By paying for the rental with the right business credit card, you would have been fully insured. But since you "don't need the credit", I'm sure you didn't have one of those cards.

Credit is a tool. It can be used for good or bad.

It's pretty easy to make a call to the issuing bank to verify if a cashier's check is legit. But I'd rather send US Postal Service Money Orders by mail so I can sick the postmaster after the seller if he tries to be shifty.

When I buy or sell to anyone who can't deal with credit cards, I insist on USPS Money Orders sent by US mail if I am buying or selling. Mail fraud is a very big deal. That's why all the money order scammers send by UPS or Fedex.

Pinball dealers don't "sell" on ebay. They advertise on ebay.

People demand paypal because they want to use a credit card to buy. Any time you take payment via credit card (paypal, square, etc.), you are subject to a charge back.

If someone needs to use a credit card, they can do a cash advance at their own bank and deposit the cash in your bank. Now this opens them up for the loss, not you.

That's the reason to call the issuing bank and check if it's a fake. Cashier's checks are gold to me. It only takes one call during business hours to verify them.

Please do not suggest that I'm incapable of validating not only the check, but the bank itself. This stuff isn't rocket science. Perhaps you are confusing bank drafts with money orders. There is a big, big difference.

before you deposit the check, you can check with the bank the funds are drawn on. It it's just a money order, you're probably out of luck and will have to wait at least 5 business days or more. That's why a bank check is something more than a money order. Often you can also check money orders, but a lot you cannot. I also like having customers deposit funds directly into my account at their local branch of my bank.