How should I sell my domain?

[kianrafiee]

Hello,

I've been offered $1000+ for a domain I have.

I was wondering what the best, safest, and most reliable way to receive payment and sell the domain is?

What I mean by this is that I want to receive money that isn't going to get reversed. Sort of like from people that are scamming you and use stolen credit cards or they call and reverse the transaction.

Is there a safe route for this? I'm willing to pay if it doesn't cost that much.

Thanks for any help.

 

[rocknrollo]

escrow.com

 

[kianrafiee]

I forgot to mention, he lives in a country near England. I live in the USA. Is that going to be a factor?

escrow.com

I've heard about that but not sure exactly how it works. Are you sure escrow is 100% safe? Is escrow.com the leader in this?

Couldn't the buyer, when using escrow, get the domain transferred to them and then decline the escrow and keep there money?

 

[shockie]

did the offer come with an appraisal request? if so, then it's an appraisal scam.

 

[htmlindex]

did the offer come with an appraisal request? if so, then it's an appraisal scam.

Many appraisals scams going around these days. Make sure it's a legit offer & he's not trying to get you to get it appraised before buying it so "he doesn't overpay for it so he can resell it later on for a profit as domains are not his core business" If it's something along this line, it's a scam

 

[nstalk]

Escrow.com is the safest I know of. I've used it many times and never had a problem.

 

[thetruman]

fast question: escrow dot com cant be used outside the US..am I right (i remember have read it on their site...)

 

[Earthian]

if it is not the appraisal scam (info here domainappraisalscam.com) then escrow.com is a good idea for completing transactions like this ...





check the escrow.com procedure here and their fees here ... escrow.com supports transactions from most countries (info here)





if the buyer receives the domain , escrow.com would not allow the funds to be returned to him since he is under contract , and according to the agreement they will release the funds after the inspection period ... a problem might arise if the buyer does not change the WHOIS (which is how escrow.com verifies that the domain was transferred) so usually the seller changes the whois before pushing the domain (to the buyer's account in the same registrar) or allowing to be transferred out (if the buyer is using a different registrar)





just make sure that in the "who pays escrow fees" field you put "buyer" to pay for them (after agreeing with the buyer for him to pay them) ... their fees are pretty low and are considered as "postage" in domain transactions ... if you put "seller" to pay for the fees , if the buyer after both parties accepted the escrow agreement does not send the money , escrow.com will still demand its fees (from the seller) even though the transaction was not completed (according to their ToS)

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[MadAboutDomains]

I have used escrow.com in the UK.... I hope that was alright because if it wasnt then its tough now. :hehe:

 

[stscac]

As mentioned above, make sure that they don't ask for an appraisal. If they want an appraisal, they'll get it done themselves.

-Steve

 

[thetruman]

from the escrow.com site:

Escrow.com only accepts credit card and PayPal payments for Premier Service transactions. Please note that Premier Service transactions are limited to $5000 USD. In addition, Escrow.com has strict policies governing the acceptance of credit card and PayPal payments. PayPal payments are currently only available when both the Buyer and the Seller are located in the United States. Below are some common reasons a credit card or PayPal payment may not be accepted for your transaction:

So if i am in Italy (and I am) the only chance to conclude the transaction would be through wire transfer (other 40$) that makes the deal expensive for low and medium quality domains. On top of that it will take more time to get the money, and possibly you will be charged from your bank for exchange rate and expenses....don t think is a bargain price for a deal between non US citizens

 

[kianrafiee]

Hey, it's the original poster. I have an update.

They never once mentioned an appraisal or anything.

They said they would like to do an international money transfer for which they would need the IBAN of my bank account.

Is that safe? Are there any pitfalls to what they want to do? Can it be scammed? Can the money be reversed? Should I propose escrow.com?

EDIT: Just checked and IBAN is not supported by the United States(where I live). So I guess that's out of the question.

 

[lzy]

Yes, try to go with escrow. The payment's a bitch but at least she's a safe bitch. :hehe:

You could go with the "share transaction fees" option. Good luck.

 

[kianrafiee]

I don't see why I should go with the shared transaction fee. Because if he backs out of buying it, I'd still have to pay my portion and thats not fair.

 

[Earthian]

thetruman - basically the escrow fees are paid by the buyer so that cost is not a seller's cost ... I think the $40 cost for the wire transfer is rather logical cost to pay for a $1000+ transaction ... alternatively you can ask for a check to be mailed to you for free ... the currency exchange costs would occur with almost any kind of transaction and again are rather low (~2.5%)





most transactions have certain costs , advertising , listing in a marketplace (eg. eBay will charge ~$35 final fees for a $1000 sale without mentioning the listing fees which could be $0.20 - $25+) , "postage" , currency conversions , all these are usually small costs in comparison with the profit made ...




there are other options for escrow services , eg. SEDO , but they charge 10% (some other services maybe more) ... with SEDO though , if the buyer sets the currency in euros and you accept the currency in euros , there are no currency exchange costs) and also the send the money to PayPal (without fees for the receipient) or to a european bank account for free ...












kianrafiee - theoretically you can give your bank account details and the buyer could send you an international wire transfer (regardless of you not being able to use IBAN) , but in general I would only give my bank account details to a certified company (with a strict Privacy Policy) and not to an unknown individual ... just with bank account details it is rather difficult for someone to make a scam with your account but I would not risk it anyways ... I think some intermediary for a transaction (like escrow.com , PayPal or SEDO) is a better idea ...





if the money are received by wire transfer in your account (and not , for example , by you submitting a fraudulent check , which might show the funds in your account at first and later be demanded back if they were fraudulent) cannot be reversed , since they are in your account and the buyer can't have access to your account ...





usually when people talk about reversible payments , they mean credit card payments , where the buyer can request a chargeback from his bank after the transaction (and for up to 60-90 days in some cases) and in some cases (eg. unauthorized usage of the card , the item bought was not shipped , etc) the bank might reverse the credit card charge ... or they mean about PayPal payments which were made with a credit card and the buyer requests a credit card chargeback ...

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