You can buy money orders at any U.S. post office, at Walmart and CVS customer service desks (MoneyGram), at money transfer agents inside grocery and convenience stores, and at many banks and credit unions. The post office is the benchmark: 2.65 USD for amounts up to 500 USD, 3.75 USD from 500.01 to 1,000 USD, and a 1,000 USD cap on each domestic slip, paid in cash or with a debit card.
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A worked example shows how the cap shapes the bill. Rent of 1,400 USD paid at a post office takes two slips, one for 1,000 USD and one for 400 USD, so the fees come to 3.75 plus 2.65, or 6.40 USD, and you leave with two serial numbers to track. Below: which counter to use, how to fill one out, and why the stub matters more than the paper.
How Money Orders Work and Who Uses Them
A money order is a prepaid paper payment for a fixed amount, made out to a named person or business. Think of it as cash with a name on it: a safe alternative to cash or checks when you would rather not mail either. A post office, retailer, or financial institution collects the full value up front, and you get a receipt stub carrying a serial number. Because money orders are prepaid, the payment cannot bounce like a personal check drawn on an underfunded transaction account, no overdraft lands on the payer, and your account number never appears on the paper.
Four groups use money orders to pay:
- Renters whose landlord refuses a personal check or an app payment.
- People with no bank account or checking account who pay by mail. You do not need a bank account to buy a money order.
- Sellers who will not hand bank details to a stranger.
- Anyone paying a court, agency, or office that takes only cash or checks and will not accept a card.
The United States Postal Service, the federal mail carrier, is the largest single issuer in the country, and its paper is domestic-only now. It stopped selling international money orders on October 1, 2024, and foreign postal operators stopped cashing them on October 1, 2025, according to its Postal Bulletin notice. To send money internationally, use a licensed transfer service instead.
Fees and Limits at Each Counter
Three things separate one counter from another: the fee, the cap per item, and what the register accepts. Only USPS publishes a national price list. Agent networks let each store set its own fee, and money order fees get revised without notice, so treat the table as a starting point and ask at the window.
| Where | Fee | Max per item | Payment taken |
|---|---|---|---|
| Post office | 2.65 USD to 500 USD; 3.75 USD to 1,000 USD | 1,000 USD | Cash or debit, no credit cards |
| Walmart (MoneyGram) | Posted at the desk, varies by store | 1,000 USD (MoneyGram U.S. limit) | Cash or debit |
| CVS (MoneyGram) | Set by location | 1,000 USD (MoneyGram U.S. limit) | Ask the front register |
| Western Union agents | “Nominal,” varies by location | Set by location | Cash or debit, per location policy |
| Bank or credit union | Set by the institution; some free for members | Set by the institution | Usually account holders only |
Maximum per item. A large sum splits across several slips, each with its own fee and serial number. MoneyGram also notes that some locations limit the total you can buy within a set period and may ask for ID on larger amounts, so call ahead before a big purchase.
Receipt and tracking. Keep the stub. Its serial number is the only route to confirming the value of the money order reached the payee, requesting a refund, or replacing a lost slip. USPS runs a status lookup tied to it, and Western Union has its own.
Where to Buy Money Orders in Person
Post offices, big-box stores, grocery stores, convenience stores, check-cashing outlets, banks, and credit unions all offer money orders. Participation is set store by store, not chain-wide, so one phone call saves a wasted trip.
U.S. Post Office
The Postal Service sells postal money orders at every window for cash or debit, but not credit cards. Domestic ones never expire, which makes them the safer pick for a payment that may sit uncashed. Check the branch page for hours.
Walmart
Walmart, the largest brick-and-mortar retailer in the country, issues MoneyGram slips at its customer service desk and sits among the lower-fee counters. Pay with cash or debit. Fees and the per-item cap are posted at the desk, and the store services page lists what each location handles.
CVS Pharmacy
CVS uses the same agent network at many locations. Ask at the front register, not the pharmacy counter. Fees are set locally, so two stores in one city quote different numbers.
Grocery and Convenience Stores
Kroger, Publix, Meijer, and Safeway sell them at the customer service counter, and many 7-Eleven and independent convenience store locations act as money transfer agents. Not every agent handles paper, so filter the Western Union locations finder for that service before you drive over.
Banks and Credit Unions
Your bank or credit union, a member-owned financial institution, may issue one, and a few waive the charge for members. Not every large bank still does. Ask about a cashier’s check in the same call, which is the better instrument for a large sum.
Canada Post
Readers in Canada buy them at Canada Post outlets, where fees and limits differ.
Buying Online: What Actually Exists
There is no way to purchase a money order online in paper form. Paper is sold in person only, and agent networks steer online customers toward electronic transfers, a different product with different fees.
Western Union
Western Union, one of the oldest transfer companies still operating, sells paper at agent locations and transfers through its site and app. The online product is a transfer you fund with a bank card, not a document you can mail. A Western Union money order has no expiration date, but in some states a non-refundable service charge comes out of the principal if it sits uncashed for one to three years.
MoneyGram
MoneyGram works the same way, with agents across retail counters and digital transfers online. Create an account, verify your identity, then finish the financial transaction online or at a nearby agent.
The Postal Service Website
The agency does not sell online and no longer issues international ones. Its site is still useful for finding a branch and checking the status of your money order. If you are mailing the payment, buy stamps at the same window.
How to Fill Out and Cash One
Fill out a money order at the counter, not in the car. A blank slip works like cash, and whoever picks it up can write in their own name. Five steps complete a money order:
- Write the payee’s full name on the pay to the order of line, so a blank slip cannot be claimed by a finder.
- Add your own name and address in the purchaser section.
- Note the account or invoice number in the memo line.
- Sign the front only, leaving the back blank for the payee to endorse.
- Detach the stub and keep it, because its serial number is your only proof. Photograph it as a backup.
On the receiving end, you can cash the money order free at a post office. Bring a primary photo ID and endorse it at the counter in front of the clerk, not beforehand. Banks will deposit the money order into an account, but a hold may apply, so ask the payee how they plan to deposit it before you pick paper over an electronic funds transfer.
Lost, Stolen, or Never Used: Refunds and Replacements
What the receipt does not tell you is that a postal one cannot be stopped like a check. If the money order is lost or stolen, it can be replaced instead: take your receipt to a post office and request a Money Order Inquiry. Confirming the loss can take up to 30 days, the investigation up to 60, and the replacement fee is 23 USD.
Western Union handles a refund through an online Money Order Refund Request Form and warns that extra fees may apply. MoneyGram runs its own claim process. Every issuer wants the receipt and serial number, and none are quick. Expect weeks, not days.
Spotting a Counterfeit and the Overpayment Scam
Counterfeits are a favorite in overpayment fraud, and the reason they work is a timing gap. By law, banks have to make deposited funds available quickly, but the Federal Trade Commission notes it can take weeks for a bank to figure out that an item is fake. The scammer lives inside that gap.
The Federal Trade Commission, the U.S. consumer protection agency, describes the pattern in its guidance on fake check scams: a buyer pays more than the agreed price, then asks you to send back the difference by wire transfer, gift card, or payment app. Weeks later the paper is identified as counterfeit, the bank reverses the credit, and you owe the whole amount. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau gives the same warning, and private-party used car sales are a common target.
- Never accept a payment written for more than the sale price, and never wire back a difference. That rule alone defeats the scam.
- A bank credit is not proof the paper is good. Available funds and cleared funds differ, and the reversal lands on the recipient.
- Verify the money order with the issuer, not the watermark. Each issuer runs its own verification line. Call a number you look up yourself, never one printed on the item.
- Treat urgency as a red flag. An advance-fee scam arrives with a same-day deadline and a story explaining the overpayment.
- Deposit rather than cash, then wait. Hold the goods until funds genuinely clear, not until your app shows a balance.
If you already paid a scammer this way, the FTC says to contact the company that issued it right away and ask to stop payment. Report the fraud at ReportFraud.ftc.gov, and if anything traveled through the mail, to the U.S. Postal Inspection Service as well.
Scammers want the refund paid in something untraceable, which is why our Amazon gift cards and eBay gift cards guides cover the same pattern.
Alternatives When Paper Is the Wrong Tool
Cashier’s check. Drawn by a bank against its own funds, with no practical per-item ceiling. Better for down payments and closing costs, though you generally need an account there.
Zelle and bank transfers. An electronic funds transfer moves cash between banks in minutes, free at most institutions, but it is effectively irreversible, so send money only to people you know.
Prepaid cards. Useful when the recipient has no bank account and nothing travels by mail. Fees vary and acceptance is narrower, and our Visa gift cards guide covers what to check. Parking cash long term instead of moving it? Savings bonds are the other paper instrument worth knowing.
Skip the paper when both sides hold bank accounts and trust each other. It wins in one narrow case: a landlord, court, or agency that demands a physical payment with a traceable stub, such as a security deposit mailed before a move. File that receipt before you start filling moving boxes.
Our Top Picks by Situation
Ranked by the job rather than the brand, since the paper is close to identical from issuer to issuer.
Best overall: USPS postal money order. Sold at every post office, backed by a federal agency, published fees, no domestic expiry, traceable through the online status tool. See related products on Amazon
Best for low fees: Walmart. Among the cheapest counters, with long store hours and a dedicated desk in most supercenters. Check MoneyGram products on Amazon
Best for a large payment: a cashier’s check from your bank. One instrument instead of five, with the bank’s own funds behind it. Bring photo ID.
Best for sending abroad: a Western Union transfer. Postal paper no longer travels abroad, so a licensed transfer service is the practical route. See related products on Amazon
Start at the counter closest to you and ask two questions: the fee today, and the maximum per item. Fill in the payee line before you walk off, photograph the stub, and if money orders arrive from a stranger, call the issuer’s verification line before you release goods or refund anything.
Quick Answers to Common Questions
Do money orders expire?
At the post office, domestic money orders never expire and do not accrue interest. Western Union’s do not expire either, but depending on the state of purchase, a non-refundable service charge is deducted if one goes uncashed for one to three years. Check the back of the money order for the issuer’s terms.
Can you pay for one with a credit card?
Not at the post office, which takes only cash or a debit card. A few agent locations accept credit cards, but the card issuer codes the money order purchase as a cash advance, with an upfront fee and interest from day one. Paying in cash or with debit is cheaper everywhere.
Who cashes them, and will any store do it?
You can cash a money order at post offices, banks, credit unions, check-cashing outlets, and some grocery stores. A store will usually only cash one it issued, and not every agent location can cash them. Bring photo ID, and expect a hold if you are not an account holder there.
Are they safer than a personal check?
Safer for the sender, not automatically for the recipient. Funds are collected up front, so nothing bounces on the payer’s side and your account number stays off the paper. The recipient still carries counterfeit risk, which is why verifying with the issuer first protects you.
The wheretobuyguides.com editorial team checked Postal Service fees and policy, agent network terms, and Federal Trade Commission fraud guidance for this guide in October 2026.