And it has been smooth sailing.
There is always some trepidation figuring out a new system / process / contract, but it couldn’t have been easier.
Escrow.com’s domain holding escrow is designed to accommodate domain leases or sales with regularly scheduled payments, and they have a stated minimum duration of three months and a maximum of five years.
I had been negotiating the sale of a domain for a few weeks, and my offer to have the buyer spread payments over a couple months was the final piece of the puzzle that allowed the buyer to commit.
In our specific case, we requested only a two month timeframe, and Escrow.com had no problem accommodating it. We agreed to 50% upfront, with 25% 30 days later, and the final 25% 60 days after the initial payment.
As far as the process goes, we agreed to basic deal terms like any other Escrow.com transaction, then reviewed & executed an additional domain holding contract. The buyer sent in their first payment, then I transferred the domain into Escrow.com’s account, and the first payment was then released to me.
There is more hands-on support than a typical domain sale, and they have been very responsive and accessible throughout the process.
The additional Escrow.com cost for this type of transaction is $25 per month, with a $150 minimum, and it’s an insignificant figure if it helps get a bigger deal done, as it did in my case.
All in all, it has been an extremely positive experience. This sale isn’t complete yet, but I have 75% in the bank already, and I couldn’t be happier.
Nice one and thanks for sharing Shane. Was it a 4 or 5 fig sale?
Greater than 4 and less than 9. 🙂
Escrow.com Holding Services make it easy. Agreed, great service.
Thanks a lot for that info Aaron!
I always wondered how domains bought on payment plans were processed and never bothered to look it up as i didn’t have the need to!
Knowing that escrow handles everything, assures me a lot!
Plus i believe these options are definitely very bullish for the high end domains market!
With their domain holding escrow fees, I never understood what they meant by $40/month if they are managing the DNS and $25/month if the Buyer will manage their own DNS. Doesn’t escrow have to manage the DNS and change the nameservers for the buyer so the domain is under Escrow.com’s control?
Nick, good question that I don’t have the answer to. I saw the same language, but it didn’t impact my transaction because we had the $150 minimum charge. In my case, Escrow.com asked the buyer what DNS they would like the domain pointed to, and Escrow.com followed their instructions.
Well now I’m more confused. The minimum holding fee of $150 is a minimum charge, not a maximum charge. So, it should still matter. They require you to choose escrow,com managing the DNS, or buyer managing the DNS when you started the transaction. Do you remember what you chose?
Hi Nick and All,
I manage the Domain Name Holding transactions at Escrow.com and wanted to clarify what the difference between Escrow Managing the DNS and Buyer Managing the DNS is.
In a case where the Buyer will simply want Escrow.com to point the domain name to their nameservers, we consider this the Buyer managing the DNS and will charge a holding fee of $25/month.
If the Buyer would like Escrow.com to point the domain name to GoDaddy’s premium nameservers, so that we can manage the zone file and make any changes that the Buyer requests throughout the Holding Period, we would consider this Escrow.com managing the DNS and would charge a higher holding fee of $40/month.
Our Minimum Holding Fee is $150.00. If the holding fees do not add up to $150.00 we will charge a flat holding fee of $150.00. This would be the case if the holding period is under 6 months for Buyer managing the DNS and under 4 months if Escrow.com is managing the DNS.
I hope this helps explain the two options. If you have any questions about the service, please feel free to contact me at [email protected].
Regards,
Keith
Thanks Keith, your clarification is appreciated.
Thank you very much for your explanation.
Thank you for reporting your experience, these are the info that were needed in the past few years, let say about….15 years? ….
Now that everyone has understood you can not have a market for things valued thousands of dollars without perfect and fluent financing offers and no one can still avoid to offer this option, and in a well integrated and fluent manner, without making other people thinking he doesn’t want to offer it for hidden reasons, now, I was saying, it’s time to understand why Escrow.com doesn’t want to make much more money offering simple translations in other languages of the Agreements, etc., not just because they are absolutely necessary, but because translations bring much more respect and confidence in a negotiation and constitute an huge help to close a deal, when the buyer is not a native English language speaker.
I think translations would help English sellers too…
It is about increasing confidence and showing respect and and a serious and evolved industry, where these deals are common and happen daily (as it is, but non-domainers do not even know domains can be bought in installments).