Every meaningful domain transaction goes through escrow. If you’ve never used it, here’s what actually happens.
Why escrow exists
Domains are intangible. There’s no truck delivering them, no warehouse to inspect. Without escrow, one party always takes risk: the buyer wires money first (and the seller could vanish), or the seller transfers first (and the buyer could vanish).
Escrow inverts that. The buyer pays into the escrow’s account; the seller transfers the domain; the buyer verifies receipt; only then are funds released.
The standard timeline
Day 0 — Agreement. Buyer accepts the seller’s price (or the seller accepts the buyer’s offer). The marketplace mints an escrow.com checkout link with the agreed amount + fee split.
Day 0-5 — Buyer payment. The buyer logs in to escrow, picks a payment method, and funds the transaction. Credit card clears in minutes; wire transfer takes 1-3 business days; PayPal varies.
Day 1-7 — Domain transfer. With funds confirmed, escrow notifies the seller to begin the transfer. A push transfer between accounts at the same registrar takes minutes; an inter-registrar transfer takes 5-7 days because of ICANN’s mandatory wait.
Day +1 — Buyer inspection. Once the domain shows up in the buyer’s registrar account, escrow notifies the buyer to verify. Default inspection windows are typically 1-3 business days. The buyer either accepts or disputes.
Same day — Funds release. If accepted (or if the inspection window passes silently), escrow releases funds to the seller minus fees.
What it costs
Escrow charges a percentage that scales down with transaction size. As a rough guide for 2026:
- $1-$5K: ~3.25%
- $5K-$25K: ~0.89%
- $25K+: bands continue down
The marketplace itself adds a separate commission. Both are deducted from the buyer’s payment before the seller’s net hits their bank — you’ll see the full split on the offer breakdown before you click pay.
The four ways escrow goes wrong
Buyer doesn’t fund. Common in auctions when the winner regrets the bid. Seller waits a few days, escrow times out, the listing reopens. Some marketplaces (including Deepnom) issue strikes against repeat non-paying bidders.
Seller doesn’t transfer. Buyer disputes inside the delivery window; escrow refunds in full. The seller’s marketplace reputation takes a hit.
Buyer doesn’t accept. The buyer goes silent after delivery. Inspection window expires; escrow auto-releases to the seller.
Genuine dispute. Rare, but happens — usually around exactly what was being sold (a domain plus a website? plus social handles?). Escrow has a documented dispute process with concierge involvement.
A few practical tips
- Use the same email at the marketplace and at escrow.com. Mismatch causes verification delays.
- Wire is cheapest for transactions over ~$5K. Credit card is fastest under that.
- Don’t accept off-escrow payment instructions in chat even if the seller swears it’s fine. That’s how escrow-bypass scams work.
- Keep your registrar logins ready before the seller initiates the transfer — being unable to find the EPP submission form mid-handoff is the most common avoidable delay.