Payment Methods for Domains

[Earthian]

I thought I should post a couple of payment methods for domains in case you haven't thought about the points below (especially method No.3 and the 3% SEDO and Afternic fees for a domain not found/sold on the respective sites) or for newer domainers ...





PayPal (link)

Pos: Very fast
Pos: Credit Cards can be used by the buyer
Neg: there is the possibility that the buyer might initiate a Credit Card chargeback which (if granted) would cause the funds to be withheld or withdrawn
Fees: seller pays ~ 3% of the transaction for receiving funds (Premier/Business accounts only ... for Credit Crad payments , not PayPal balance payments)





Escrow.com (link)

Pos: Secure and known method (even for non-domainers) of payment , especially for higher amounts
Pos: Credit Cards can be used from the buyer for amounts up to $5000 at extra cost (Premier Service) ... though there is a chance for a CC scan
Pos: PayPal can be used for US to US transactions
Neg: if the seller backs out of a deal after the contracts are accepted (and fees are set for buyer to pay) , the buyer will end up paying the fees without receiving anything
Fees: $0-$5000: 3.25% (6.3% for Premier) with $25 minimum ... $5001-$25000: $162.50 + 0.26% for the amount over $5000 ... $25000+: 0.89% ... buyer or seller can pay the fees ("buyer pays fees" usually recommended so that the seller does not get stuck with the fees if the buyer backs out , after the contracts are accepted)





PayPal Mass Pay (link)

Pos: Low fees ... 2% of transaction capped at $1
Pos: No Credit Card chargeback ... funds should be only from PayPal balance (not Credit Card)
Neg: funds must be in account beforehand , either from another transaction or from bank account (not from CC which could be chargebacked)
Fees: 2% of transaction paid by the buyer (capped at $1)





SEDO Escrow (link)

Pos: Credit Cards can be used from the buyer from amounts up to $500
Pos: PayPal can be used from the buyer (theoretically a chargeback against SEDO won't be granted)
Pos: SEDO takes possession of both the funds and the domain
Pos: low fees (in the case that the domain is not listed at SEDO)
Neg: sometimes SEDO transactions take alittle time
Fees: 3% if the domain is not listed at SEDO ... 10% if it is listed ... buyer or seller pays fees ... 3% added to the buyer if the amount is larger that $500 and PayPal is used





Moniker Escrow (link)

Pos: Secure , since both the domains and the funds must go at the Moniker escrow account
Pos: Fairly good prices
Neg: the procedure asks for signing of contracts which might be time-consuming (but I think they can also be accepted online)
Neg: the procedure demands a transfer to Moniker (not a push to "the escrow company's account" in the current registrar) which might be time-consuming
Fees: starting at 10% for amounts lower than $500 the percentage lowers gradually (as the amount rises) to 0.93% for amounts $50000 or higher





Afternic Escrow (link)

Pos: known marketplace , possibilities for the transaction to complete rather fast
Pos: low fees (in the case that the domain was not sold at Afternic)
Neg: no Credit Card or PayPal (except eCheck) ... (FAQs are not very clear about payment methods though)
Fees: 3% if the domain is was not sold on Afternic ... 10% if it was sold (or buyer/seller communicated through Afternic)





Disclaimer: the above are from experience and from what I read in the respective sites

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[Earthian]

thanks ... glad it is helpful ...





regarding chargeback on a PayPal payment towards a domain purchased/escrowed on SEDO ...

think of it this way ... after SEDO receives the payment it administers the transaction (transfer the domain etc) ... therefore it can very easily prove to PayPal that the tranfer did occur and therefore PayPal (theoretically) will not accept the chargeback request of the bank (that issued the CC)

furthermore , SEDO releases the funds after the domain is transferred ... I have never heard of a case that SEDO requested the funds to be sent back from the seller because the PayPal payment "bounced" (because of a CC chargeback)

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[namethreads.com]

Earthian: thanks for the nice info! Rep added.

Does anyone know a good way of getting payment for a bulk deal for domains with low value per domain. (For example 10 domains at $15 each). I know that escrow.com would work for larger deals: escrow.com allow multiple domains to be bundled into one escrow transaction.

 

[dmi]

You haven't listed an option that I use very often.

Moneybookers (Link )

FAQ: Link
Benefits: Link

They are just great. Chargebacks are NOT possible - when you recieve the money, it's yours.

The only negative thing about them is that they aren't supported (like Paypal) by many merchants... But I think this is gonna change in the future.

 

[MattheP]

otherwise the $50 minimum would mean that the actual rate is way higher at SEDO , ie. 20% for a $250 sale , 10% for a $500 sale , 5% for a $1000 sale and so on ... only above $1667 the fees would actually go down to the 3% level ... eg. a $1700 sale would have $51 fees (3%)
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Yes, thats why i have many dn's parked at sedo, altough they have terribly ppc - 10% without min fee.

Afternic does not seems to mention a minimum fee for escrows , so there is a chance that it is the cheaper for Marketplace/Registrar Escrows for low amount sales ... unless the thing with the parking above applies for SEDO ...

60 or 70$, afaik.​

 

[Malaysia]

rep added! thks for the clear info

 

[Earthian]

correction for post #19 :

I sent a ticket to SEDO and they replied that for domains not listed for sale on Sedo but listed in your account and parked with them then the commission fee is a flat 10% ... therefore there is no 3% fee without the $50 minimum ... it is either 10% if the domain is listed on SEDO or 3% with a $50 minimum if it is not listed








mkellerman - yeah , Escrow.com accepts multiple domains in one transaction ... maybe SEDO or Moniker also do it (or have some kind of a special offer for multiple domains together) ... it might be a good idea to send a ticket to their customer service about it ...








dmion - thanks for adding moneybookers ... evem though I knew about them , I haven't used them , but I will check them out ...

regarding chargebacks ... in general , if a CC is used for a transaction , then a chargeback is not completely unavoidable because it is the issuing bank that initiates it and money transfer companies (like PayPal) cannot dispute the chargeback unless they have some solid proof that the buyer did receive the product (or in this case domain)








MattheP - yeah , I guess it would depend on the amount ...

- for transactions up to $500[/u] ... it is better to have it listed and parked at SEDO ... so that the fee is 10% of the sale price (with no minimum fee)

- for transactions between $500 and $1700 ... it is better that it is not listed on SEDO ... so that the fee is the $50 minimum

- for transactions above $1700 ... it is even better not to have it listed on SEDO ... so that the fee is just 3%








malaysia - thanks for the kind words and rep

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[Aggro]

The Mods should make this a sticky - since a new thread about payments/escrow pops up almost every week

Also should consider amending title to eg "ESCROW and Payment Methods..." :imho:

 

[dynn]

thanks for this great info.

 

[soprano]

good stuff

 

[MDA]

above $1700[/u] ... it is even better not to have it listed on SEDO ... so that the fee is just 3%


[/left]

the logic of offering 3% escrow fees for sales of domains not listed on sedo is to provide people that have received offers elswehere with an incentive to use sedo's escrow on higher value trasactions.

so if you want to use them for a mid $XXXX sale that you've closed elswhere and your domain is also listed on sedo but not parked, you can simply remove it from sale, park it and get the 3% rate.

do i get this correctly?

 

[mndseeker]

I see that most of forum use paypal, nice to hear that,but i am little scared for my first trades in there

 

[rome2ng]

great, nice information.

Good Job.

Will be better if you can reorganied it : )

 

[GreenGambler]

Great post with helpful info, thanks Earthian! Rep added!

 

[Earthian]

MDA - I emailed SEDO a little while back and there is no 3% without minimum fee if the domain is in the SEDO account , not listed for sale but parked at SEDO (see post #26 above) ... so you either have it in your SEDO account and pay 10% or you don't and pay 3% (with a $50 minimum)

regarding deleting it from your account prior to a SEDO escrow , I do not know their policy on this ... maybe they check if the domain was just deleted from the SEDO account to "avoid" the fees maybe they don't ... theoritically it is legal since you can do whatever you want with your domain before you start an escrow transaction with them ... but it might be a good idea if you asked a SEDO rep about this ... I also sent a ticket and will post when I get a reply ...







mndseeker - PayPal is very fast and convinient , but the risk of the buyer chargebacking his Credit Card (and potentiall getting his funds back after receiving the domain) is quite high ... I would suggest you use some escrow service if you don't know the seller well ... it might take a little longer but I think in many cases worths the "hassle"







rome2ng - thanks for the kind-words/rep ... what do you mean by re-organize it ? ... I posted this way so that it would be very easy to follow even for newer domainers ...







GG - thanks for the kind words and rep ... there was a lot of unorganized info about payment methods (as well as misconceptions and scams) , so I thought I post a thread about it ...

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[Phil]

Excellent thread Earthian. Your reputation increases.
:great: Rep+

 

[MDA]

regarding deleting it from your account prior to a SEDO escrow , I do not know their policy on this ... maybe they check if the domain was just deleted from the SEDO account to "avoid" the fees maybe they don't ... theoritically it is legal since you can do whatever you want with your domain before you start an escrow transaction with them ... but it might be a good idea if you asked a SEDO rep about this ... I also sent a ticket and will post when I get a reply ...


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thanks for the promp reply.

great thread by the way. rep added! :sold:

 

[EbookLover]

kindly also add moneybookers.com, np$, clickbank.com and e-gold.com for those outside U.S.

I don't know anything about the others you have mentioned, but using clickbank to collect payment fo ranything is very foolish.

Clickbank is one the the least saftest ways for sellers to seller anything, including cdomains.

Clickbank requires all sellers to offer an 8 week money-back guarantee.

If you buy anything at all through clickbank, as a buyer, if you want your money back, all you have to do is contact clickbank customer service and ask for a refund. You don't even have to give them a reason. You will get your refund, in full, no questions asked, within 48 hours, guaranteed (I know this as I have asked for many refunds for crappy ebooks). You ahve no say in the refund as a seller. You have to eat it.

Don't use clickbank to sell domains.

 

[webnic]

:hi: Joey...Nice to meet you here!

Don't forget about WebNIC too accept Paypal payment.
Basically if you are located in Malaysia, Singapore we accept bank-in to local banks too. Else Wire Transfer and Credit card is also a choice to provide more options and flexibility.

 

[Red Rock]

Earthian,

This is now, the 2nd thread I have read with some brilliant info from you!
Thanks for your knowledge, and all of your time!
I have thrown a rep your way, wish I could give you 10. LOL
Do us all a favor, just find and list the one source with ALL positives,
and NO negatives! LOL
I have only used PayPal, and after all that I have recently read,
I am nervous about it now!

1 question...
If a chargeback can only come from a creditcard payment thru someones PayPal account...How do we find out if their PayPal funds were already in account, or from a credit card?
I hope my question makes sense.
So, if you have the $$$ in your PayPal account already then send it to me...
I then transfer over domain, you can't do a chargeback. right?
But if you pay with PayPal and use your credit card for your funds to your PayPal account, then you CAN do a chargeback?
So, how can we as the seller know that the buyers $$$ was in their account already and not thru credit card to fund their account?

Thanx Again!
Red Rock!

 

[Earthian]

guys , again , thanks for your kind words and reps ...








Red Rock - supposing that the buyer trusts you so that he sends money through PayPal before you send over the domain (which is the common practice)

... and supposing that the seller has (and says that he has) the funds in his account beforehand (and therefore that he won't use a CC)

... then ... you can ask him to send you a PayPal Mass Pay payment ... more info and a link in the first page ... also there is a link to PayPal Mass Pay on the bottom left after you log-in to your PayPal account








since a Mass Pay can be made only with PayPal balance (either from a previous transaction or a transfer from a bank) there can be no CC chargeback ...

how do you know it was actually a Mass Pay and not a regular PayPal payment ?

there might be other ways to check it also ... (though I just checked a parking payment from SEDO which is supposed to be Mass Pay -not sure though- and it does not state that it is a Mass Pay) ... but an easy way to do it would be ... if you have a Premier (or Business account) which is the most common , then when you receive a Mass Pay , there would be no fees to receive the funds ... the sender pays all fees for a Mass Pay payment (2% of the transaction capped at $1) ... alternatively , there would be PayPal fees charged for the specific transaction (shown in your PayPal account next to the transaction and the amount) for receiving the funds (~ 3% + $0.30)








I also have to mention something that I occured to me a couple of minutes ago ... though Mass Pay practically eliminates the risk for CC chargeback ... I don't know what happens if the account that sent the Mass Pay to you , received the funds from an account (either a "partner in crime" or unintentionally) that used a stolen CC ... I think that PayPal investigates where the funds went even after the first transfer (I am not sure about this though) and freezes all the accounts in row until it finishes the investigations ... if it does do that (which again I am not sure it does) , then there might be a risk with Mass Pay also and escrows again would seem more safe (for transactions with a buyer you don't know well)

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