Escrow readiness

Agreed in writing before the transaction is opened

1. The exact domain name, in full and in lower case, spelled the same way in the agreement, the invoice and the escrow transaction.
2. The price and currency, and whether tax is included or added on top.
3. Who opens the transaction, buyer or seller, so both sides are not creating one.
4. How the cost is divided. The default in domain deals is usually a split, but the default is not a rule, and settling it afterwards is what stalls transfers.
5. The handover mechanism. Push, inter-registrar transfer with a code, token or registrar tag change.
6. The inspection period. How many days the buyer has to confirm the name arrived before funds release. Set it against real registry timing.
7. What happens if the transfer fails. A cure period, then return of funds.

What the buyer needs ready

1. A verified account at the escrow provider, opened by typing the address by hand rather than following a link from a message.
2. Identity documents in the right format. A passport or identity card, and for a company the registration extract and details of the beneficial owner. Scans that are cropped, blurred or expired are the most common cause of a rejected verification.
3. The paying account in the buyer name. Escrow providers reject third party funding, and a payment from an unrelated name will be returned rather than applied.
4. An open account at the gaining registrar, verified, with a working contact email, ready to receive the name.
5. The full amount available now, including any tax and the share of the escrow cost being paid.
6. Time to act inside the inspection period. A transaction that auto releases while the buyer is away removes the protection that was paid for.

What the seller needs ready

1. Access to the registrar account with the password working and two factor authentication in hand.
2. The registrar lock already removed where a transfer is the mechanism.
3. Confirmation that no waiting period applies, or a disclosed end date if one does. The periods are set out in registrar locks and waiting periods.
4. A code that can be generated on the day. Do not request one early: DENIC expires an AuthInfo after thirty days and DNS Belgium a transfer code after seven.
5. Identity documents and, for a company, a registration extract, verified before the buyer funds rather than after.
6. A receiving account in the seller name, at a bank that can accept the currency, with the details confirmed inside the escrow platform rather than by email.
7. An invoice prepared, with the tax treatment matching the buyer type and country.

Details that stall transactions

• A domain typed with a different extension in the escrow transaction than in the agreement.
• A company name in the escrow account that does not match the company on the invoice.
• A bank account in a country neither party mentioned, which triggers additional screening.
• Currency mismatch, where the payer sends in one currency and the transaction is denominated in another.
• A seller who starts verification only after the buyer has funded, adding days at the point where the buyer is most exposed.
• An inspection period so short that a normal registry response window cannot fit inside it.

The sequence once both sides are ready

1. One party opens the transaction and the other accepts the terms as written.
2. The buyer funds. The escrow provider confirms receipt in the platform, which is the only confirmation that counts.
3. The seller starts the handover and records the date and time.
4. The buyer confirms the name is in the receiving account and verifies it with an independent lookup.
5. The buyer accepts inside the inspection period, and funds are released to the seller.

Fund first, transfer second, release third. Any deal that proposes a different order is not an escrow arrangement, whatever it is called.

The mechanics behind each step are described in how escrow works, and the day by day view of a normal handover is in the handover timeline.