In early 2016, Escrow.com launched their Domain Concierge service, but I had never used it until recently, when the seller of a domain I was trying to acquire specifically requested it.
The seller was not a domainer, and was not familiar with or comfortable with the domain sales / transfer process. As they were reading through the Escrow.com site, they latched onto the Domain Concierge service, which made them more comfortable about the security of the transaction.
With the service, the primary difference from a typical Escrow.com transaction is that Escrow.com takes hold of the domain in their account, as compared to a seller transferring a domain directly to the buyer.
With Escrow.com taking control of the domain, this eliminates the uncertainty about whether or not the buyer of a domain actually received it, versus some concerns about a buyer or seller playing games with WHOIS information. This in turn eliminates the requirement for the inspection period.
Ultimately, the service made the seller of the domain comfortable moving forward in the transaction, so the additional cost of a couple hundred dollars was well worth it to get the seller over the final hurdle, and get the domain in my account.
Because of the additional cost, it’s not a service I want to use with the majority of my transactions, but it’s definitely a service to keep in your toolkit when negotiating to buy or sell a domain.
I’ve used Domain Concierge in the past, and from a seller’s perspective it eliminates the question about whether the payment was sent or not. Either Escrow.com received the payment by the date specified or they buyer is in default and must cure it. I liked that because the buyer of my domain name was in another country.
Congrats on your buy. I look forward to hearing more about it at DNSeattle! 🙂
See you at DNSeattle….I’m committed to staying away from the bad influences after midnight this year….I won’t name names!
What about the Icann 60 day hold regarding whois change?
The use of a push was one of the best features with Afternic and Sedo.
Now, they no longer offer this feature.
Which makes the transaction drag on for an additional 7 days.
Good question, and I admit I don’t know all the details behind the transfer rules/regs. All I know is that the domain successfully made it over to my account the same day Escrow.com received my payment. 🙂