A good domain name is often already registered, and the only way to get it is to make a deal with the owner. The problem is that buyer and seller are strangers. If the buyer pays first, the seller can vanish; if the seller hands over the domain first, they may never get paid. Escrow removes that trust gap: the money sits with a neutral third party and is released to the seller only after the domain has demonstrably moved to the buyer.
The stages of an escrow deal
The logic is simple: neither side gives up its part until the other side has delivered. Buyer and seller agree on the price, the deadline and how the domain will be handed over, and these terms are recorded with the escrow service. The buyer then funds the escrow, and the service confirms receipt to both parties. The seller transfers the domain, the buyer inspects and approves it, and only then does escrow pay the seller.
- Agree on terms: price, who pays the fee, transfer deadline.
- The buyer funds the escrow and the service confirms it.
- The seller moves the domain to the buyer's account or registrar.
- The buyer verifies control and updated ownership details.
- Escrow releases the funds and the deal closes.
Each stage should have a clear deadline. If the terms say the money returns to the buyer when the domain is not transferred within five business days, the deal cannot drag on, and in a dispute both sides can show exactly what was agreed.
Common domain sale scams
The most dangerous one is a fake escrow site. The scammer poses as the seller and suggests a "trusted intermediary" that they built themselves. It looks professional, but the money goes straight to the fraudster. The buyer should always choose the escrow service, find its address independently through a search engine and never trust a link sent by the other party. Avoid services with no reviews or a recently registered domain.
The second scam is clawing the domain back: the seller transfers it, takes the money and then tells their old registrar the account was hacked. If ownership was never formally changed, such claims sometimes succeed. The third is a payment reversal, where the buyer pays by card, receives the domain and then disputes the charge. Escrow covers both cases because funds are released only after verification and the payment is recorded by the service.
Making sure ownership really changed
Access to a control panel is not ownership. Some sellers simply share their account login, while the domain stays registered in their name and can be recovered with a password reset at any time. The domain should move into the buyer's own account, with the registrant name or organisation updated to the buyer's details.
International domains such as .com are usually moved between registrars with an authorisation code: the seller unlocks the domain and provides the code, and the buyer starts the transfer. Many registrars apply a temporary transfer restriction after a fresh registration or an owner change, so plan for it. For .uz domains, ownership details are changed according to the registrar's procedure with the required documents, so allow extra time.
When the transfer completes, check that the domain appears in your account, the owner details are yours, you can change the nameservers and the old owner's contacts are gone from WHOIS. Only then confirm the deal.
Example: a domain for a Tashkent online shop
A small appliance shop in Tashkent wants a short name like texnomarket.uz, but it is taken. The owner agrees on a price over Telegram and asks to be paid by card first. The buyer refuses, proposes escrow and picks the service himself. The terms state that the fee is split, and the domain must be moved to the buyer within seven days or the money is refunded. Once funds are deposited, the seller transfers the domain. The buyer sees it in his sayt.uz cabinet, points the nameservers to his hosting, confirms the owner is his company and approves the deal.
Check the domain itself before paying
Escrow protects money, not judgement. Look at the expiry date, the history and the legal position of the name before paying. A domain that expires in a few days must be renewed immediately; a name identical to a known brand may attract a complaint later; and a domain previously used for spam can carry a poor reputation in search engines.
- Check the owner and expiry date in WHOIS.
- Review archived copies to see what the site used to be.
- Make sure the name does not clash with a trademark.
- Keep every agreement in writing.
For small sums escrow can feel excessive, but the rule is simple: if losing the amount would hurt, the fee is worth it. Scammers love deals rushed with "it's a small amount, let's be quick".