Is ESCROW 100% safe or can a Scammer still manage to get away with fraud - Opinions

[pokainc]

Hello I would like to know if Escrow services are 100% safe.
There's a potential buyer who's perhaps interested in buying some of my domains.

The thing is that based on the correspondence, without going into detail, there's signs which prompt me to have some suspicion. One of the reasons being OVER- friendliness.

The "re-assuring" part is, the potential buyer is willing to use an Escrow service if we agree on a price and so-on.


Therefore I want to know, Even if he sounds shady, as long as we use an Escrow service to finalize the transaction am I 100% safe?


Please if anyone can provide some help.

Thank you,

POKAINC

 

[-Adam-]

www.escrow.com is the most common service used by fellow domainers.

Escrow acts as a third party medium to ensure both seller and buyer fully commit to the sale and each respective party receives their property. If one fails to follow through your property is rightfully returned to you.

 

[petrosc]

A very important question to ask yourself when engaging into an escrow transaction is whether the escrow company is also a registrar or not.

Escrow.com for example, is not a registrar. So they do not take the domain name into their possession, they only take the money from the buyer. The seller is 100% safe to get his money, but the buyer is not 100% safe in this case. Imagine this: you bought a name from someone, used escrow, after escrow notified him that theu have received the payment he then changes the whois information to YOURS, and claims that he has transferred the name to you. That would cause a lot of headaches to both you and escrow, until it was proven that the transfer did not take place.

You can avoid all this simply by using an escrow that is also a registrar. They take BOTH domain and money into their possession and then they just change hands. Simple, quick and most importantly, safe. Absolutely nothing can go wrong. Such an escrow service is Moniker's escrow.

 

[AzN]

I would use Moniker.com Escrow if possible.

I have heard of cases where the transaction went wrong with Escrow.com.

Regards
AzN

 

[pokainc]

Usually if i'm not mistaken, Escrow takes the money of the buyer. Then sends a notice asking the buyer to confirm that he has received the domains. When he confirms, the money is released to me. What happens if the buyer receives the domains, then sends the domains to a registrar or someone with all kinds of protective proxy layers and nobody can know who the person really is or where the domain is. Then the "buyer" says he never received the domains?

 

[-Adam-]

Forgot about moniker escrow services. Def go with them instead of escrow.

 

[-REECE-]

I actually had something similar happen to me about a month back. The buyer was totally legit, but was going on his honeymoon and was the kind of guy who makes all his registrations private. When I told Escrow that the name had been pushed and showed them a scanned copy of the whois with the buyer's name in it (highly recommend getting this), they proceeded to start the inspection period without the buyer's consent. They told me that they'd allow the buyer a double inspection period, after which the funds would be disbursed if the buyer couldn't prove otherwise.

In the end, I was able to reach my buyer and it worked out for the best. I strongly believe from this however that it may very well be possible for a seller to scam a buyer -- certainly a newer buyer who isn't aware of all the tools available out there. I found Escrow's customer service to be similar to many domain registration companies in lacking basic knowledge regarding domain name transfers.

I certainly would not want to be a buyer who's seller had pretended they had received the name by changing the whois

Usually if i'm not mistaken, Escrow takes the money of the buyer. Then sends a notice asking the buyer to confirm that he has received the domains. When he confirms, the money is released to me. What happens if the buyer receives the domains, then sends the domains to a registrar or someone with all kinds of protective proxy layers and nobody can know who the person really is or where the domain is. Then the "buyer" says he never received the domains?

 

[pokainc]

The responses have been very helpful and Adam, I'm looking into the Moniker Escrow service. If the deal actually ends up finalized at least I'll know how to proceed.

Thanks again guys.

pokainc

 

[buckshotdots]

I actually like going through sedo if I am weary of a seller (although its a slower process). Its only *10% for full peace of mind. ***Just remember to change dns to sedo before buyer makes an offer so you pay the lower commission.

good luck, Gary.

 

[gazzip]

I actually like going through sedo if I am weary of a seller (although its a slower process). Its only *10% for full peace of mind. ***Just remember to change dns to sedo before buyer makes an offer so you pay the lower commission.

good luck, Gary.

Me too, paying sedo 10% is worth having no worries (apart from the wait)


.

 

[owntype]

escrow.com is unsafe. I would recommend SEDO escrow service.

 

[Domagon]

If the domain is "stolen" you're not safe anywhere. Or if it's a TM domain, etc...

Escrow is a way of effectively managing risk during a transaction, not a guarantee of eliminating all that can potentially go wrong.

Paying Sedo 10% for escrow is highway robbery!

Next time go with Moniker instead - they offer basically the same service, but for much less ... just be sure any escrow transaction through Moniker is funded by bank wire, since they don't guarantee "secured" funds otherwise - credit card funded transactions can come back to haunt a seller months later if the card turns to out to be "bad", since the domain typically stays within Moniker for awhile after the transaction completes.

Ron

 

[goodkarmaco]

buckshotdots,

congrats on the new baby girl!

 

[pokainc]

Domagon I did inquire with moniker. Their rates are much better than sedo's. But the credit card thing you mentioned. Are you 100% sure it's not garanteed secured funds. Their customer service said up to 5 000$ there's no problem.

Plus they state that the domans are released once the funds are released.
If the person pays by credit card, I'm almost positive that Moniker would charge the credit card, therefore the creditcard company would have payed moniker with the funds and once that's done the seller gets the money and buyer gets the domain.

I don't understand how a bad card can come and haunt the seller later on. When someone steals your creditcard and puts gas in the car. The gas station is not penalized because gas was bought with a stolen or fake card.
(This is just an example cuz it's happened to me before)

If clarification can be brought upon this issue or anybody have a comment please post


Thanks,

POKAINC

 

[-REECE-]

Visa/Mastercard (and I'm sure others) have set percentages of transactions they expect to result in chargebacks. I'm not 100% sure of the exact amounts, but yes, if more than a certain percentage of transactions result in chargebacks, they will look into why and may go as far as to stop refunding you for any chargebacks that do occur (as in the retailer would be "out" your gas money).

I don't understand how a bad card can come and haunt the seller later on. When someone steals your creditcard and puts gas in the car. The gas station is not penalized because gas was bought with a stolen or fake card.
(This is just an example cuz it's happened to me before)

If clarification can be brought upon this issue or anybody have a comment please post


Thanks,

POKAINC

 

[footodors]

I read somewhere, I think on the DP forum, where someone sold their site using escrow.com. Payment was received, so he sent his website files along with his choice ppc adwords list. The buyer gets the escrow cancelled leaving the owner bumming as he just gave up some valuable info about his site and it's marketing.

 

[fierne]

sedo would be fine, Escrew.com is not 100% safe

 

[footodors]

Hard to do a chargeback with escrow.com as they make you fax a signed form with your id on it, stating you will do no such thing. Attempt a chargeback, escrow.com will show cc company the signed form and bam, denied.

 

[pokainc]

Everybody has to do their own calculations each time. But here are the rates.

SEDO SYSTEM
- Sedo listing or auction sale (Includes escrow) = 10%

- Outside Sedo sales negotiations and want to use sedo escrow, BUT the domain is listed on sedo's listings. Even if the bid has not been done on the listing, rate is still = 10%

- Outisde Sales negotations and domain is NOT listed on sedo's listings, then the rate is = 3%



MONIKER SYSTEM (Refer to the table below for a better understanding)
- moniker does not have a fix % rate. They work with ranges. Therefore depending on where in the range your SINGLE domain sale in question falls, the rate might differ.

----)))
- For example you have a domain with an agreed sales price of 1000$, then the charge is 75$ which represents 7,5% of the sale.

- If you have a domain with an agreed price of 1002$, then the charge is 99$ which represents 9.8% of the sale.

- If you have a domain with an agreed price of 2000$, then the charge is still 99$ which represents 4.95% of the sale.

- If you have a domain with an agreed price of 10 000$, then the charge is 200$ which represents 2% of the sale.

Therefore even if the price is fixed in ranges. Depending on where you fall within the range does make a difference.


Domain Sale Price in US Dollars Basic Escrow Fees in US Dollars
$1 - $500.99 $50
$501 - $1,000.99 $75
$1,001 - $2,000.99 $99
$2,001 - $3,000.99 $125
$3,001 - $5,000.99 $149
$5,001 - $7,000.99 $175
$7,001 - $10,000.99 $200
$10,001 - $15,000.99 $250
$15,001 - $20,000.99 $300
$20,001 - $30,000.99 $350
$30,001 - $50,000.99 $450
$50,0001+ .0093 of the total

Important fact. If you have 3 domains with an agreed price of 600$, 1500$ and 2500$, you CANNOT add 600+1500+2500 and say it's 4600$ therefore my rate is 149$ which represents 3,2%.

The way MONIKER CALCULATES THE FEE
600$ = 75$ fee
1500$ = 99$ fee
2500$ = 125$ fee
Total fees = 299$ which represents 6,5%




CONCLUSION: BASED ON THE CRITERIA AND THE INFO I PROVIDED ABOVE, YOU CAN EASILY CALCULATE YOUR SEDO FEE. FOR THE MONIKER FEE YOU HAVE TO CHECK THEIR ESCROW TABLE AND CALCULATE EACH TIME. RATES CANNOT BE GENERALIZED IN THE CASE OF MONIKER.


SIDENOTE: If the domain is being transfered from one registrar to Moniker's supposedly one year registration is included. But if it's a multi domain sale, then there are additional charges for the yearly registration for each. (I am not 100% sure of this last fact, but that's what I understood from the response I got from them in an email correspondence)
In some cases Sedo is cheaper in other cases Moniker.
ONLY OVER A 10 000$ SALE MONIKER HAS THE LOWER OF THE RATES.

Hopefully this information was useful and will save you money.
(I provided the information at the best of my abilities and I am not accountable for any liablities. This is just to help, everyone should do their own calculations)

POKAINC

 

[Aggro]

Use Moniker for true ESCROW and safety.
Fees also cheaper (depends on sale price)

Escrow,com do not have true escrow.
They were early movers, got traction and basically had the lucrative domain biz fall into their lap (as a peripheral biz to the main stuff).