Oh How I Hate Ebay Scams

I’ve been selling on Ebay for a while now, and I am pretty kean to sniffing out ebay scams.  I know about Nigeria, fake cashier’s checks, and all of that.  So anyway, we accepted a personal check from a buyer.  This is where my ignorance comes into play.  I thought that once a check posts into your account, it is YOUR money.  I’m not talking about pending, but POSTED transaction into the account.  However, this is not the case.  The check still has to be verified by another bank before it is TRULY your money.  Many of us think that a cleared check is a good check.  Apparently, that is not the case.  You are probably either saying to yourself, “Yeah, you need to learn about how checks are cashed” and some of you are saying “Really, is that true?”.  Yes, it’s true. 

Needless to say, I saw that the check “cleared” into my account, and I sent out the item.  Then, three days later the bank took the money back out of my account because of the check bouncing.  Wouldn’t you think that the bank would not give you the money until they KNEW that the funds were in the other account?  I don’t understand the reasoning for that, but I guess I had to learn the hard way.  I made a request to recall the package, but there is a slim chance that I will ever see that package again. 

A word to all of you out there:  Either do not accept personal checks, cashier’s checks, and money orders for Ebay items, or wait about a week or two before you ship the item to be sure that the check does not bounce. 

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