Money Orders to buy from Armslist

[ripnbst]

How safe is it as a buyer to send someone a money order for a gun on armslist? Thinking about sending a money order to a guy in Edmond for a firearm.(I'm in Tulsa) I offered to drive down there to meet him for an FTF deal but he declined and would prefer to send to my FFL.

I am a little leery because he doesn't want to meet FTF even though I am willing to drive to meet him. In the event I decide to go through with this and send him a Postal Money Order, how safe am I from this scenario:

Seller receives my money order, goes and cashes it, never ships me anything. Lets assume they show a fake ID when showing ID to cash the Money Order. Will I be refunded my money if I never get the item shipped to my FFL?

EDIT to add: I did some research and most stuff I found was the safety of the seller, not much on protection of the buyer.

 

[kroberts2131]

I would offer to send the MO to his FFL or something. No way would I blindly send it

 

[caojyn]

IMHO I wouldn't risk it, too many dishonest people out there

 

[grizzly97]

Wouldn't do it either. Sounds too strange.

 

[rhodesbe]

It sounds like a screw job waiting to happen. Like kroberts mentioned, offer to send it to the FFL and maybe even a 2% gratuity for his trouble in brokering the sale, but not directly.

 

[reddog1]

I would offer to send the MO to his FFL or something. No way would I blindly send it

^^^ this.
If he is not willing to FTF or do the above. Do not go forward with the buy.

 

[Commander Keen]

^^^ this.
If he is not willing to FTF or do the above. Do not go forward with the buy.

I don't think this can be stressed enough. Suspicious goings-on with this sale.

 

[HMFIC]

No way, no how assuming you don't know him from Adam.

He might be fully legit, but if he's not willing to consider your risk, then it's not a good deal.

 

[Double_tap]

You are correct in the thinking of the system protects the seller and not the buyer. It is a federal crime to if you use a postal money order and they burn you, but good luck getting your money back. I would stay clear of this, if he wants to deal through an FFL I would offer to drive down, meet him and you can both go to a local FFL and have the transfer done. I try to stay away from people who don't want to have FTF transactions.

 

[ocphy]

Don't do it. If you have enough concern to come here and ask other opinions then you already have enough reason not to do it.