eCop.com - Please report any experiences

[Bannen]

I'm seeing banners by eCop.com starting to show on this forum; I'm always open to a good escrow service that is built with domainers in mind.

Would like to hear from anyone who uses them, particularly about speed, ease of transaction, efficiency, and especially security for both seller and payer.

If anyone has used them, I'd appreciate any comments, including how well your transaction finally finished, using their service.
thank you.

 

[Ms Domainer]

Hello,


Regarding English, it's true my mother languages are French and Spanish and my level in English is certainly basic. I written the text of all the site but it has been proofread many times by english friends, domainers (you have a proof above), and part by an American attorney. What's terrible is each time a new person prooread he pest about the bad english, and the next to proofread his correction says the same. Looks crazy!
Now if there is something really horrible, it's possible it's a new sentence still not proofread, but almost nothing has been added lately so this looks strange. If you find something shocking like that you will be welcome to drop me a note and I will fix asap.


Regarding security, we also escrow domains (not only the money) and we have a series of measures in place to fight identity usurpation (what is not done by competitors until now).


I read someone saying he will not trust ECOP for big sales, it's not our main target today, plus it's for small/medium priced transactions we are very competitive.

I will also add we secure all kind of domain deals that others don't secure like lease, exchange, lending, financing. And from $20!

In a side note Rome has not been build in one week, I estimate a full year still needed to have the site/service as dreamed.

*

Francois,

If you are really serious about garnering a solid English-speaking business audience and customer base, then you should consider hiring a native speaker/writer of English to rewrite/edit your text.

And you need to pay that writer a fair wage.

Editing is labor intensive, and if you try to get someone to work for free or cheap, well, you'll get what you pay for.

English speakers are notoriously picky when it comes to less-than-perfect English, which is somewhat ironic in that most of us are monolingual.

However, I think it boils down to the fact that spammers and scammers tend to be non-native speakers of English, so we are likely to view all less-than-perfect English text as spammy.

From all accounts, you seem to be an honest, hardworking individual who has built up quite a thriving domaining business, but a business person outside of domaining is not likely to know that, so he/she may judge your business harshly and unfairly because of poor text presentation.

In any case, I wish you the best in your endeavors.

*

 

[Aggro]

No escrow license. Unlicensed. unbonded. Unaudited

Show us the financial accounts of this entity..
What - you say it's merely backed by $2 paid up share capital...? LOL

May be fine for low priced transactions among domainers..

For larger transactions, wouldn't trust it.
It works...until it doesn't.

Why take a chance to save a few $ compared to aproper licensed, bonded escrow (on both sides)...

Caveat emptor!

 

[DomainingCom]

Hello,


Regarding English, it's true my mother languages are French and Spanish and my level in English is certainly basic. I written the text of all the site but it has been proofread many times by english friends, domainers (you have a proof above), and part by an American attorney. What's terrible is each time a new person prooread he pest about the bad english, and the next to proofread his correction says the same. Looks crazy!
Now if there is something really horrible, it's possible it's a new sentence still not proofread, but almost nothing has been added lately so this looks strange. If you find something shocking like that you will be welcome to drop me a note and I will fix asap.


Regarding security, we also escrow domains (not only the money) and we have a series of measures in place to fight identity usurpation (what is not done by competitors until now).


I read someone saying he will not trust ECOP for big sales, it's not our main target today, plus it's for small/medium priced transactions we are very competitive.

I will also add we secure all kind of domain deals that others don't secure like lease, exchange, lending, financing. And from $20!

In a side note Rome has not been build in one week, I estimate a full year still needed to have the site/service as dreamed.

 

[RJ]

eCop is trying to establish itself as an attractive choice for domainers. Sedo and Moniker also have proven too expensive on transactions where I am bringing the buyer and I for one welcome a viable competitor to Escrow.com.

Those participating in this week's NamePros live auction will have the opportunity to try eCop out for free. We should be hearing more feedback soon!

 

[WORDSWORTH]

I recently used eCop again and received the proceeds from the sale by PayPal almost immediately. I'm very satisfied with them.

 

[Bannen]

Definitely. In the past I have reported grammatical errors which François fixed.

Ah; he needs to go past that stage if he truly wants client-confidence. Right now it's at the stage where we insiders/domainers can say 'kudos, he's trying hard, producing a good service'; a little rewriting and redesigning by more savvy people would take the eCop site/service across that line, so an outsider/end user who has no experience with domains can immediately say 'this looks totally professional and secure'.

I like his prices and his described services, but right now it seems too much like a 'this is our domainer buddy's site' rather than 'this is run by a professional corporation, with strict and efficient security'.

Note that I'm not shooting the site down; I like what he's doing, like the prices and services, and I'd really like it to look and feel a little more pro so I can feel confident using it, as well as recommending it to both domainer and end user alike. Just had an offer for one of my names (via email, not Sedo) by a higher-up in one of the big 4 financial tech companies in the US... would have loved to have said 'let's do this through eCop' due to their superior rates... but I just couldn't send a total professional like that guy to eCop, had to send him to Sedo, with those much higher commissions :o
So, I'm rooting for eCop to go that extra mile and be a site I can send a professional non-domainer to. It's about 75% there, it's at the stage where I might try it out on a small trade with another domainer... but I'd need to hear a lot more positive input before I'd send an end user there. And I don't think 'big' domainers will take it seriously yet... without that upgrade.

Jury's still out. Welcoming more comments about eCop

 

[Aggro]

Fracois Cardildo, owner of eCop, has posted on his blog the excerpt near the bottom

He states he sold a few domains for $100,000+ each back in the boom years when his asking price was minimum $100,000

Fast forward to today, he is now "facing the worst financial period of my life, I cannot even make a living, in fact I never really made a living domaining since 2006"

If I were thinking of using the service, I would be extra alert (caveat emptor)

You might just find your escrow funds that you thought were safe...being used by Francois for a quick bet for Forex or Stock trading, based on nothing more than a "hot tip, a sure thing". LOL

Easy when you see Apple shares quickly (or fall) & thinking you could have easily capitalized on the price movement, for quick, easy profit. "If only..."

Oh - did I mention that eCop.com - UNLIKE PROPER escrow companies, is:

- NOT licensed in any jurisdiction
- NOT bonded (performance bond must be pledged
with an official body in case of defaults)
- NOT audited (their accounts are not audited by a reputable audit firm)

Francois, you can run but you can't hide

The jig is almost up!!!

=======================
http://www.domainware.com/2012/07/motionless-nothing-happens/

"I will say the suprimes crisis of 2006 definitively changed this industry, names lost +10 times in value and demand for domains over $10K is now dismal if we compare.

I remember that before this event nobody could ask me for a name under $100K (yes one hundred
thousand dollars). It was simply my bottom selling price and I assure you that even at this price I was not happy to sell as I sold so many crap names over this minimum… Today these names will not sell for few thousands dollars at best.

I am now facing the worst financial period of my life, I cannot even make a living, in fact I never really made a living domaining since 2006, I mainly lived from the money earned previously. I started domaining in 2004/2005 but today even some domainers you think they are top domainers are in a very bad shape in fact…"
======================

 

[Havela]

I've used them for two enduser sales over the past week and am very happy.

Francois contacted me promptly to finalise the approval of my account and the money was transferred instantly after the buyer confirmed receipt. Can't say that I have noticed any spelling errors, so perhaps that has been rectified now?

I did not hesitate to recommend ecop.com to my buyers. I gave them the choice between payment first through PayPal or using ecop.com, and they appeared to consider it safer with escrow (understandably).

As for safety, I cannot imagine that a guy like Francois who is so well-known and connected in the business would risk losing his good name over some underhanded escrow service. I would be more reserved if ecop was run by an unknown entity.

I am fairly careful but did not hesitate to upload my passport image. Heck, I would be more concerned if ecop did not require proof of id when handling money transactions. That would really give me cause for concern.

 

[DU]

What we need is a true Full Service escrow company that takes possession of the domains as well as the funds.

Escrow.com and Sedo do not provide a full service escrow unless its a a large transaction with Escrow.com or a Godaddy push with Sedo.

Is eCop a full service escrow?

Moniker does. Sedo does most of the time.

 

[Havela]

Is eCop a full service escrow?

eCop takes possession of domains above $500. That is also when their fees start.

Domain transactions below $500 are completely free with the money in escrow and direct transfer of the domain.

Noting what Domainace said above, I believe the chances that someone would risk losing their business to usurp transactions in the $xxx range are slim although, naturally, anything is possible.

But a free escrow service for low-priced domains is very practical when dealing with e.g. small businesses.

 

[lennco]

Moniker does. Sedo does most of the time.

I have never used Moniker so thanks, I'll look into that.
But Sedo never takes my domains unless its a Godaddy transfer.

All they ever do is monitor the transfer like escrow.com does.
I want an escrow company to take possession of the domain and deal with the transfer to the buyer and pay me immediately after I give them the domain.

 

[johname]

I have never used Moniker .

"escrow"

Thats because your a Cali guy

It not available to Californians

 

[Ms Domainer]

I have never used Moniker so thanks, I'll look into that.
But Sedo never takes my domains unless its a Godaddy transfer.

All they ever do is monitor the transfer like escrow.com does.
I want an escrow company to take possession of the domain and deal with the transfer to the buyer and pay me immediately after I give them the domain.

*

Re: Sedo:

My last transaction was regged at Domainmonster, and I was able to do an internal transfer to Sedo's Domainmonster Transfer account, so, apparently, Sedo is setting up transfer accounts with various registrars.

*

 

[Havela]

So the service is free for transactions bellow $500?

Yup. Completely free - and fast. I received a PayPal payout this morning (Sunday) for a transfer that was confirmed by the buyer yesterday evening.

It completely eliminates that eternal 'should I transfer first or require payment first?' question. There is no need to get into that anymore.

 

[WORDSWORTH]

I decided to give eCop a try for a low $xxx sale.

My identity was verified and funds withdrawn to PayPal within the hour. I would use this service again.

 

[opalxx]

I bought one domain through them. No probs and extremely good communication etc. I would certainly use them again.

 

[kosvam]

I used it few months ago when they had an offer at $5 per service.
It was good experience overall, but I can't be sure that it can protect you as well as escrow.com from scammers.

 

[Bannen]

In a side note Rome has not been build in one week, I estimate a full year still needed to have the site/service as dreamed.

Francois, thank you for jumping in and contributing to the thread. There are still many issues, but as you said: you have a dream for your site and service/s, and when you're doing most of it by yourself, it takes a lot of time. It would be nice if one day you could build it to a very secure/bonded service.

Also, as I'm a qualified writer/editor/proofreader I'd like to help with your writing. However my time/energy over the next 3 months are going towards a large project. Maybe after that if I'm in the mood I'll give your site a going-over

 

[DomainingCom]

I paid a popular attorney of the domain industry to proof read my public/visible pages (in addition to friends/domainers sometimes send me a note for a typo or a minor correction). This is why it's crazy because I suppose all the comments are for content visible without have to log in, so about text that is supposed to have already been revised.

I plan to hire another profesional within few months when the next additions/improvements will be live because I understand and share that a poor english can hurt this service.

Thanks for remind me this fact, for the suggestion to kindly assist me and for the words of support.

 

[GeoFan]

Won an auction on CAX.com this week, and the transaction was very smoothly handled on eCop. Email notifications about each step of the process. Everything went very smoothly, the system worked well.

 

[lennco]

What we need is a true Full Service escrow company that takes possession of the domains as well as the funds.

Escrow.com and Sedo do not provide a full service escrow unless its a a large transaction with Escrow.com or a Godaddy push with Sedo.

Is eCop a full service escrow?

 

[lennco]

"escrow"

Thats because your a Cali guy

It not available to Californians

That figures

 

[iowadawg]

"escrow"

Thats because your a Cali guy

It not available to Californians

Okay, finally got my laugh today from namepros@!

 

[lennco]

Okay, finally got my laugh today from namepros@!

As long as I get to look at California beach bunnies I'm happy

 

[alistair80]

Fantastic service from Francois. I used eCop.com several times and it has almost become my first choice for any escrow transaction. Quick, affordable and easy interface!~