Very important and bad news by Escrow.com

[AbdulBasit.com]

Hello and Assalamo Alaikum,

It looks like Escrow.com is getting worse as the time goes by… After we all heard about Payoneer Escrow getting shut down so I started again Escrow.com which I had stopped due to their poor service.

I started couple of transactions at Escrow.com in a period of one week both for different domain and buyers. One of the transaction got completed on 30th August with last status “Inspection period ended, Buyer accepts merchandise.”

On 3rd September, I receive an email from their Payments department which says the following:

“Dear Seller, Unfortunately we do not support disbursement to accounts under First Century Bank, Payoneer accounts, or any other third party payments service. Please kindly select or add a new disbursement method. Please inform us when your disbursement information has been updated.”

This came as shocking to me. First, they should have at least informed all their clients that they no longer support disbursement to accounts under First Century Bank and/or Payoneer accounts. Secondly, even if they didn’t bother sending emails to every of their concerned client, they could’ve updated somewhere in the middle of transaction whenever they got aware of this new changes at their end. But their so-called great support team didn’t bother to inform and waited for the transaction to get completed.

I’m forced to complete my second transaction with them as the buyer just said yesterday that payment have been already made so I’m waiting for this to be completed as well. I just didn’t wanted to receive funds via wire that’s why I started Escrow.com to receive funds via Payoneer.

Instead of improving their service, they’re getting worse as the time is passing. Now I shall be looking for better alternatives who not only support payment via Payoneer but also other options like PayPal.

I’m sure there are plenty of domainers who likes to receive funds via Payoneer and are using Escrow.com so please make sure to either change your funds disbursement method or start using another better escrow service.

Now I’ve sent an email today for disbursing my funds via wire option which is the only one left for me to choose.

**NOTE** In past, I've received good amount of funds in Payoneer account/card through Escrow.com several times.

It would be great to hear from fellow domainers which escrow service is very reliable, provides great customer support and offers several disbursement methods including at least Payoneer.

 

[Jurgen Wolf]

Sedo can do SEPA from their Commerzbank.
This is not a problem.

 

[Jurgen Wolf]

You may also activate GBP with Payoneer...
Then get your money from Sedo in GBP...

 

[poweredbyme]

You may also activate GBP with Payoneer...
Then get your money from Sedo in GBP...

Sedo can do SEPA from their Commerzbank.
This is not a problem.

Are you sure? If they don't send ACH to US banks based on your location, they may not send ACH equivalents to German and British banks.

Have you heard anyone who received payments from Sedo to Payoneer bank accounts in Germany or UK? This is important. Because I read somewhere on Sedo FAQ pages that Sedo warns if the payment doesn't arrive because of wrong bank details, they will not send it again.

On the other hand, Payoneer gives IBAN for German bank account. I wonder if it's possible to send wire to IBAN without SWIFT code. If it's not possible to send wire without SWIFT code, Sedo eventually will have to send SEPA to IBAN.

 

[poweredbyme]

Copied from my Sedo account: "The IBAN (International Bank Account Number) is a coding system used for accelerated wire transfers within Europe. If you have an IBAN, we can send you your payment up to twice as fast! If your bank is in Europe but you don't yet know your IBAN, please ask your bank. e.g. DE89370400440532013000"

As you see they send wire, SEPA is not mentioned anywhere.
And SWIFT code is required.
"The SWIFT Code (or "BIC" code) is an 8-11 character alphanumeric code used to send money via wire transfer. If you don't know your SWIFT code, please ask your bank."

However "accelerated wire transfers" might mean SEPA.

 

[Jurgen Wolf]

Commerzbank (Germany) is Sedo's primary bank.
I don't see any technical problems to send payment via SEPA to another German bank which serves Payoneer.

 

[poweredbyme]

Commerzbank (Germany) is Sedo's primary bank.
I don't see any technical problems to send payment via SEPA to another German bank which serves Payoneer.

I think the same as it looks like the most rational way. But SEPA is the European equivalent of US based ACH. If they don't send ACH based on your country, they might NOT send SEPA based on your country.

 

[Jurgen Wolf]

Only Sedo doesn't send ACH if Sedo account country doesn't match US/CA.
No problems with other popular marketplaces, only Bank address matters for them.

 

[Jurgen Wolf]

In other words...
You may live anywhere... and receive your payouts from eBay to Payoneer ACH...
As example.

 

[poweredbyme]

I never tried to sell domains at eBay. Is it worth to try eBay?

I think the problem is Sedo. If you use US based marketplaces they can send ACH, if you use a European marketplace like Sedo, they don't or can't send ACH, probably because of US banking regulations.

 

[Jurgen Wolf]

eBay is used to sell domains for years...
I even know domainer who purchased tens LLLL.COM from Chinese on eBay in a bulk...

 

[Jurgen Wolf]

The best way is to ask Sedo directly about SEPA...
What restrictions there (if any)... or just EU Bank is enough to receive it.

 

[Jurgen Wolf]

Regarding IBAN...
SEPA is based on IBAN: https://www.ecb.europa.eu/paym/retpaym/paymint/sepa/html/index.en.html

 

[Jurgen Wolf]

And SWIFT code is required.

And nothing abnormal here.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Single_Euro_Payments_Area#Overview
SEPA clearance is based on the IBAN bank-account identification and the SWIFT-BIC bank identifier.

 

[AbdulBasit.com]

@AbdulBasit.com
Kindly check out transferwise.com prehaps their service may be of help.
I haven't used them yet, only got to know about them while trying to come up with hand regs last year .
From what I learnt they offer a boarderless (global) account from which you can spend, send and receive money around the world. Their US account has a ACH routing number, maybe such account can receive funds via ACH.

Don't take my word for it though, please do your own due diligence about the ACH. You can never say, they could have one or two services that may meet domainers' needs.

Thank you!
I just went ahead and created an account. Will give it a try and if it works fine, I'll update here.

 

[poweredbyme]

The best way is to ask Sedo directly about SEPA...
What restrictions there (if any)... or just EU Bank is enough to receive it.

I think the best way is to ask Payoneer if they allow payments from Sedo. Because difference between SEPA and wire would be a difficult question for Sedo support. They may not understand why you are asking such a weird question. Because normal bank account can receive any funds regardless of how it was sent, who sent and from where. Payoneer bank account isn't a normal bank account. Such a question may be answered by a senior finance staff of Sedo. Payoneer business is payments, Sedo isn't a financial institution. Payment related questions should be asked to Payoneer. But if they didn't hear Sedo, they may not answer. Also Sedo might be a competitor for them because of payoneer escrow. The best way is to try with a sale of cheap domain (like 200-300 euro) to see if you can receive payment from Sedo to your Payoneer bank account. It's difficult to get answer from Sedo and Payoneer. Their support is equally bad.

 

[Jurgen Wolf]

Because no any technical difference between SEPA and wire.
SEPA is just clearance mechanism for wires in EUR currency in EUROzone.
And nothing more.

 

[Jurgen Wolf]

Regarding Sedo support...
Their European LiveChat works a few hours daily (during business days)... I always receive answers there.

 

[Jurgen Wolf]

The same for ACH.
Just clearing system for USD transactions between US/CA banks.

 

[Jurgen Wolf]

Change language on Sedo from US to UK or DE - and launch their LiveChat.
And no any problems.

 

[Jurgen Wolf]

Also Sedo might be a competitor for them because of payoneer escrow.

Payoneer Escrow service was closed ~2 months ago.

 

[poweredbyme]

Change language on Sedo from US to UK or DE - and launch their LiveChat.
And no any problems.

They (sedo and payoneer) don't answer my support tickets. I see now the only way to contact them is livechat. My language is US English at Sedo. I couldn't know it makes a difference. Thanks a lot.

 

[Jurgen Wolf]

Yes, Payoneer Support via tickets is really very very slow.

 

[Jurgen Wolf]

As stated by Payoneer - their payment service is designed mainly to receive money from various marketplaces...
Sedo is a marketplace like many others.

 

[Jurgen Wolf]

Payoneer bank account isn't a normal bank account.

Visually it is absolutely the same.
Even Beneficiary Name - YOUR name.
No any mention of Payoneer there.

 

[Jurgen Wolf]

So it should be processed by Sedo like any other bank transfer.
I don't see any difference.