Epik announces Escrow service

[GoWebnames.com]

Saw this in my facebook feed today: http://www.epik.com/services/escrow/

Can they be trusted?
Any recent EPIK (of INTRUST infamy) service experience to share?

 

[korganian]

Epik has always treated me extremely well.

 

[GoWebnames.com]

Epik has always treated me extremely well.

That's lucky
So many people had issues with INTRUST DOMAINS / EPIK, that's why I asked

 

[sbweb]

I think they've had that service for a while.

 

[GoWebnames.com]

I think they've had that service for a while.

I just saw it today.
In that case, feedback from any of their users would be much appreciated.

 

[korganian]

The really unique thing about Epik is there domain leasing option.

 

[alcy]

I've done a lot ofr domain value checking with them when I started domaining. it was estibot equaoivalent.

when I went there last time I think that service no longer free.

I guess why should it be if everyone cfharges for it.

 

[domainbartender]

Nice! Do they allow withdrawals via Paypal?

 

[Kate]

Can they be trusted?

I would say no.

 

[korganian]

I would just like to point out that the Google Panda changes really wiped out all kinds of successful mini-sites and monetization platforms across the board when it was implemented. I don't see how it could be seen as Epik's fault that sites lost their first page listings in search when that happened. Especially when Rob has stated that he almost bankrupted his company at the time by making the highly honorable decision to give every customer a full refund. What more could anyone ask?

 

[saoirsetech]

I would just like to point out that the Google Panda changes really wiped out all kinds of successful mini-sites and monetization platforms across the board when it was implemented. I don't see how it could be seen as Epik's fault that sites lost their first page listings in search when that happened. Especially when Rob has stated that he almost bankrupted his company at the time by making the highly honorable decision to give every customer a full refund. What more could anyone ask?

Agreed

 

[Name Trader]

I have never dealt with Epik directly except one time when they kept my backorder for themselves. I know they inherited the morals of intrust domains. I have however seen enough complaints to never deal with them. I don't suppose, if they've created an escrow service, that somehow a leopard has changed it's spots. I wouldn't trust them. YMMV.

 

[Recons.Com]

I went to their website to check on escrow info.
Could not find any links on the rates they charge and they never mention anywhere lease option.

 

[GoWebnames.com]

I went to their website to check on escrow info.
Could not find any links on the rates they charge and they never mention anywhere lease option.

If you go to their escrow link, what caught my eye was the "NO FEES" thing. Could there really be a "No Fees" Escrow service? Makes one feel suspicious, what'd they get out of it? Social Service?

Epik Domain Escrow
No Hassles. No Worries. No Fees.
Epik's Domain Escrow service is designed to protect the interests of both buyer and seller during domain sales. We ensure that Buyers receive their properly registered domain. Sellers are assured of full and immediate payment. Both Buyer and Seller are protected against fraud and deception. And all without onerous escrow fees!​

 

[Recons.Com]

That is probably for the transactions at their marketplace.
And then they charge fees when the money leaves their internal pay system.

 

[GoWebnames.com]

That is probably for the transactions at their marketplace.
And then they charge fees when the money leaves their internal pay system.

Could be or maybe it's just free for a while to promote their Masterbucks program (Masterbucks.com) that they state at the Escrow link.

Any user of Masterbucks.com? Seems like a Crypto Currency, only with EPIK in charge:

Creating a New Online Barter Currency
Masterbucks was originally conceived by our sister company, Epik LLC, as a method of creating liquidity in the domain name development industry. Many domain owners, "domain rich but cash poor", lacked the cash with which to purchase domains or add value to their portfolios through development. By creating an alternative currency through which domain owners could barter some of their domains in order to purchase or develop others, a significant market inefficiency was removed, to the benefit of the entire domain name industry.​

 

[DU]

Saw this in my facebook feed today: http://www.epik.com/services/escrow/

Can they be trusted?
Any recent EPIK (of INTRUST infamy) service experience to share?

In my opinion.

No - based on the Epik panda debacle (and lack of concern for "customers") - they did send a nice vacation postcard as people's domains and money went down the toilet.

No - because I don't see any indication that they are licensed / bonded / insured

No - because wtf is masterbucks but a failed currency advertised on NP ages ago.

No - because they have some effed up organization structure that leads to confusion on lame backorder shenanigans and spam

No - because Escrow should be independent of the industry (imho)

Agreed

They couldn't anticipate that mass content builder wasn't going to be a problem at some point?
Add in the cost to "customers" and a terrible revenue model?

Fair Nuff.

 

[RogueWriter]

Rob from Epik is one of the most honorable members of this industry that I have interacted with.

 

[Recons.Com]

What is "panda debacle"? What happened?

 

[redesignunit]

yes epik good and best service provider.

 

[Name Trader]

Rob from Epik is one of the most honorable members of this industry that I have interacted with.

If he's as honorable as you say, why does he preside over such a crappy company? It's a conundrum I've thought about many times.

 

[Rob Monster]

I rarely post on NamePros, but I did want to comment here in order to clarify some points that folks have made in this thread.

Epik started out in 2009 as a mass developer of domains, believing in the merits of domain names as an asset class but being further convinced of the need to add value to the domains. We initially did this only for our own portfolio and got good at building out high quality template-based sites, notably using exact match domains.

In early 2010, Epik made this platform available to other domain investors. The Product Portals were particularly popular and sold like hotcakes. The September 2010 Epik Developer Conference was a high profile event that brought hundreds of domain developers to Seattle and further raised the profile of domain development.

In late 2010, Google released the Panda update of their search engine. The impact on exact match domains was immediate. The results were devastating for anyone involved in mass domain development, including Epik. Individual template sites that earned hundreds of dollars per day were now earning $1 per day, or less.

As a courtesy to our customers who built sites on Epik, we did provide refunds, paying out the difference between their amount invested and their amount earned. These customers were allowed to continue to make use of their Epik sites. Many still do to this day, and are making money from them. This was by any standard an honorable approach.

Rather than wait out Google, Epik made a strategic pivot. Epik acquired Intrust Domains’ registrar operations in July 2011. It was actually a great buy, which provided a top engineering team with which we were able to jump-start what has become a full-service registrar platform with a solid reputation and many happy and loyal clients.

The one downside of acquiring Intrust’s registrar is the confusion of the brand Intrust. In fact, Epik neither bought the Intrust brand, nor the dropcatching business for which they were known. That legacy business went on to become Goname, which has since ceased operations as a dropcatcher and is winding down as far as I understand it.

As for domain appraisals, it is still a free service. We recently put it behind a login screen because some idiot using Russian IP addresses was crawling the service at the rate of 100,000+ queries per hour. Since this data is not free for us, we had no choice but to introduce a daily quota of 100. If someone needs more, they can ask. It is still free.

As for dropcatching, although we do offer a first-come-first-serve dropcatching service Epik is not a large player in this market. It has become a hyper-competitive market, particularly for the best domains. To add reach, we did historically make use of registrar connections that were not exclusively ours but improved catch rate of second tier names.

As for escrow services, we provide this as a courtesy for customers. Over the years, we have completed many large transactions with little or no fee. Escrow is not a core business. As registrar, we have the advantage of being able to secure the domain for the protection of both buyer and seller. I consider this a huge advantage over escrow.com.

As for Masterbucks, this is actually a useful thing. Proceeds from domain sales are deposited commission-free and tax-free into a Masterbucks account. Proceeds can be spent on Epik. Alternatively, proceeds can be redeemed to PayPal, eCheck, paper check or wire transfer, net of payment processing fees which are never more than 5%.

As for our Leasing Platform, it is frankly awesome. If you are not plugged into this capability, I advise you to check it out. I am pretty sure we power more leasing transactions than anyone in the industry. We also provide domain marketplaces for anyone who wants to feature only their own inventory on their own private label marketplace powered by Epik. This is good stuff.

At the end of the day, Epik is building what I call the Swiss Bank of Domains. Epik is relatively boutique-sized but growing rapidly (+88% for first 9 months of 2015). We provide world-class service on a state of the art domain management platform. We are staffed with some of the friendliest support personnel, none of him whom are on commission.

As for @RogueWriter, I thank you for your kind words, as some people in the domain industry know, I am a Bible-believing Christian, actively involved in ministry. Regardless of anyone’s personal theological beliefs, or lack thereof, be assured that all of the people who work at Epik apply the “Do unto others” acid test to everything we do.

Finally, Epik will be exhibiting at the NamesCon conference this coming January. We are looking forward to a great show. It will be my pleasure and honor to sit down with anyone who wants to know more about Epik, or to discuss domains, entrepreneurship, theology, life, etc. If someone needs to reach me sooner, my personal email is [email protected], my cellphone is 425-765-0077 and my Skype is robertmonster.

I give you all my best wishes for a good start to the Holiday Season!

 

[DU]

@GoWebnames.com

You should ignore my post and take Rob up on his offer of personal contact if you have concerns.

So while I'm not taking anything back (because it was my opinion and I can't edit my post) I'm big enough to say that maybe things have a perspective I'm not aware of (I don't recall much about Epik refunds, for example). It seems you have access to the best person to ask. Rob does a good job of summarizing on the main points and is open to talking if there are still doubts.

Also I do think @RogueWriter is a good person and would never vouch for someone unsavory and I would put that opinion way above mine.

To @robepik - apologies if I have mischaracterized your business and am happy that you are so open to communication. Hopefully if you have positive interactions with people here they can post here as well. I appreciate you taking the time to provide your side of the story and I hope that everything you say holds up to be true.

 

[Rob Monster]

@DU - No worries, all is forgiven. To the extent that we do screw up, we generally take action and make amends. Have a good weekend.

 

[21x20]

@robepik --

1. Buyer sends payment to Epik's Masterbucks Escrow account

What are the options on doing this for the buyer? How are you guys in dealing with folks from China?

Thanks!