Escrow.com vs. SafeFunds.com: Which Is Better?

[tvanslooten]

Hey guys! It's been a while since I've been around here. I need to clear my calendar once a week and make a point to get here more often

At any rate, I know a lot of experienced website flippers and those "in the know" (i.e. Clinton) aren't huge fans of Escrow.com as an escrow service for website transactions but have any of you heard of SafeFunds.com? I've used them in the past on a $10k+ website sale and the experience was awesome. They are much cheaper than Escrow.com and their customer support is amazing. If you send them an email, they get back to you within hours. Conversely, I have sent Escrow.com emails in the past and they either don't reply or it takes them days to respond.

My only concern with SafeFunds.com is that I don't know if they provide coverage beyond just the domain. I sent them an email about this and they essentially said the buyer and seller in a transaction define the terms of the escrow so anything can be covered.

I'm just wondering between these two services, which one would be best for website flippers? I'm only comparing these two since they are the only two I have ever used and am comfortable with.

Travis

[Clinton]

Hi Travis, nice to see you again.

Actually, I've always found escrow.com customer service very good. They've replied to my emails quickly, answer my phone calls quickly, I know several of their customer service staff by name. But you're right in that I keep on about the fact that they don't escrow websites.

I've had a quick look at safefunds.com

The Services defined on this web site are available only in the United States and other countries where permitted by law. Services may not be available in all geographic areas.... You agree that all business activity conducted by Safefunds.com is transacted in the State of Indiana, United States of America.

So it looks like the states that are tougher on escrow regulation haven't approved safefunds.com. Based just on the fact that they are US based I would recommend that non-US customers don't use them.

I haven't tried running a transaction through them so don't know if they offer the main thing that escrow.com doesn't offer: a facility to escrow websites.

[tvanslooten]

Thanks for taking a closer look at their terms. I didn't notice the first (and only) time I used them that they were primarily for US residents. Ironically, the buyer in the transaction was in Canada and highly recommended them. He used them all the time so I figured I would give them a shot. My experience with them was just as smooth and flawless as Escrow.com. As for escrowing websites, we just defined specifically what was included in the sale and what the deliverables would be. After the buyer had everything, he just confirmed "final delivery" of everything and then the funds were released. Is that process any different than Escrow.com?

Travis