There are a lot of domains and businesses being bought and sold in the industry right now, arguably more than ever before.  For big ticket transactions it’s always wise to use a reliable third party escrow service as a means of protecting both the buyer and seller.

Over the years I’ve noticed that escrow services, both within the industry and mainstream, charge a hefty fee for brokering these transactions.  I have not done an in depth study on this, but it seems that 10 percent is a common fee.  I must assume if an attorney is paid to manage the escrow his or her fee will be as much, if not greater.  And if that attorney also represents one of the parties there is a clear conflict of interest.

The other day I was chatting with on old friend that’s been in the adult business as long as yours truly.  He was telling me about the very lucrative sale of a domain he owns to an Israel based company.  My first question was had he employed a third party escrow service.  He said, “yes, Escrow.com.”  I had not heard of them and asked what their fee was for brokering the transaction.  He told me they are charging him less than one percent.  Well, I about fell out of my chair when I heard that.

He went on to say that he’s used them several times over the years and is very happy with the service.  One of the things he likes about them is they have a process that keeps things moving forward, so the sale can not get bogged down by one or both parties dragging their heels.

I visited the Escrow.com web site and looked at their fee calculation page.  Sure enough, their service fee is as low as 0.89 percent.  Transactions less than 25k are charged a higher percentage, but it still comes in way below 10 percent.

I am not in a position to recommend Escrow.com, as I’ve never used their services.  Even so, I think they are worth investigating as an alternative to the more expensive options out there.