domains Escrow.com sees transactions dip by $30 million in Q2 2020

[equity78]

Escrow.com is out with their domain investment index report for Q2 2020. Business was down according to the report. The lowest since 2018. Escrow.com Domain Investment Index Q2 2020 highlights: Total transacted domain names amount dropped from US$85.8 million to US$55.2 million, the lowest seen since 2018. We saw a drop in transactions as the COVID-19 pandemic started to affect domain … [Read more...]

 

[Way3]

Would love to know how that correlates to actual number of domain transactions (i.e. is number of domains sold/brokered down by the same percentage, or is it that domains are selling for less...)

 

[equity78]

Would love to know how that correlates to actual number of domain transactions (i.e. is number of domains sold/brokered down by the same percentage, or is it that domains are selling for less...)

I thought Adam's comment at TheDomains was interesting:

It may be that escrow.com wants to point at the health and economic crisis to blame for this, but they should take a minute and do some self-reflection.

They have come under fire in many circles for their support issues and I wonder how many deals have moved away from them as a result.

Surely Dan, with their seamless payment plans and Epik with their ever- constant presence and CEO who Hans holds transactions have chipped away at their once dominant position.

Escrow can find those “Signs of recovery” inside their organization too.

 

[John Bates]

I thought Adam's comment at TheDomains was interesting:

It may be that escrow.com wants to point at the health and economic crisis to blame for this, but they should take a minute and do some self-reflection.

They have come under fire in many circles for their support issues and I wonder how many deals have moved away from them as a result.

Surely Dan, with their seamless payment plans and Epik with their ever- constant presence and CEO who Hans holds transactions have chipped away at their once dominant position.

Escrow can find those “Signs of recovery” inside their organization too.

Yes, a back story would provide more context to what is actually occuring.

 

[John Bates]

If sales are dropping due to Covid-19; I wonder what if there has been a shift in the type of domain names that people purchase.

 

[equity78]

If sales are dropping due to Covid-19; I wonder what if there has been a shift in the type of domain names that people purchase.

Well here is the thing, no marketplace or entity has the total picture. Many think @DAN.COM and @epik @Rob Monster are cleaning Escrow's clock. Many have left due to not wanting to give Escrow their personal information requirements.

So Escrow.com is seeing less business that does not = the domain industry.

 

[Internet.Domains]

Escrow.com got worse and competition got better. Simple as that.

 

[John Bates]

Well here is the thing, no marketplace or entity has the total picture. Many think @DAN.COM and @epik @Rob Monster are cleaning Escrow's clock. Many have left due to not wanting to give Escrow their personal information requirements.

So Escrow.com is seeing less business that does not = the domain industry.

It is always unsettling when companies start demanding too much personal information. I guess they are trying to use Covid-19 as cover...

 

[equity78]

It is always unsettling when companies start demanding too much personal information. I guess they are trying to use Covid-19 as cover...

No John this has been going on for years under KYC rules. Many have been upset for close to 3 years now.

 

[CraigD]

Remember, this is just one company.
There must have been an increase in escrow elsewhere.

 

[John Bates]

No John this has been going on for years under KYC rules. Many have been upset for close to 3 years now.

I never tried to use Escrow. The concept seemed too good to be true.

 

[Internet.Domains]

It is always unsettling when companies start demanding too much personal information. I guess they are trying to use Covid-19 as cover...

Other companies are resourceful and are able to conduct business more efficiently and effectively. Escrow.com is analog while others are digital.

 

[John Bates]

Other companies are resourceful and are able to conduct business more efficiently and effectively. Escrow.com is analog while others are digital.

They may not even realize this fact themselves. They may be inflating their own importance/thinking that people have no other options.

 

[Internet.Domains]

They may not even realize this fact themselves. They may be inflating their own importance/thinking that people have no other options.

Well yes! Historically they are known to not self reflect. Its been documented that Escrow.com spent their valuable time telling regulators to go after their competition instead of improving their own inefficiencies.

 

[tonyk2000]

Uniregistry. One of their biggest customers still used them (due to specific offshore Cayman Islands location obviously, it was not easy to move USD $$$ in- and out- without U.S. intermediary). After GoDaddy acquired Uni, it is likely that a lot of sales are now processed by GD directly, at least for domains previously owned by Frank Schilling.

And, of course, many sellers would rather not sell the domain at all than touch escrow .com for any purpose.

 

[equity78]

Uniregistry. One of their biggest customers still used them (due to specific Cayman Islands location obviously, it was not easy to move $$$ in- and out- without U.S. intermediary). After GoDaddy acquired Uni, it is likely that a lot of sales are now processed by GD directly, at least for domains previously owned by Frank Schilling.

And, of course, many sellers would rather not sell the domain at all than touch escrow .com for any purpose.

Very good point on Uniregistry.

 

[Jurgen Wolf]

Uniregistry. One of their biggest customers still used them (due to specific offshore Cayman Islands location obviously, it was not easy to move USD $$$ in- and out- without U.S. intermediary). After GoDaddy acquired Uni, it is likely that a lot of sales are now processed by GD directly, at least for domains previously owned by Frank Schilling.

And, of course, many sellers would rather not sell the domain at all than touch escrow .com for any purpose.

No, Uni has its own escrow.
Escrow.com is just optional there, you can enable/disable it in your UniMarket settings.

 

[tonyk2000]

No, Uni has its own escrow.
Escrow.com is just optional there, you can enable/disable it in your UniMarket settings.

Jurgen, remember prices Frank Schilling asked for his domains? All 5 or 6 figures. To be paid by bankwire. In many cases, banks would simply refuse to send such wires to offshore Cayman Islands:
EU puts Cayman Islands on tax haven blacklist
( https://www.bbc.com/news/business-51484393 )
So, US-based intermediary like escrow .com was inevitable.
Now, imho, escrow .com lost this piece of pie... and it was tasty. Very tasty...

 

[Jurgen Wolf]

Uni escrow is called Uniregistry Secure Exchange (USE).
It is suitable for all TLDs where Uni acts as accredited registrar, and it was always there.

Escrow.com is just their 2nd option for some unsupported TLDs like .ST etc.

 

[Jurgen Wolf]

Regarding Cayman issue...
It can be easily fixed by switching to another bank.
I don't see a big problem there.