you're being short-sighted. If you meet at a bank, you can immediately open up a bank account upon receipt of the cash. Now, it's perfectly safe to perform the transaction. Here's the steps.
1. Exchange item for cash inside bank at a "New Accounts" desk.
2. Say good-bye to the buyer
3. Open up a savings account with the bank at the New Accounts desk
Go on your merry way
3 Rules with Craigslist
1) Meet in a public place
2) Accept cash only
3) Deal locally
Once you list something on CL, you will get dozens of responses from scammers. Any response offering to pay you via PayPal that would require you to ship the item, would be scams.
If you don't think that you can sell it locally, use Ebay.
For anything expensive, the ONLY safe way is to meet them at their bank and witness them drawing a cashier's check if they don't want to withdraw cash. Then you immediately deposit that check into your account. Don't trust anyone who says they have a cashier's check - these can be counterfeited. You go to their bank and witness them getting the check from the teller
This is a bad idea. Of course, if you had told us what kind of item you were selling, it would help us help you.
Cashier's checks can be faked. People selling very valuable items can simple be robbed.
thousands?
you make an appointment to meet at a bank.
you take cash from his bank.
i sold an used car at a bank once. even cash can be counterfeit.
I think Paypal would be another option. Customer can pay you by logging in to a computer from your home.
I already read through their page on recognizing a scam, but they were a bit vague on one thing. If you have an item for sale and you're selling it for a lot of money, like thousands of dollars, what forms of payment can I safely accept? I really prefer cash, but I know a lot of people are probably not going to be comfortable carrying around that kind of cash on them. But I worry about accepting a check and then having it bounce and then the person disappearing with your goods forever. Are there other forms of payment or ways to arrange payment that are fairly secure? Definitely plan on meeting in person locally.
