire is pretty safe if you trust the person wiring you the money with your account info. Cashiers checks can be bad and you will cash it in your account the 2 weeks later they will deduct the money right back out of your account. Or they can cancel it after they hand it to you. I will take my chances with someone I don't know trying to pass me fake bills any day of the week and twice on sunday before I will take a cashiers check, wire transfer or anything else. I count money every day. And as far as the OP goes. You are asking to get screwed shipping your bike to FL. That is where all the scammers on the east coast send their goods for export.
     
  18. So, it's easy unless it's not? OK. :rolleyes:


    Maybe it's different where you live, but around here the Post Offices don't keep that kind of cash on hand. If you have a MO larger than around $250, they just tell you to go deposit it in your bank account. Then it's no different than any other negotiable instrument.

    So - tell me what sort of legerdemain someone can pull with the bank's wire transfer routing number and an account number. Be specific and factual, please.
     
  19. Tell him to fly up there and you and him both go to the bank and handle the transaction. Round trip plane tickets are cheap.
     

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