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Escrow.com: Domain sales jumped in Q1

by — Domain Sales 0 Comments

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

by — Podcasts 2 Comments

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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Subscribe via iTunes to listen to the Domain Name Wire podcast on your iPhone or iPad, view on Google Play Music, or click play above or download to begin listening. (Listen to previous podcasts here.)

Escrow.com releases two reports with great domain name sales data

by — Domain Sales 2 Comments

Reports show domains as an investment and the latest trends.

Escrow.com (ASX:FLN) released two reports this morning with data on the domain name market.

The first is a comparison between domain name returns and returns of other asset types such as stocks, real estate and bitcoin. It calculates returns based on domain types, such as two number, three letter, etc. It shows that overall returns aren’t spectacular but that the asset class is more stable than some others. One dataset I’d love to see is a rate of return of domains that have been transacted more than once on Escrow.com.

The second report is the company’s inaugural Domain Investment Index giving data for Q4 2018. Here’s a high-level look:

Chart showing total domain transactions at Escrow.com for past six quarters

Total domain transaction volume on Escrow.com

As you can see, transaction amounts have slipped for a couple of quarters but were up in Q4 2018 compared to Q4 2017.

The report also breaks down median prices of domains by length over time. There’s also a chart showing dollar volume by country.

You can review both reports here (pdf).

Escrow.com adds regulatory compliance officer

by — Services 3 Comments

Fereba Ashufta

Escrow company popular in the domain industry hires compliance officer from HSBC.

Escrow.com has hired a compliance offer to handle its Anti Money Laundering Compliance Program and other regulatory issues.

Fereba Ashufta joins Escrow.com from HSBC, where she was a Regional Regulatory Compliance Officer.

Escrow.com is a popular escrow service for many types of transactions but much of its business is with domain names. It has amped up its know your customer (KYC) processes in recent years, requiring both buyers and sellers to provide proof of identification.

The company says Ashufta will be in charge of its Anti Money Laundering Compliance Program as well as the company’s regulatory relationships and obligations.

“As a market-leading escrow service provider across the United States and further afield, regulatory oversight plays an essential role in our business and the assurance we continue to offer to our customers and marketplace partners,” said Jackson Elsegood, General Manager of Escrow.com

Austin.com appears to have sold

by — Domain Sales 1 Comment

Domain name is in escrow at Escrow.com.

Austin.com is in escrow at Escrow.com.

The Austin.com domain name appears to have sold and might be on a payment plan.

iEstates, LLC purchased the domain name in 2012 but put it up for sale earlier this year. An October 4 DomainTools Whois record shows the domain was in escrow at Escrow.com. The domain was transferred from Moniker to GoDaddy at that time.

The Whois record still shows Escrow.com, suggesting that the domain name is on a payment plan or other sort of arrangement that will require Escrow.com to hold the domain in escrow.

iEstates declined to comment.

I searched the site for clues about who might now own the site but the terms of service and management information haven’t changed since before October. New content continues to be published.