question Alternatives to Escrow.com?

[discobull]

I noticed today upon logging into my escrow.com account that they are now requiring that all customers provide them with copies of government issued ID's. I'm not interested in trusting these people to securely store documents that could be used to steal my identity especially since they're now a foreign-owned company and also because they no longer seem terribly on the ball. Anyone have experience with some of the alternatives?

I know that snapnames and sedo offer escrow, but I've never tried either of them. Are they any good? Any other recommendations? Thanks.

 

[Cdomains]

I'll hold the money for you

 

[creataweb]

I'll hold the money for you

Yeah same here. In an interest bearing account, I keep the interest though.

 

[Nitindomains]

Escrow.com still works the best. This comes from my experience lately with their service.

The security verification surely is a pain in the ass, but yes I was assisted thoroughly by @Jackson Elsegood & @Mauli Fry for a worry-free verification for my company, and it turned out all great.
I was told that had been trying out the Verification process starting from November last year, but It became visible in my account only in January this year.
The verification process involved submitting my company incorporation details, and I had no qualms doing so because It is Escrow that helps my company do a lot of business worldwide.
The verification process is actually an added layer of security.
We all have a habit of resisting change, but they beefed up lately with features like Live Chat support and Concierge service for end-users with literally no experience of buying domains before. One of the buyers on a low 5 figure deal actually opted for it as they didn't know anything about how the process worked, although they cancelled that out later on as it was slower in comparison to the time it took to do it themselves.

I completed a deal in last week of December, and It went flawlessly and the money wired swiftly too.

Must advice everyone to get the verification check done in advance as it can get really panicky if you got a pending deal and the account is not verified.

So no alternatives for me as yet. It is good to go with Escrow.

 

[Elon Swift]

escrow.com is the best and one of the most trusted sites. You should not look for alternatives for it.

 

[Jurgen Wolf]

Sedo has escrow service since the beginning or so...
Very strangely that so many domainers are not even aware of it...

 

[Jurgen Wolf]

Internally it is the same as regular sale on Sedo's marketplace, the only one difference - commission.

 

[joro001]

I am in the process of an escrow deal and even started with escrow.com for it but even I as seller am deeply uncomfortable giving escrow my personal and company details. That is a personal decision of course but i'm for sure not going to be alone here. Some buyers simply won't want the hassle and intrusion.

Instead i've been using epik.com for the escrow and despite an extremely messy deal and difficult buyer they have been phenomenal and even assisted on Sunday and during Namescon to push things forward. Buyer has paid and domain in transfer to the buyers registrar of choice, so basically all done.

A highly professional and responsive outfit, thanks to Rob from @robepik and all those who recommended them.

Bye bye escrow.com!

 

[Cdomains]

Instead i've been using epik.com for the escrow and despite an extremely messy deal and difficult buyer they have been phenomenal and even assisted on Sunday and during Namescon to push things forward. Buyer has paid and domain in transfer to the buyers registrar of choice, so basically all done.

I've used Escrow/com as my only escrow company for years, but agree the new verification is an intrusion on privacy and presents a problem with identity theft with sensitive docs stored on their company servers.

I also think this could make buyers back out of a deal if they are uncomfortable with the verification required.

I was going to go with Sedo escrow, but would like another alternative.


Can you tell us more about Epic's escrow, from someone who has actually used it?

What is the process, and how does it work?

Also, do they require the verification that Escrow.com does?

Thanks!

 

[Jurgen Wolf]

Yes, Rob is always online...

 

[Jurgen Wolf]

https://www.namepros.com/threads/epik-announces-escrow-service.895046/
http://www.epik.com/services/escrow/

As I know - verification is not needed with Epik.

 

[joro001]

I've used Escrow/com as my only escrow company for years, but agree the new verification is an intrusion on privacy and presents a problem with identity theft with sensitive docs stored on their company servers.

I also think this could make buyers back out of a deal if they are uncomfortable with the verification required.

I was going to go with Sedo escrow, but would like another alternative.


Can you tell us more about Epic's escrow, from someone who has actually used it?

What is the process, and how does it work?

Also, do they require the verification that Escrow.com does?

Thanks!

Dead simple process.

I didn't go through any verification at all.
Email them/send info on the contact form on http://www.epik.com/services/escrow/.

They will contact you soon and CC in both you and the buyer requesting the buyer to submit payment details in epik (you both need to create an account), then the seller to initiate a transfer to EPIK if desired or you can let the buyer transfer elsewhere like I did as buyer was insistent (they do allow instant transfer away even after a transfer in I believe but in my case the buyer was difficult so didn't want any blocks).

Then they quickly approved payment and let us know we can proceed with the transfer which the buyer has started and will take some days to finalise as ENOM is pathetically slow and no way to expedite anymore.

The transaction is as good as complete and EPIK were absolutely fantastic, great customer service, great support including on a weekend and with namescon going on. Moving on from escrow.com has been wonderful.

 

[Cdomains]

Dead simple process.

I didn't go through any verification at all.
Email them/send info on the contact form on http://www.epik.com/services/escrow/.

They will contact you soon and CC in both you and the buyer requesting the buyer to submit payment details in epik (you both need to create an account), then the seller to initiate a transfer to EPIK if desired or you can let the buyer transfer elsewhere like I did as buyer was insistent (they do allow instant transfer away even after a transfer in I believe but in my case the buyer was difficult so didn't want any blocks).

Then they quickly approved payment and let us know we can proceed with the transfer which the buyer has started and will take some days to finalise as ENOM is pathetically slow and no way to expedited anymore.

The transaction is as good as complete and EPIK were absolutely fantastic, great customer service, great support including on a weekend and with namescon going on. Moving on from escrow.com has been wonderful.

So if the domain is not registered at Epik and the buyer does not want to transfer the name to Epik it is still OK to use Epik's escrow, even though Epik will not be the registrar after the transaction?

And, no escrow fees?

 

[Jurgen Wolf]

1.5% escrow fee if the domain is registered with other registrar.

@joro001 How do you plan to disburse your funds?
If via international wire (SWIFT) - please notify me about Epik's wire-fee nowadays...

 

[joro001]

So if the domain is not registered at Epik and the buyer does not want to transfer the name to Epik it is still OK to use Epik's escrow, even though Epik will not be the registrar after the transaction?

And, no escrow fees?

Yes you can use EPIK either way no problem, even if they will not be registrar afterwards.
However instead of escrow being free you will need to accept a 1.5% escrow fee which is more than reasonable anyway and you can ask the buyer to pay it if they agree. EPIK will confirm either way with both buyer and seller who is paying the fee.

 

[joro001]

1.5% escrow fee if the domain is registered with other registrar.

@joro001 How do you plan to disburse your funds?
If via international wire (SWIFT) - please notify me about Epik's wire-fee nowadays...

I haven't decided yet on the route i'm going to take but probably will be paypal as although it is 5% they pay net so really perfectly reasonable overall and again incredible experience so happy to pay for that, they deserve it!

 

[Jurgen Wolf]

Yes, I also don't understand why PayPal MassPay mode is not used by Epik...

 

[Cdomains]

So you can transfer the proceeds of the sale to your PayPal account?

And, what is the fee from Epik and also from PayPal?

 

[joro001]

So you can transfer the proceeds of the sale to your PayPal account?

And, what is the fee from Epik and also from PayPal?

Yes you can.

EPIK charges 5% flat fee and sends payment net so no other fees at all for receiving payment via paypal. Wire payment I don't know you would need to look into that.

 

[RGkiiing]

Just started a sedo escrow. Seems pretty easy and straight forward

 

[ResoluteDomains]

escrow.com is the best and one of the most trusted sites. You should not look for alternatives for it.

We will have to disagree... Target, and dozens of others companies are most trusted as well....and they've been hacked.

Not taking any chances. The amount of personally identifiable information that they're requesting is a recipe for identitiy theft should they get hacked OR someone in between me and their end-point is sniffing the bits..

No sale amount is worth giving out the information that we're told to keep locked away: https://www.consumer.ftc.gov/articles/0272-how-keep-your-personal-information-secure

If it comes down to a having to do a secure sale transaction and there are no alternatives available (by we know there are), then I'll contact an attorney and get them to handle it AND pay the fees.

 

[creataweb]

I'm starting to use Epik for selling names using their marketplace and Escrow services. I think for me this is the best option. They also have the leasing option to help persuade buyers who may not be able to afford to pay all at one time.

 

[Centaur]

Epik's--- 1.5% , cheaper choice so far
Escrow-- Intrusive
Godaddy--Rippoff (overcharging)
Payoneer-- confusing

Doe's Epik ask for your passport, Driver's license, address, cell #, your mother's maiden name? lol
We're making these companies rich, so it's good to see that we can come together and challenge their tricks. If anyone had a good experience with payoneer or Epik, let me know.

 

[joro001]

Epik's--- 1.5% , cheaper choice so far
Escrow-- Intrusive
Godaddy--Rippoff (overcharging)
Payoneer-- confusing

Doe's Epik ask for your passport, Driver's license, address, cell #, your mother's maiden name? lol
We're making these companies rich, so it's good to see that we can come together and challenge their tricks. If anyone had a good experience with payoneer or Epik, let me know.

Almost completed a transaction with EPIK escrow.
Has been a complete pleasure from start to today which is a couple of days away from the domain being in the buyers godaddy account. Can't comment yet about distribution of funds as i'm not there yet but am sure it will be a positive experience.

 

[Cdomains]

Almost completed a transaction with EPIK escrow.
Has been a complete pleasure from start to today which is a couple of days away from the domain being in the buyers godaddy account. Can't comment yet about distribution of funds as i'm not there yet but am sure it will be a positive experience.

Great, keep us updated.

 

[promo]

We just did a 30K transaction directly outside Escrow because of their new draconian style. (We would have used DN.COM but they are off for two weeks.)

My seller has done high 6 figures through Escrow.com since May 2016. More than 30 transactions. Now after their new verification process they banned his account.

Why you ask; well there was a single letter discrepancy in his first name in his passport and on his bank account. This is not an English name nor is it written in the Latin alphabet normally. So because of a small difference in the translation from one institution to another, he was banned. Further he spent days sending in documents for them to verify. All was in order until they suddenly banned first his bank account and secondly his Escrow account.

I then called them to hear if this really was the case. Got an Angela on the phone. She was downright rude, I was told that Escrow had been market leaders since 1979 and she was not worried about loosing customers. Where would we go, according to her there was no other option for us. She was rude and disrespectful and I was appalled by her reasoning. When I asked her to put it in down in writing she rejected it. She could talk smack on the phone but would not stand by it in writing.

I can only encourage all to seek alternatives to Escrow.com. They do not want our business, Angela told me herself.

Any comments @Jackson Elsegood ?