Buying/selling through PayPal

[vasilisgr]

Hi, can someone please explain how does the buying/selling process of a domain takes place when using Paypal for the transaction?

I think i understand the process as far as escrow servises are involved, where the funds are held by a third party until the trasfer of the domain is done, but how does this work when someone uses Paypal?

Is there a secure way to do the transaction or do i just have to rely on one's word and pay them before the domain is tranfered to me? (when buying of course)
When selling a domain on the other hand what are the steps to follow in order to satisfy the client?
Are there any ways to get tricked by someone and lose money?

I would really appreciate a step by step tutorial...
Please forgive me if this is a silly question, but i am new to all this so i have to start from somewhere as well.

Thank you.

 

[hn]

I think if transaction is of a small amount, Paypal is ok, but beyond that I would prefer some escrow service and pay the amount. For larger transactions, spending appx 1% for safety is not too much.

If its via Escrow then the advantage is that once the domain is transferred and whois changes it means the transaction is complete. Payment is held by Escrow so once it sees the whois change it will automatically release the money and we are not dependent on the buyer as buyer has already prepaid the money to escrow.

 

[iowadawg]

They pay you via paypal.
Again, for most small sales, they are great.
But you get into high prices better use escrow.

 

[vasilisgr]

Thank you for your answers, however what i am actually trying to learn is how can someone be sure that the will actually get the domain they are paying for?

 

[hn]

If its via paypal the seller can generate an invoice with the domain name for sale and have the buyer pay the amount and then transfer the domain. This kind of transaction is purely on trust as once the domain is transferred out its quite difficult to get the domain back (incase the buyer goes to Paypal and asks for refund)
Hence, usually you keep proof of the before whois and after whois to show domain was indeed transferred out.

With regards Escrow they have a similar process (of who is before and after). But in this case as Escrow is a third party its a bit safer for the buyer and the seller. When a transaction takes place via Escrow, the buyer adds funds to Escrow. The seller transfers the domain out to the buyer and once it goes to the buyers account, Escrow verifies if the domain has been transferred and releases payment to seller. As its all written with details in correspondences the chances of chargebacks in this case are quite low.

 

[Sukhvir Singh]

Usually its words of trust and you can do this upto $100 or so....for large than this amount its prefer to go with Escrow ACCORDING TO ME!!

 

[vasilisgr]

The invoice creation makes sense. It is a way to show what the deal is about, so now i have to learn how to create invoices on Paypal.
Once again please excuse me if these questions seem silly. As i said i am trying to undertand how it all works.
By the way, in case escrow is used to make the transaction, do i have to provide an invoice as well?

 

[hn]

Incase of Escrow you need to create one on Escrow and once buyer pays escrow then your process of domain transfer begins. Basically escrow is a 3rd party that holds funds on sellers behalf. Once the seller transfers the domain out, Escrow checks if transfer has really been done and then releases the funds to the seller.

 

[Mr.Natwarlal]

Incase of Escrow you need to create one on Escrow and once buyer pays escrow then your process of domain transfer begins. Basically escrow is a 3rd party that holds funds on sellers behalf. Once the seller transfers the domain out, Escrow checks if transfer has really been done and then releases the funds to the seller.

In my case which was bit complicated it took just one hour..


1) I sold domain for certain amount of Bitcoin.

2) We (me & buyer) appointed escrow.

3) Buyer paid to escrow prefixed amount in bitcoin.

4) After Escrow's confirmation of receiving bitcoin in his wallet I pushed domain to escrow's account.

5) Escrow pushed domain in Buyer's account and Paid me amount in USD (converted BTC to USD) via Paypal (on my request)..

That's it.. Appointing trusted member (on forum etc) as escrow is definitely cheaper than going with escrow.com (if amount is smaller).. for large amount site is advisable.

 

[911waverly911]

I would advise against doing a straight transfer only using paypal and emails. I would suggest using either ebay or sedo / godaddy. What is the dollar amount of the transaction? If the domain is on ebay, I would only want to sell it to someone that has a high user feedback 98% or more.

I have been approached several times out of the blue to sell a domain that I had parked and not actively selling. In each case, we came up with an agreed upon price. I then listed it on sedo or godaddy for that price as an auction, they purchased it as soon as it was listed, and the transfer took place. I did it this way to protect myself. Sedo and godaddy handled the escrowing and I got a check not too long after the transfer.

I would not trust a straight transfer with paypal because I have heard people claim they were duped out of the domain they sold and the money was taken back by paypal. The buyer claimed that they never received the domain or some other nonsense. Can you imagine the headache of trying to get back your stolen domain in this scenario? You wouldn't be the first person this has happened to. Even with a screenshot of the whois before the transaction, they could quickly push it out of their account to another account with a different name and the whois record would display that a completely different person in who knows where owns the name.

I suspected fraud with one of the buyers because he insisted on using some free escrow service that I have never heard of. I stood my ground and explained using godaddy auctions was the only way I would proceed with the sale.

 

[iowadawg]

If you use ebay, you will be using paypal.
Ebay owns, so far, paypal.
In all my years of buying and selling, domains and other digital products, I have rarely had any problem with paypal.

 

[webbi]

I think it is clear ESCROW

 

[baseballworld]

I just use bodis and they handle it all and direct deposit it for me automatically.

 

[matrigaldo]

Small amount transactions can be handled through PayPal. It's at your risk, but since the money involved are not that high, i would take the risk if the buyer (or the seller) feels comfortable with it and you have some kind of way to verify a decent sales/transaction history (ebay feedbacks, forum reviews, etc) .

However, PayPal can refund a buyer even with domain names, if sold through eBay for example.
Happened to me just recently. 2 months ago i sold a soon-to-expire domain name on eBay at BIN price. It was a low amount although, under $100. The domain was gonna to expire within 2 weeks, as clearly stated on the listing, as well as the registrar, Moniker.
The buyer paid almost instantly, and then started all the problems.
I kept asking to the buyer the account ID of Moniker, and he kept providing me all the GoDaddy info for 1 months. Between my message and his reply, several days of waiting. And in the meantime the domain has expired.
It was kinda unbelievable, even with LOOONG explaination email, the answer was always GoDaddy info, and nothing else.

Then he asked for a refund, after 50 days. The domain has expired and already unable to renew without paying high fee. PayPal asked me more info about it, and i provided him all the conversation logs through eBay.
But at the end they refunded him. No matter how, if the buyer didn't receive the product he bought, he will be refunded. And i lost the domain.

Anyway, it applies only to eBay transactions, i guess.

 

[cmdomains]

Dug into this, not sure where else to post a paypal question.

Is it necessary to have a business account with paypal if you plan to be a long term domainer? Say, what if you're making $100-200 a week domaining, would you need a business account?

I only have a personal account , and I might use paypal to initiate low valued domain transfers but like most say here, it doesn't seem to be safe.

Thanks to anyone with an answer.

 

[paul79]

i have always heard that it is better to use an escrow service to protect everyone