You want to buy a coin listed online or elsewhere. There is the assumption, usually, that payment will be made before your coin arrives. This is fairly routine with big outfits but what about collector to collector? The buyer pays with paypal or doesn't want to use a credit card. This complicates the transaction where collectors are in different parts of the country. How difficult is it to trust someone with pre-payment when you are dealing with substantial transactions? Are references a really good idea if you are not paying with a credit card?
References to use one of the more trusted ways of paying for purchases online? Seems to me if one is that nervous and wants references(which are nothing more than friends or family members with different surnames making up half truths and embellishments), maybe they should think of selling locally only and not try retailing online. I mean come one now, PayPal is the secured, and preferred method of payment for a reason. Anonymity of peoples credit card/bank account information, and with good reason I might add. You can't make a PayPal payment if there are no funds available in the attached bank account, or approved credit card, or even transferred to the PayPal account from either of those sources. NFN, but when I put prospective applicants through the hiring process, I never contacted any of their references, for reason I stated in the parenthesis.
But if the buyer does not want to use paypal only checks, what do you do? I always honor my word, but when another buyer/dealer wants to buy a coin of mine, they usually insist on my sending the coin before sending payment.
I wish I could have done that when getting a SECRET level clearance with my last job, would have made things easier but it required real references, they actually check and verify such references unlike most employers who just ignore it and or just call.
When I've sold things in the past before Paypal and other services became available, most options were just by check. I'd say try to get them to send a certified check or money order. Also, you tell them you do not ship any items until the check clears. I would never send a coin until payment is made and cleared. It's just too easy for them to say they never got the coin. If you tried to scam them, well, a check has a trail that can be followed, so payment is always made first, then item is shipped. If they don't like it, I say call off the sale. You have to protect yourself by such precautions.
Well Papyal is the safest way to pay since it offers the buyer protection just in case. Unfortunately many sellers don't want to take the fee and this complicates things. Buying and selling is a two way street both buyer and seller has to feel comfortable. Most banks don't offer free checks anymore so this is costing the buyers. Money order is also not free, a lot of people need to realize these things.
Most people have a bank though and the cost of a cashiers check or money order is still relatively cheap and safe, usually a dollar or less. Other places like the 3rd party check cashing will have a set fee depending on the amount, usually just a few bucks at most.
Find another buyer. List the terms of payment as PayPal only, no checks or credit cards or money orders.
You either come to an agreement that suits both parties or you don't. I think you talking about two different situations here. Situation 1 - you, a private individual, are selling your coin/coins to a dealer. No dealer, at least none that I ever heard of, is going to send you payment until he has the coins in his hand. In fact he won't even make an offer until he has the coins in his hand and can examine them. Only then will he make an offer that you either accept or reject. If you accept his offer then he sends you a company check. Situation 2 - you, a private individual, are selling a coin/coins to another private individual. In this situation you require payment be made before you ever ship the coins. Payment can take the form of a check or a money order, but if it does then the check/money order has to clear before you ever ship the coin/coins. Or, if you choose, you can accept PayPal, and then ship the coins once PayPal tells you the money is in your account. But that's up to you to decide for PayPal has certain risks involved. A PayPal transaction can be disputed, you might win or you might lose the dispute. So that is a risk. And it is why some people don't like PayPal. Whereas with checks and money orders, once cleared, you have the money in your hand and nobody can take it back from you without going to court. So checks and money orders are safer for the seller. Of course buyers see it from the other perspective, they see themselves as the ones being at risk if they use a check or money order because what happens if they are not happy with the coin. Then they have to trust you to refund their money. Some people don't like doing that. So that is why they prefer PayPal, because getting their money back is easier. They are trusting a 3rd party, PayPal, instead of trusting you. And many people would rather do that. In the end it comes down to what I said to start with, the two parties either reach an agreement regarding payment that each finds agreeable or they don't. But things get a lot easier if you have 1 rule and follow it - you only deal, whether buying or selling, with people that you know and trust.
Other thoughts on trust in payments: You are set up at a coin show as a dealer; pretty much anyone can do this. Someone comes along with cash--but two potential problems exist here that you may not have considered. The guy/girl is a drug dealer with drug residue on $100 and $50 bills, possibly making you an accessory to a crime when you go to deposit the cash at the bank. Situation #2: You are given counterfeit bills for payment for gold or silver coins. Once again you could be in trouble or out of luck when you make a bank deposit.
Wrong on both situations. There's traces of drug residue on a large majority of paper currency, this is known and you can't be liable if found and banks don't check this, since it's known. It is also widely believed that anyone who has handled paper currency has likely held and spent a counterfeit note before. If you know the bill or bills are counterfeit and try to pass them off as real, then you get in trouble. Unknowingly passing the bills, you do not get in trouble.
Why would there be drug residue on the money? That myth about people using $100 bills to snort cocaine is exactly that, a myth. Also, powder cocaine hasn't been the drug of choice for 20 years. Furthermore, I have never encountered a drug sniffing dog at the bank. Now counterfeit bills is a real problem.
All I can say is that dealers who handle large amounts of cash better get all their ducks in a row when it comes to the law. I have known dealers in trouble trying to deposit large amounts of cash at their local bank branch which gets its marching orders from their higher-ups and the federal and state governments! You don't want to get on their radar or a "travelling salesman" might pay you a not so friendly visit!
I like references like someones ebay account and maybe some other forums that use ratings and a trading system as I'm a member of a few and provide those when people request references. I've done two transactions on here and one used paypal the other I just shippe the coin and had faith the other party would do the same which they did. But if your concerned use USPS money orders for payment and then ship by USPS. If anything goes wrong you file a mail fraud case against the other party and using the USPS money order leaves more of a trail that can be tracked in that mail fraud case then if you use some other payment method. Other than that use paypal but paypal isn't 100% without risk you can lose money and be scammed.
Actually it's lower denominated bills people use to sniff with and the residue is so faint if it is on there, hard to detect regardless. There's plenty of coke users who still sniff it as well.
Agreed about the lower denomination bills used to snort, but that was not my point. The cause of the contamination on so many bills is from counting machines. Not every bill that is contaminated was in direct contact with drug users or dealers. My original post did not make that clear.
Is it only cocaine that leaves residual effects on the bills or do other drugs, like pot, have the same effect?