Accepting Personal Checks

Many buyers still prefer to pay for their purchases via personal check. Buyers like paying by check because it's convenient, and because checks can be tracked (or even canceled) if problems arise with the seller.

Sellers like personal checks a little less, because they're not instant money. When you deposit a check in your bank, you're not depositing cash. That $100 check doesn't turn into $100 cash until it tracks back through the financial system, from your bank back to the buyer's bank, and the funds are both verified and transferred. That can take some time, typically 10 business days or so.

"Mike Sez"

If you ship an item on immediate receipt of a personal check and then a week later you get a notice from your bank that the check has bounced, you deserve to lose every single penny of that transaction. Eager shippers and personal checks just don't mixand you will learn from your mistake.

Because some buyers still prefer paying by check, you should probably be prepared to handle this payment method. When you receive a check, deposit it as soon as possiblebut do not ship the item. Wait until the check clears the bank (two weeks if you want to be safelonger for checks on non-U.S. banks) before you ship the item. If, after that period, the check hasn't bounced, it's okay to proceed with shipment.

If you are on the bad end of a bounced check, all hope is not lost. The first thing to do is get in touch with your bank and ask them to resubmit the check in question. Maybe the buyer was just temporarily out of funds. Maybe the bank made a mistake. Whatever. In at least half the cases, bounced checks "unbounce" when they're resubmitted.

Whether you resubmit the check or not, you should definitely email the buyer and let him know what happened. At the very least, you'll want the buyer to reimburse you for any bad check fees your bank charged you. The buyer might also be able to provide another form of payment to get things moving again. (Credit cards are niceas are money orders.)