A comparison of popular domain name escrow options.
The domain name escrow landscape has changed in recent years. Escrow.com is under new ownership, Payoneer has added a service and some escrow services have closed.
With this in mind, I spent some time comparing the services based on features, payment options and fees.
I limited my analysis to Escrow.com, Payoneer and Escrow.domains (the latter being a legal service of Greenberg & Lieberman). You might consider other services for secure domain transactions including those offered by Sedo and Afternic.
Each escrow service has different fees both for the overall transaction and the methods of payment. Here’s a comparison:
Escrow.com | Payoneer | Escrow.domains | |
---|---|---|---|
Payments accepted: | |||
Wire | Yes - free | Yes - free | Yes - $20 |
ACH or equivalent | No | Yes - free | Yes - $5 |
Credit Card | Yes - 3.05% fee | Yes - 3.00% fee | Yes - 3.5% + $.20 |
PayPal | Yes - 3.05% fee | No | Yes - 3.00%+$.30 (U.S.), 4.70% (non-U.S.) |
Check/Money Order | Yes - free | No | Yes - $5 |
Bitcoin | No | No | Yes - $5 |
Payment restrictions | $5,000 limit on credit/PayPal. Credit only accepted if one party has completed an Escrow.com transaction before. $2,000 limit on check/money order | $2,000 limit on credit cards. | Some payment options will be added shortly. |
Disbursement options: | |||
Domestic Wire | Yes - $10 | Yes - $15 | Yes - $20 |
International Wire | Yes - $20 | Yes - $15 | Yes - $40 |
ACH/Equivalent | Yes - free | Yes - free | Yes - $5 |
PayPal | No | No | Yes - PP fees |
Check | No | No | Yes - $10 |
Bitcoin | No | No | $100 + network fee |
Other: | |||
Cancellation fees | Buyer pays fees if cancellation after payment made | No cancellation fees | No cancellation fees |
Currencies | USD, EUR | USD (EUR and GBP soon) | USD, BTC |
Other features | Broker transactions, domain leasing/holding | Broker transactions, domain leasing/holding. Payments can be made to Payoneer accounts. SEPA in EU and BACS in UK for disbursements. | Broker transactions, legal assistance options |
Many people will look at just the bottom line cost of using an escrow service. But there’s a lot more to it than that, and I hope the above table sheds some light on this. You should also consider licensing, which can vary from location to location, as well as service and ease-of-use.
But money matters, so I put together a chart comparing how much it costs to do a transaction at various dollar levels at each service. Other than the first line, which assumes a credit card is used for payment, each one assumes the cheapest option is selected for depositing funds and withdrawing funds and both parties are in the U.S. I added $5 to each one for Escrow.domains because that is its cheapest option (ACH), but it also offers a free wallet service to hold onto your funds for future transactions.
Transaction amount | Escrow.com | Payoneer | Escrow.domains |
---|---|---|---|
$1,500 CC | 94.5 | 67.5 | 106.45 |
1500 | 48.75 | 22.5 | 53.75 |
5000 | 162.5 | 75 | 167.5 |
10000 | 175.5 | 125 | 180.5 |
50000 | 445 | 525 | 450 |
100000 | 890 | 900 | 895 |
JohnUK says
Thanks very useful. What I would like to see is Escrow.com offering payment in £ Sterling as it makes things so much easier (for me , lol ) as I then don’t need to gamble on exchange rates and end up losing.
Mark Thorpe says
Great breakdown!
Mansour says
For those how sell domains to Chinese buyers DN.com and 4.cn are superior escrow to use, and the cost is much less.
Brandon Abbey says
Just wanted everyone to know Payoneer also has a domain holding offering and offers broker transactions. Key differentiation is our fee for a holding transaction is prorated over the term of the agreement, not due upfront. With broker transactions you can add multiple brokers, each with different payouts.
Andrew Allemann says
Thanks, Brandon. I added this to the table.
DNPric.es says
Epik, eCop, Sedo offer decent escrows as well.
Andrew Allemann says
I went to eCop the other day and it is only being used in conjunction with sales on cax.com now.
I haven’t looked into Epik’s service before.
Sedo has partnered with escrow.domains for a traditional service in which the domain isn’t held during escrow. Sedo has a good service in which it handles the transfer. It’s 3% plus payment fees depending on payment method. I didn’t include it because then I’d need to compare it to the similar (and more expensive) services offered by some escrow services.
Colin Jones says
Transpact.com handles many domain escrow transaction daily and is generally much lower priced than the services above. It has an automated secure interface and low efficient pricing.
So this comparison of major escrow services between Escrow.com, Payoneer and Escrow.domains may be a little incomplete, and may be a little bit misleading due to Transpact.com’s absence.
Josh says
Nice break down Andrew, thank you.
Bill Sweetman says
Thanks for compiling this Andrew. Some of the additional criteria I recommend people consider when choosing a domain escrow service are:
1. Does the service need to “validate” its users and if so how efficient and fast is this process? Some services use smart technology for this, others require users to scan and upload confidential documents.
2. Is the service actually a *licensed* escrow provider? The three you’ve featured above are, but most of the others mentioned in the comments are not. Escrow services that are not *licensed* are inherently riskier to use, especially for high-value transactions.
3. What is the level of customer support provided, especially if/when a transaction needs special handling?
We now have some impressive and very legitimate alternatives to Escrow.com, and I encourage people to try out these newer licensed services.
Domainer says
After a couple past experiences, I will not put a novice/end-user through the validation process anymore. It is too easy for the process to kill a deal. End-users are already suspicious/cautious of an internet transaction.
As Bill has mentioned, customer service is the most important value above cost. End-users sometimes needs a little hand holding through the process. Escrow,com use to be famous for that. Not anymore.
*** Also, speed of the transaction is important. Longer it takes, more opportunity for something to go wrong. (even buyer or seller remorse.) Or, for the buyer, a better purchase might surface before the transaction progresses.
Colin Jones says
In response to the comment above, Transpact.com is fully authorised and regulated by the UK’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA – the UK Government’s financial and payment regulator).
Andrew Allemann says
That’s the UK. Are you authorized to perform escrow transactions for people in the U.S.?