Buy A Post Office On eBay, Get No Training, Run A Scam, Get Arrested

from the all-in-a-days-work... dept

Next time you think about buying a Post Office on eBay remember this story. We hear stories all the time about weird things going up for auction on eBay, mostly because eBay has become a new PR platform for selling weird or unusual items. A few years ago, a woman in a small town in Texas put up the general store she owned for sale on eBay. That store just happened to include a US Post Office. A married couple bought the store and started to run the Post Office themselves, despite having no training at all — something they felt was a bit of a security threat. They claim they asked repeatedly for the training, but no one would return their calls. Postal Service accountants were calling and complaining about the way the couple filled out forms, but since they couldn’t get the proper training, they just gave up filling out the forms altogether (or filled them out on an irregular basis). Then, the money orders started showing up. Boxes of 500, good for $1,000 each. The wife wanted to ship them back, but the Postal Service said she couldn’t. She eventually hid about a million dollars worth of the money orders in her daughters diaper bag, afraid of what would happen to them. Eventually, since no one was paying attention to them, they decided to force the situation, and had someone purchases $4,500 worth of the money orders with a bogus check… which certainly got them noticed, and shut down the store. The details of this story all seem a bit sketchy, and the only account the NY Times comes up with is from the couple who bought the store. The story seems to raise many more questions than it answers, so it would be nice to hear the other side to get a better idea of what really happened. In the meantime, though, you might want to think twice about buying a Post Office on eBay.


Rate this comment as insightful
Rate this comment as funny
You have rated this comment as insightful
You have rated this comment as funny
Flag this comment as abusive/trolling/spam
You have flagged this comment
The first word has already been claimed
The last word has already been claimed
Insightful Lightbulb icon Funny Laughing icon Abusive/trolling/spam Flag icon Insightful badge Lightbulb icon Funny badge Laughing icon Comments icon

Comments on “Buy A Post Office On eBay, Get No Training, Run A Scam, Get Arrested”

Subscribe: RSS Leave a comment
1 Comment

Add Your Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Have a Techdirt Account? Sign in now. Want one? Register here

Comment Options:

Make this the or (get credits or sign in to see balance) what's this?

What's this?

Techdirt community members with Techdirt Credits can spotlight a comment as either the "First Word" or "Last Word" on a particular comment thread. Credits can be purchased at the Techdirt Insider Shop »

Follow Techdirt

Techdirt Daily Newsletter

Subscribe to Our Newsletter

Get all our posts in your inbox with the Techdirt Daily Newsletter!

We don’t spam. Read our privacy policy for more info.

Ctrl-Alt-Speech

A weekly news podcast from
Mike Masnick & Ben Whitelaw

Subscribe now to Ctrl-Alt-Speech »
Techdirt Deals
Techdirt Insider Discord
The latest chatter on the Techdirt Insider Discord channel...
Loading...