What do you look for in an Escrow Service?

[Eric Lyon]

With all of the new escrow services (e.g., EscrowHill.com and Agreed.com), it can sometimes be difficult to choose one. It would be interesting to hear how you go about choosing an escrow service for your domain sales. With that said, below are a few questions:

• What do you think about the new escrow services that have emerged?
• Which escrow services have you used and what was your experience with them?
• Would you be comfortable using an escrow service that you've never tried before?
• What do you look for when selecting an escrow service?

Looking forward to reading your feedback.

 

[AEProgram]

Take NJ auctions - you win, you own the name.. only you don't. Try selling one of them and see what happens.

what happens? I won some names there but never tried selling

 

[DU]

what happens? I won some names there but never tried selling

Don't worry you can sell them

The old owner has a number of days where they may renew (depending on where the name is). The domain is not yours until some time after the auction ends. This does make me wonder about various agreements and what I said earlier...

 

[lennco]

I personally believe that a Seller should NEVER have to directly hand over their domains (property) over to the buyer!
This is what an Escrow company is for!
They need to take control of the money as well as the property!

I also believe that the 60 day hold should be the buyers problem! Not the sellers problem.
And for the matter it shouldn't be a problem for the buyer at all.

So what if they have to let the domain sit in a registrar that they may not like for 60 days?
Big F'n deal!
They still have ownership of that domain and they can still control the domain DNS settings so they can still create a website or redirect it.
Once the 60 days are up they can transfer it if they want to.

We the sellers should never have to either hand over the domain directly to the seller or have to wait out the 60 days in order to complete the transfer.

When I buy a domain from a drop service like Namejet or Snapnames or Pheenix I have no say who the registrar will be or if I have to also wait 60 days.
If I want that domain that is just something I have to deal with.
And so should every other buyer!

Escrow companies need to grow some balls and take control of all domains regardless of sale price, 60 days holds or registrars .

 

[Atomic Domains]

I personally believe that a Seller should NEVER have to directly hand over their domains (property) over to the buyer!
This is what an Escrow company is for!
They need to take control of the money as well as the property!

I also believe that the 60 day hold should be the buyers problem! Not the sellers problem.
And for the matter it shouldn't be a problem for the buyer at all.

So what if they have to let the domain sit in a registrar that they may not like for 60 days?
Big F'n deal!
They still have ownership of that domain and they can still control the domain DNS settings so they can still create a website or redirect it.
Once the 60 days are up they can transfer it if they want to.

We the sellers should never have to either hand over the domain directly to the seller or have to wait out the 60 days in order to complete the transfer.

When I buy a domain from a drop service like Namejet or Snapnames or Pheenix I have no say who the registrar will be or if I have to also wait 60 days.
If I want that domain that is just something I have to deal with.
And so should every other buyer!

Escrow companies need to grow some balls and take control of all domains regardless of sale price, 60 days holds or registrars .

So many things can go wrong with your theory...

I sold a name on Sedo, and they held the payment for 34 days because the buyer would not accept the push.

If it ain't broke, don't fix it....

Any complaints on Escrow.com or the others? Because, I can find 0, none, related to the transfer of domain names....

Complaints on Sedo Escrow(Which takes control of the domain)? I can find MANY!

 

[Joseph Green]

I thought these comments were interesting (from chat this morning):

 

[xrvel]

I used to use moniker escrow. Since the "new" moniker, i won't use it anymore.
I used sedo few times too, and they were good and smooth.

I tried to use escrow.com, but they didn't accept my country.
I haven't used ecop, because i already knew moniker & sedo.

"Would you be comfortable using an escrow service that you've never tried before"
Because i've tried other escrow service that i feel comfortable with (which is sedo in my case), i need a good reason to use other escrow service (especially a new escrow service).

"What do you look for when selecting an escrow service"
(from the most important to the least important for me)

1. Security.
2. Fast transaction processing.
3. Good support staff.
4. Easy to use interface.
5. Transaction fee.

 

[discobull]

Other (explain in a post) ==> It's first time I see this website (agreed.com) well i can't judge. I dislike escrow.com because if a seller cancel a transaction we must pay all fees (it was my case !) I prefer Ecop.com (As indicate "No risk, 100% refund if the transaction is cancelled.!").

I always set up my escrow transactions so that the buyer is responsible for 100% of the escrow fee. It rarely happens that a buyer will object to the additional expense, but even if s/he does, I just lower the price so that the total --including the escrow fee -- equals the agreed upon price. I then list the buyer as being responsible for the fee. For example, if I were selling a domain for $2000 and the buyer wasn't willing to cover the fee, I would create a transaction with the domain priced at $1,881.47 instead of $2000. I would then make the buyer responsible for the $118.53 escrow fee. The total cost to the buyer is still $2000, however if s/he backs out of the deal ( never happened yet ), s/he is responsible for the fee, not me.

 

[Name Trader]

I agree with The New Guy and lennco. Once the escrow service has received the funds and the domain, there should be no reason on earth why the funds shouldn't be remitted to the seller. Any transfer of the domain to the buyer, is up to the buyer to decide if they want the domain immediately (push) rather than any delay which might be caused by a transfer (which has nothing at all to do with the seller). Escrow.com could not do this, because they never receive the domain.

 

[Brandon Abbey]

Escrow.com has taken control of the domain when requested by both parties on some high value transactions. We also do this when the seller agrees to finance the sale. The name stays in our account until the financial terms of the transaction have been met. Only then is the name transferred to the buyer. Just a quick sales pitch - We are an independent licensed, bonded, insured and government regulated escrow company compliant with Escrow Law and the money transmission laws of the United States. We strongly suggest you look for the same legal compliance when choosing an escrow company.

 

[Name Trader]

Yeah. We like all the other things you are telling us It's just the risk of you not taking control of the domain for all transactions we have our misgivings about

 

[lennco]

Yeah. We like all the other things you are telling us It's just the risk of you not taking control of the domain for all transactions we have our misgivings about

100% Agree

 

[DU]

Just a quick sales pitch - We are an independent licensed, bonded, insured and government regulated escrow company compliant with Escrow Law and the money transmission laws of the United States. We strongly suggest you look for the same legal compliance when choosing an escrow company.

I'm sure that Flippa's new service is bound to be also.....not.

 

[discobull]

Yeah. We like all the other things you are telling us It's just the risk of you not taking control of the domain for all transactions we have our misgivings about

Agreed. I hate the fact that despite paying an escrow fee, only the buyer gets fully protected. Anyhow, I know how a buyer could potentially rip off a domain seller by using escrow, but does anyone know of any cases where that has actually happened?

 

[Sarfraz S.]

Minimum Escrow fee should be lowered.
$10 - Below $100
$20 - $100 - $200

I'm searching Best escrow service for lowered price domains (below $100).
No one is happy to pay $25 escrow fee for $100 sale. IMO.

I think DaaZ supports domain sales below $100 as well. Pls check with their support team

 

[Escrow.com Support]

... Escrow.com could not do this, because they never receive the domain.

Escrow.com currently has the Concierge service for domain transfers (without content) which adds convenience and protection to both Buyer and Seller. The Seller only needs to transfer the domain to one of Escrow.com's secured registrar accounts and then once we are holding the domain, we can release the funds, while we take care of transferring this domain to the Buyer's registrar account. For more details, feel free to PM us or send an email to [email protected] and we'll be happy to help.

Cheers,
Escrow.com Team