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Escrow.com set a record in 2020

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Strong finish to the year helped Escrow.com set a record for gross payment volume. And it wasn’t just from domain names.

Chart showing gross payment volume at Escrow.com through 2020. It hit a record in 2020.

A strong Q4 propelled Escrow.com to record gross payment volume in 2020. The red portion represents transactions involving China.

A strong finish to the year helped Escrow.com set a record for gross payment volume in 2020. The company recorded US $486.1m in gross payment volume last year, up 15.2% year over year.

The company says the last four months of the year were particularly strong. Q4 2020 was 56.2% higher than Q4 2019 with a record US $156.6 million in transactions.

It’s not just domain names that are propelling the escrow service forward. Gross payment volume for motor vehicle transactions was up 285% for the year.

And even in Q2, when domain name volume fell off a cliff, Escrow.com was able to fill most of the hole with transactions for personal protective equipment and IPV4 addresses.

Domain and website transactions totaled US $312 million for the year according to data in the company’s quarterly domain index reports. That makes up 64% of Escrow.com’s total gross payment volume last year.

Escrow.com is part of publicly traded Freelancer.com (ASX: FLN). Its Freelancer division also posted a record last year. Combined, the company handled US $618.5 million gross payment volume in 2020.

 

Escrow.com reports domain aftermarket rebound in Q3

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Domain sales rebound after sluggish Q2.

Chart showing domain name and website transactions at Escrow.com. Q3 sales totaled $77.5 million.

Sales at Escrow.com rebounded in Q3 2020.

The domain name aftermarket rebounded in the third quarter of 2020 after a dismal second quarter.

Escrow.com reports that it handled $77.5 million of domain name and website transactions in Q3 2020, compared to $55.2 million in Q2.

While many companies handle payments for aftermarket domain names, Escrow.com is seen as a bellwether for the market because it handles many private sales. It’s also the only large company that reports aggregate sales data each quarter.

Escrow.com blamed the Q2 drop on the pandemic and businesses holding off on closing deals.

Q3’s number is lower than Q1, but beat Q3 of 2019.

Transactions in the U.S. increased from $42.6 million in Q2 to $58.0 million in Q3.

The median price for domain name transactions in the quarter was $2,750, and the median for websites was $5,000.

Escrow.com’s full Q3 report is available here (pdf).

For Escrow.com, Q2 was a tale of two businesses

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As domains tanked, other products filled the gap.

Graphic showing "domains" with down arrow and "other" with up arrow

The second quarter of 2020 was a dismal one for domain sales at Escrow.com. Volume dropped from $85.8 million in Q1 to just $55.2 million in Q2. That’s the lowest number since 2018. Covid-19 pummeled the domain aftermarket.

Which is why I was initially confused when I reviewed Escrow.com parent company Freelancer’s numbers. It paints a much rosier picture for Escrow.com:

  • Gross Payment Volume of US $101.5 million, down just slightly from Q1
  • Revenue of AU $3.8 million, down just 1%
  • Record Gross Payment Volume in first half (In Australian dollars)

Let’s take the second two items listed in Australian dollars out of it and look at just the Gross Payment Volume. It appears that Escrow.com has done a heck of a job diversifying from domain names, which has typically been its bread and butter.

According to the company’s investor presentation, the drop in domain market activity was partially offset by automotive, IPv4 addresses and personal protective equipment.

While the last category might only be a lift for the short term, it’s encouraging that Escrow.com has been able to find new avenues for growth.

 

Escrow.com: Domain sales jumped in Q1

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Escrow provider reports robust domain name market in 2019.

Online escrow service Escrow.com released its Q1 market report (pdf) today, showing that domain sales were strong to start 2019.

Escrow.com handled $85 million of domain name and website transactions during Q1 2019. This was up both quarter-over-quarter and year-over-year:

Chart shows Escrow.com Q1 2019 sales were higher than Q4 2018 and Q1 2018.

The United States continues to be Escrow.com’s largest source of transactions. It represents over 70% of transactions. Canada was surprisingly the second largest source of transactions during Q1 (when you split China and Hong Kong):

Chart shows that the United States is the largest for Escrow.com, followed by Canada in Q1 2019

In addition to domain names, Escrow.com handled $15.2 million of website sales (domain plus content) in the quarter with a median price of $9,800.

Domain names without content traded at a median price of $2,500, the same as the previous five quarters.

NamesCon Recap Podcast – DNW Podcast #222

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Hear from 16 people who were at NamesCon Global.

dnw-podcastNamesCon Global 2019 is in the books, and this week we’ll catch up with 16 people who attended NamesCon. After discussing some of the week’s news you’ll hear from:

Matt Barie, Freelancer.com
Marcus Glaad, DotKeeper
Margot Bushnaq, BrandBucket
Darpan Munjal, SquadHelp
Page Howe, domain investor
Deanna Camacho, GoDaddy
Stevan Lieberman, Escrow.Domains
Peter Askew (whose latest venture is BirthdayParties.com)
Ray King, Top Level Design
Kate Buckley, Buckley Media
Andrew Rosener, Media Options
Ryan McKegney, DomainAgents
Jeff Sass, Names.club
Burkay Yapağcıoğlu, Hosting Talk
Christa Taylor, MMX
Jim Schrand, Dominion Domains

Enjoy the show!

This week’s sponsor: DNAcademy. Use code DNW to save $50.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 33:05 — 26.5MB) | Embed

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