Cash through the mail?

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Posted By: Julie Vognar

I have been winning chess cards, mostly from abroad. A guy in Iceland and one in Germany wanty CASH (it'll be about cse, $10 in the other). Is that legal? Also, I'm especially worried if it isn't because of all the mail snooping everyone's doing because of the anthrax. The problem is with Iceland--he accepts bank checks, but they cost $4 (and I won the invitation to the Spassky-Fischer chess match for $5). I can't quite make out what the german will accept besides cash (I'll have to write him in German; seem to have overestimated his English).

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Posted By: jeff s

it's just not recommended. The USPS warns against it, and I know they won't let you insure cash. (Which would make sense if you had to send it, but were worried.)

I get it a lot from foreign buyers, and as far as I know I haven't had any problem with the cash arriving at my mailbox safe and sound. I also think that people use it a lot for <$10 auctions when the m.o. or check is prohibitively expensive as a percentage of the total.

Then again, I'm not sending/receiving mail in Berkeley...

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Posted By: David

When I sell to people abroad, it's more common than not that the buyer pays with US cash. With some countries, there's a big fee on international money orders. I think it's something like US$20 in Australia ... When I sell to Britain, the buyer commonly uses PayPal, which is convenient for everyone involved.

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Posted By: David

What I said was correct, but I got the situation in reverse ... I'll start at the beginning and go backwards. I buy early Hollywood photos, many which were internationally issued and now sold, and the folks abroad definitely love the $US. They must figure it won't devalue while in the envelope. I suspect that they want the money off the books, as they pay some big fee otherwise. Anyone who's shipped often to Canada knows the old refrain, "Say it's just papers. Tell the post office it's worth nothing."

I'm always especialy picky when buying from a forgeign seller (feedback, see the payment requirements), and have not had any troubles buying from international sellers. Some, especially established sellers, do accept personal checks.

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Posted By: jay behrens

another big reason they want US currency is that on the black market they can get a better exchange rate than if they cashed a check at the bank. When I was overseas, if I felt somfortable with the situation, I always exchanged my US$ on the street instead of at the bank.

Jay