cctld Canadian Escrow options

[onlinestoreca]

I am purchasing a domain for around $7500. I am from N.B. and the seller is from Mississauga. Escrow.com is going to cost me around $650 after wire fees, cdn to us to cdn dollar exchanges and then their fees. It will be cheaper and quicker for me to fly to Toronto and bring a cheque in person. The seller is also not comfortable using a US escrow service and I don't want that to kill the deal. They are not a domain seller, they just have the one that I wanted.

Any ideas? I am looking into Paypal or maybe a Mississauga lawyer?

 

[theinvestor]

I would advise against using paypal.

Contact MYID. Canadian registrar that will do escrow.

 

[Ricks]

I saw that DomainEscrow.ca offers a Canadian domain name escrow service....., although I have not personally used their service, so can't make a recommendation one way or the other.

Cheers,
Jim

 

[A D]

Use escrow.com and split the fees or have him wire the money before you transfer the domain.

Do NOT use Paypal for this.

-=DCG=-

 

[A D]

Update: Escrow.com fees are $169 on $7500.

Use escrow.com and split the fees, it is worth it for $84.50 each.

https://www.escrow.com/support/calculator.asp

-=DCG=-

 

[JonathanR]

I have used escrow.com and it worked great, and pricing was fair. Only annoyance was having to fill out and fax (scan/email) them a form.

 

[theinvestor]

I think the issue with the OP is that the seller is not willing to use escrow.com.

If escrow.com is an option for your seller i would definitely just use it.

 

[DropWizard.com]

Escrow.com is fine for canadian transactions and the fees aren't anywhere near what you're saying. The only downside I've found is the US wiring system can't seem to handle all the information that a credit union wire transfer requires and we've had to get the funds back via cheque. Other than that it is fast and reasonable. You could have a Lawyer or a Notary do it but the cost would be in the hundreds of dollars.

If you're dealing with one of the major banks you're fine for a transaction.

 

[onlinestoreca]

Update: Escrow.com fees are $169 on $7500.

Use escrow.com and split the fees, it is worth it for $84.50 each.

https://www.escrow.com/support/calculator.asp

-=DCG=-

I have no problem with the $169, but there other fees and together they start to add up. The wire transfer fees are not insignificant and the cost of changing money from Cdn to US and back to Cdn, this exchange alone could be around $300 if the bank takes 2% each time. Perhaps I am a bit high with the numbers, but the seller doesn't want to deal with a U.S. company anyway.

I appreciate the advice about Paypal, I will definitely not be using them, thanks for that Adam and theinvestor.

I am hoping the seller will accept using MyID.ca, I know their customer service has been very good for me.

One problem is that it feels like so many steps and forms and faxing, but as JonathonR mentioned it appears to be like that for any escrow.

 

[Ilze]

Escrow.com will send you a check if that is an option for you.

 

[onlinestoreca]

Return flight Toronto/Moncton $387 (on sale until midnight), all taxes and fees included.
Seller meeting me at airport.
Time involved including meeting, transaction and flying - 6 hours.

Ease of transfer and peace of mind - Priceless...

 

[A D]

Return flight Toronto/Moncton $387 (on sale until midnight), all taxes and fees included.
Seller meeting me at airport.
Time involved including meeting, transaction and flying - 6 hours.

Ease of transfer and peace of mind - Priceless...

Sorry that seems crazy, you can't fly everytime you do a business transaction.

Your assuming you will have no flaws in person, maybe you will have an issue, then all that travel, money and time is wasted.

I have had transactions in mid to upper 6 figures and escrow.com was always fine.

To be honest, I would be suspicious of a person that needed to fly 6 hours for $7,500.

-=DCG=-

 

[msn]

Return flight Toronto/Moncton $387 (on sale until midnight), all taxes and fees included.
Seller meeting me at airport.
Time involved including meeting, transaction and flying - 6 hours.

Ease of transfer and peace of mind - Priceless...

Cool! I would do the same in a similar situation, with all respect to DCG. Let me know how it works out for you.

 

[theinvestor]

I hope you are taking cash because i would not be taking a check and transferring a domain to you on the spot.

 

[CamMK27]

Actually OP is buying the domain not selling. So I guess for him this method works out the best.. And he gets to travel, stay and have fun for a night or so if he choses to!

 

[theinvestor]

Yes Exactly... so i would not be accepting a check. If you are going to take the time to fly out to the seller then you better bring cash.

What fool would accept a check?

 

[msn]

What fool would accept a check?

This fool would: we accept certified cheques, bank drafts and money orders.

 

[onlinestoreca]

The guy works for a bank, I will be giving him a certified cheque so he has no worries. We have exchanged and confirmed addresses and phone numbers and researched that we are both established business people.

I won't lose any work time because I will be working on my laptop. No difference for me on a plane or in an office, except I can't have a drink served to me in an office.

I have used Escrow.com many times but the transactions were only for a few thousand each time. Everything went well. I am babying this transaction because I obviously really want this name and the seller is not a domainer.

I would not normally do this, but I definitely don't have any problems with it.

 

[Beaker]

For guys like that, it can sometimes help to create a simple (i.e. less than one page, maybe even just a paragraph or two) contract outlining the terms of the sale and payment. A lot of people are far more likely to put more trust in the enforceability of a written contract than they do in the guaranteed money from escrow.com... it's the lack of familiarity that's the perceived risk for them. With a contract in hand, you may be comfortable enough to do a 50% now and 50% later type deal. Or, sometimes (and this has happened to me a couple of times) they're comfortable doing the domain transfer first and then getting the wire/cheque etc afterwards - if you're willing to provide references on previous deals they might go for this option. In any case I've never been burned on the 50/50 option... at least not yet anyway.

I'd definitely try out the contract option if you can. Going out there in person seems like a huge waste of time and money to me, not to mention more than a little odd. If that's their expectation then the transaction smells a little funny to me.

 

[DropWizard.com]

If I could verify that he worked at a bank I'd just wire him the money direct and count on him to make the transfer. As an x-banker myself I know bankers won't take any bad publicity
that looks like fraud, his bank would be on him in a flash if he accepted $$$$ & failed to transfer the domain.

i wouldn't even worry about it.