advice Bought a domain, transaction via Escrow, seller not responding anymore

[Phillipe]

Two weeks ago I reached out to an owner (US Citizen) of a .com domain to purchase his domain, and after negotiation (via email) we agreed on a price ($6.000). The seller sent me an Escrow.com invite and I transferred the money.

Around 10 days ago Escrow notified the seller that the funds were secured and that the buyer & seller could start the domain transfer. However the seller did not responded and can't be reached anymore. I'm afraid he received a higher offer from someone else and is ignoring the current transaction.

In Holland (where I live) the email agreement would be binding and I could even sue the seller for not delivering. But what is the best way to proceed in the US? Legal advice, perhaps a WIPO dispute, or do I have no chance at all to receive my bought domain?

Any insight is appreciated!

 

[Kate]

Call their neighbors to make sure he's OK - just kidding
Do you have his phone number ? If not Escrow.com probably has it, and they could call him.

This dispute is outside the scope of WIPO.

 

[imadoer]

Two weeks ago I reached out to an owner (US Citizen) of a .com domain to purchase his domain, and after negotiation (via email) we agreed on a price ($6.000). The seller sent me an Escrow.com invite and I transferred the money.

Around 10 days ago Escrow notified the seller that the funds were secured and that the buyer & seller could start the domain transfer. However the seller did not responded and can't be reached anymore. I'm afraid he received a higher offer from someone else and is ignoring the current transaction.

In Holland (where I live) the email agreement would be binding and I could even sue the seller for not delivering. But what is the best way to proceed in the US? Legal advice, perhaps a WIPO dispute, or do I have no chance at all to receive my bought domain?

Any insight is appreciated!

How long did it tale for escrow to approve the Payment?????

 

[Phillipe]

How long did it tale for escrow to approve the Payment?????

2 working days, it came from abroad.

 

[Phillipe]

Call their neighbors to make sure he's OK - just kidding
Do you have his phone number ? If not Escrow.com probably has it, and they could call him.

This dispute is outside the scope of WIPO.

The sellers phone# is immediately answered by voicemail...

I hoped that WIPO paragraph 4a could help in case of not transferring the domain:
"(ii) the domain name registrant has no rights or legitimate interests in respect of the domain name in question"

Apparently not

 

[imadoer]

2 working days, it came from abroad.

some times people decide to buy and sell on impulse this is why im trying to stand up to escrow and get better service please check my thread https://www.namepros.com/threads/es...rocessing-payments.996011/page-2#post-5954786

 

[Jackson Elsegood]

Two business days is fairly normal for a wire to settle from a bank in the Netherlandls to US based accounts if there are no correspondent banks involved.

@Phillipe let me know if you'd like me to try to give a call from my side. I'm no lawyer but Wikipedia lead me to this article on offers to treat https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Invitation_to_treat

Best regards,
Jackson Elsegood

 

[wwwweb]

Two weeks ago I reached out to an owner (US Citizen) of a .com domain to purchase his domain, and after negotiation (via email) we agreed on a price ($6.000). The seller sent me an Escrow.com invite and I transferred the money.

Around 10 days ago Escrow notified the seller that the funds were secured and that the buyer & seller could start the domain transfer. However the seller did not responded and can't be reached anymore. I'm afraid he received a higher offer from someone else and is ignoring the current transaction.

In Holland (where I live) the email agreement would be binding and I could even sue the seller for not delivering. But what is the best way to proceed in the US? Legal advice, perhaps a WIPO dispute, or do I have no chance at all to receive my bought domain?

Any insight is appreciated!

If you are from Holland, and they are in the USA it will cost you much more than $6k to litigate this, even moreso if they put up a defense. Does the domain whois email, match their escrow email?

10 days is a long time, you seem anxious to close the deal, in a liquid value setting does the domain value exceed well over $6K in value, in which case your assumptions are probably right. They probably started doing their homework, and maybe have come to think otherwise about the value of the domain.

The onus will be on your to prove you did a deal with the actual person who owns the domain, and such if you pursue the matter.

 

[Phillipe]

If you are from Holland, and they are in the USA it will cost you much more than $6k to litigate this, even moreso if they put up a defense. Does the domain whois email, match their escrow email?

10 days is a long time, you seem anxious to close the deal, in a liquid value setting does the domain value exceed well over $6K in value, in which case your assumptions are probably right. They probably started doing their homework, and maybe have come to think otherwise about the value of the domain.

The onus will be on your to prove you did a deal with the actual person who owns the domain, and such if you pursue the matter.

Thanks for your insights. The whois and Escrow.com email address match with each other but I understand that an overseas case is very expensive...

 

[mad409]

Well since escrow.com requires docs now to verify they know who this person is for sure, right.

 

[Name Trader]

Thanks for your insights. The whois and Escrow.com email address match with each other but I understand that an overseas case is very expensive...

Deal with Jackson. He's the Head Honcho at Escrow.com. He's a straight talker. He will tell you how it is.

 

[Ross Murray]

Sometimes people do aliasing. Are you sure that guy was the rightful owner of the domain? It may be possible that he would have seen the domain go for auction and contacted you on the basis of him thinking that he would actually get the domain but later on lost the auction.

 

[Phillipe]

Sometimes people do aliasing. Are you sure that guy was the rightful owner of the domain?

Yes, I'm sure he is the owner. And he also used the same email for the whois data and for the Escrow invitation where he accepted the transaction. But after that he went silent.

 

[NameAcquisitions]

Check the escrow contract. Sedo has a specific performance clause. If so, it is possible to file a suit to force transfer. Once filed, immediately send copy to registrar and they will lock domain. Then seller has different perspective, and must decide if reneging on a valid deal (they negotiated) is a good idea, when other party is in the right and motivated to complete transaction.

Ps. I'm not a lawyer, but do believe if they let your money refund it doesn't matter. You have stil properly tendered your payment. They could lose domain and money in the end if not smart.

 

[promo]

Maybe the seller logged into Escrow and saw that he needed to upload all sorts of documents to get his money and thought "why bother".

The new procedure is a deal killer for sure.

 

[Phillipe]

Check the escrow contract. Sedo has a specific performance clause. If so, it is possible to file a suit to force transfer. Once filed, immediately send copy to registrar and they will lock domain. Then seller has different perspective, and must decide if reneging on a valid deal (they negotiated) is a good idea, when other party is in the right and motivated to complete transaction.

Thanks! That's a very good suggestion, I thought that UDRP was more designed for copyright/trademark infringements and was not possible for this specific matter, but I will research the possibilities more extensively.

 

[copper]

What's new procedure?

Maybe the seller logged into Escrow and saw that he needed to upload all sorts of documents to get his money and thought "why bother".

The new procedure is a deal killer for sure.

 

[RGkiiing]

Thats one thing i like about sedo.. you transfer the domain to sedo and not the buyer, so once sedo gets the domain, you get paid instantly

plus they don ask for id and stuff

 

[NameAcquisitions]

Thanks! That's a very good suggestion, I thought that UDRP was more designed for copyright/trademark infringements and was not possible for this specific matter, but I will research the possibilities more extensively.

Not UDRP. You have to actually file a civil lawsuit, which you can do through a local attorney. Registrars won't let you move a domain that is under lawsuit with ownership in question.

 

[TerriJ]

Can't you just cancel this order at Escrow.com? (Not sure, I'm really asking) Where they give you your money back and the "seller" is informed by Escrow that the order is no longer valid.

This person could've died. Could've changed his mind. Etc.
But nearly 2 weeks with no response? Seems like it's over.
So I'd just ask Escrow to give me my funds back and cancel the transaction.