How Safe is ESCROW.com for sellers

[heavend]

Hey guys,

I wanted to ask your opinion about escrow.com and what are they charging this big money for.... For a long time now, I have a reservations when it comes to selling domains and using escrow.com as a method of transferring the funds and domains securely. On the other hand as a buyer you dont' have this issue.
Other things, purchasing cars, etc via escrow.com is completely different animal, but domain names, due to their nature is not ideal.

So simple scenario:
1. Buyer is somewhere in China. (The ONLY reason I am using China - is it's less traceable spot, where a lot of domainers including myself do business these days)
2. You set up escrow.com transaction for your domain sale.
3. Buyer transfers the funds.
4. You as a seller, push the domain name to the buyer.
5. Buyer then immediately pushes somewhere else and set's up the privacy whois.

The rest is very simple. Basically you can have a problem and the details can be different...

Back about 7-8 years ago when I first came across an idea for this kind of scam, I was surprised how easy it is to setup and execute. I was selling a domain name for over $100,000 + my buyer wanted to use escrow.com ONLY, I talked to escrow.com representative to try to figure out is there any protection from this. At this time, the representative was surprised at my idea (they never thought of it), and told me while it potentially can happen - they never heard of it.... Needless to say - in this case, I was worried for no reason and my transaction ran without a glitch.

Now, for years I was trying to use moniker escrow.com because of this specific potential issue. Yes, it takes a little longer, but moniker takes a possession of the domain and the funds, before releasing domain and the funds. This is a true escrow services. What escrow does is pretty interface without real services. Why do people love it so much and why there aren't other alternatives like moniker escrow is odd. Sedo escrow is similar, of course, but they charge you and arm and a leg.

I never used DN escrow, heard about it recently.
Was wondering if people who are using it come across similar issue or if it's a true escrow services just like moniker or sedo?

What other true escrow services people can recommend which they used with success and without this potential risk?

All best,
Alex

 

[silgro12]

Does Escrow support Paypal?

 

[Jackson Elsegood]

Does Escrow support Paypal?

Yes we do

 

[Bram]

@Jackson Elsegood Do you have a plan to add PayPal also as a disbursement method?

 

[JudgeMind]

As a seller I prefer to use escrow.com for any sale over $1,000 and have used them without any issues for many 4 figure and 5 figure sales for many years. I haven't heard of this scam before and would think that if anyone was braisen enough to try it, that escrow.com would now have a process in place for dealing with this.

 

[johname]

So hard to get a premier quote with the new fee calculator.

 

[james haw]

So hard to get a premier quote with the new fee calculator.

Additionally, the old one used to state something about being outside the US meant an additional $25 fee on top of the percentage fee.

@Jackson Elsegood
Is this still present? If so, would be nice for the calculator to state it, or allow us to provide our country to check if eligible and any additional fees


I love the quote from Michael Cyger - although, "I always find their staff to be available" of course you do, just like the staff/managers in clothes stores are when David Beckham walks in...

 

[serryjw]

I'm confused...WHY would you 'transfer' a domain instead of pushing it and having the buyer wait the 60 days?

 

[james haw]

I'm confused...WHY would you 'transfer' a domain instead of pushing it and having the buyer wait the 60 days?

A transfer would only be delayed if the domain is not older than 60 days. Otherwise it's 3-6 days generally.

If a push is possible and buyer is happy with that then sure a push is arguably better based on speed and simplicity etc, but if the buyer doesn't want to use your registrar or the registrar doesn't have a push service then a transfer is required.

 

[serryjw]

A transfer would only be delayed if the domain is not older than 60 days. Otherwise it's 3-6 days generally.

If a push is possible and buyer is happy with that then sure a push is arguably better based on speed and simplicity etc, but if the buyer doesn't want to use your registrar or the registrar doesn't have a push service then a transfer is required.

---------------------
HOW often does that happen? It sounds suspicious that the buyer can't wait 60 days?

 

[UncleBrand]

i used escrow as a seller and buyer, i still prefer if they always take control of the domain and the funds to proceed with the transaction
i will never push directly to the buyer for a five figure transaction

 

[heavend]

@serryjw - no serious buyer would ever want to wait for 60 days, specially if we talking about some serious 5-6 digit transactions., imo

 

[nameuu_com]

I think escrow.com is not safe for buyer,too. I bought a stolen domain (Seller is a nPer business account and I didn't know it's a stolen domain), and Escrow.com has no options to protect buyer's rights.