Escrow

Escrow is an arrangement where an independent, regulated third party holds the buyer's funds while the agreed assets transfer, then releases the full amount to the seller once the buyer has confirmed everything arrived as described.

How escrow works at $50k–$150k

The full purchase price goes in once, upfront, before any asset moves. Indiemaker is non-custodial: the escrow agent is an independent regulated provider, and the platform never holds or touches the funds. Once the money is confirmed with the agent, the seller starts the transfer. When everything has landed the buyer confirms receipt, which opens an inspection period of 48 hours on Indiemaker, and on the buyer's acceptance the agent releases the whole amount in a single payment.

Escrow only works where the provider can move money. Escrow.com can't pay or take payment from banks in some countries, and can't serve anyone in a sanctioned country, so both parties need a bank it accepts. For most of those countries it is the bank's country that counts, not where the person lives. Where sales work.

Where it bites

The word doing the work is "confirmed". If the parties have not agreed in writing what counts as a completed transfer, the inspection period turns into an argument. Every item should be checkable by someone other than the seller: the domain shows the buyer as registrant, the repository sits under the buyer's organisation, the hosting account accepts the buyer's login. Vague completion language is the single most common reason a clean transfer stalls.

A worked example

On a $120,000 close the buyer sends the full amount to the escrow agent. Over three working days the seller moves two domains, the repository, DNS, the hosting account and the customer records, ticking off a 19-item schedule as each lands. When the last item lands the buyer confirms receipt, works through the schedule inside the 48-hour inspection period, accepts, and the agent releases $120,000 to the seller. The Escrow.com fee, 1.9% at this size or about $2,280, is borne by the buyer on Indiemaker's standard basis.

Why it matters

Escrow removes the awkward question of who moves first. It also sets the standard for the whole deal: one payment, upfront, against a defined list. Treat a buyer who wants to pay in parts as a signal to slow down and ask why.

Related: handover-period, due-diligence, stack-transfer