Afternic Domain Name Escrow Services

Without escrow service, one party has to trust the other party completely. Either the buyer has to send the payment to the seller and trust the seller to transfer the domain, or the seller has to transfer the domain and trust the buyer to send the payment.

Either party may order Afternic Escrow Services. Both buyer and seller must be members of Afternic (our free Standard membership is OK). To place your order, you only need to know the other party's member username or member email address, and the terms of your transaction. The escrow fee is 3% of the total price paid by the buyer, and is deducted from the proceeds before disbursing funds to the seller. The minimum fee is $60.

Afternic's DNescrow™ service guarantees the transaction for both parties. The buyer will receive the domain and the seller will receive the payment.

If the transaction does not complete for any reason, the buyer will receive a full refund
and the seller will keep the domain

Afternic backs this guarantee in several ways. First, they have documented their guarantee in their Membership Agreement. Second, they follow a rigorous escrow process. Every escrow payment is deposited into a special account, for example. Third, they maintain membership in the Better Business Bureau and the BBB Online Reliability Program (click the seal on their home page) to substantiate their commitment to customer satisfaction.

There are eight steps to the Afternic Escrow process:

1.      Seller selects the disbursement method and confirms the sale agreement.

2.      Buyer selects the payment method, confirms the purchase agreement, and sends the payment to Afternic.

3.      Buyer submits the new registration information for the domain. (This information is hidden from the seller until the payment is approved.)

4.      The exchange receives the payment.

5.      The exchange approves the payment and authorizes the domain name transfer. This step is completed immediately after step 3 for guaranteed payments (money orders, cashier checks, and wire transfers). Otherwise, it is completed after the payment clears.

6.      Seller transfers the ownership of the domain to the buyer at the current registrar. The seller pays any registrant transfer fees directly to the registrar.

7.      Buyer changes the password on the account at the registrar and confirms to the exchange that the transfer is complete.

8.      The exchange sends the net proceeds to the seller.

They currently offer the following methods for buyers to pay for a domain name: Any kind of check (business, personal, US, non-US), money order, or wire transfer (US or non-US).

Wire transfers, cashier checks, and money orders do not require a holding period; the seller will be authorized to transfer the domain as soon as we receive the payment. On the other hand, Checks and eChecks must clear before they authorize the transfer.

Although they do accept credit cards for membership fees and other services, they cannot accept credit cards for domain name purchases. (Credit card payments can be reversed by the payer long after the exchange has disbursed funds to the seller. Because their service guarantees payments to sellers, they cannot accept payments by credit card.)