What happens if a seller doesn't complete the transfer?

What does an incomplete transfer usually mean?

Almost always a stall rather than theft. A registrar has locked the domain for 60 days after a recent change, a two-factor code lives on a phone the seller no longer uses, an account can only be reassigned by the provider's support team and they are taking a week, or the seller has started a new job and stopped answering on weekday afternoons. Deliberate non-delivery does happen, and it is rare in deals where the money never sat in the seller's account in the first place.

The distinction matters because the responses differ. A stall is solved with a deadline and a named alternative. A seller who has gone genuinely quiet is a dispute.

What happens to the money?

Nothing, which is the point. The buyer's funds sit with the independent, regulated escrow agent from the moment they are deposited until the buyer confirms the assets arrived, and the agent releases the full amount in one payment at that point. If the buyer does not confirm because items are missing, no release happens, and the agent's own dispute process decides what follows under the terms both parties accepted when they opened the transaction.

Indiemaker is non-custodial and never holds or touches the funds, so the platform is not a party to that process. The escrow agent is, and its rules are worth reading before you deposit rather than after.

What counts as completion?

Completion is whatever the asset schedule says it is, which is why vague schedules are the real hazard. Each item needs a test that somebody other than the seller can perform: the domain shows the buyer as registrant in the public record, the repository sits under the buyer's organisation with the seller removed, the hosting account accepts the buyer's login, the customer records are in the buyer's hands in a usable format.

"Transfer of the business" is not a test. "Domain example.com transferred to buyer's registrar account, confirmed by WHOIS" is.

How long should each part take?

Most of a transfer is quick, and a few items have structural delays that nobody can shorten. Knowing which is which stops a buyer from treating a normal wait as a broken deal.

Build the inspection window around the slowest item you actually need, and say so in the schedule. A buyer who agrees a five-day window and then discovers a 60-day registrar lock has created their own problem.

What can a buyer do when a seller goes quiet?

Escalate in order, in writing, keeping every step on the record the agent will eventually read.

1. Send a written note to the seller listing the outstanding schedule items and a date for each.
2. Copy the escrow agent, so the timeline exists in the transaction file rather than in your inbox.
3. Ask the platform to make contact, where the deal came from a listing and the seller is still reachable there.
4. Open the dispute with the escrow agent once the stated dates pass without movement.
5. Take your own legal advice on the agreement, since the purchase agreement is what governs the seller's obligations.

Do not take partial delivery and hope. Confirming receipt when items are missing is the one action that turns a recoverable stall into a loss, because confirmation is what triggers the release.

How do you design the deal so this does not happen?

Most stalled transfers were visible as risks before funds moved, and a short amount of preparation removes them. Walk the asset list live with the seller before the escrow account opens, watching them log into each account rather than describing it. Check the domain's registration date and any transfer lock in the public record on the day you agree terms. Agree, in writing, who does what on which day, and what the buyer will do with credentials that arrive early.

Then notice the softer signals. A seller who cannot say who controls the DNS, or who needs to ask a former collaborator for access, has an incomplete handover waiting inside a deal that otherwise looks fine.

What if the assets have partly moved?

Partly moved is the uncomfortable middle, and it is handled through the schedule rather than through improvisation. The buyer lists what has arrived, what has not, and what each missing item is worth to the deal, then puts that in front of the seller and the agent. Sometimes the answer is a corrected deadline and a completed transfer a week later. Sometimes both parties agree to unwind, the buyer returns or deletes what was transferred, and the funds go back.

The version to avoid is the one where the buyer quietly accepts a gap because the deal has taken three months and everyone is tired. A missing IP assignment or an unmigrated customer base is not a paperwork detail. It is part of what you priced.

Does the seller carry any risk here?

Yes, and it is worth stating plainly because it keeps deals honest in both directions. A seller who has moved the domain, the code and the customer list while the buyer refuses to confirm receipt is exposed to exactly the mirror of the buyer's concern, and the same written schedule is what resolves it. Objective completion tests work for whoever is right, which is the reason to insist on them before either party moves.

Related: how-escrow-works-on-a-six-figure-transfer, do-i-need-an-asset-purchase-agreement, how-to-take-over-hosting-domains-and-payments