I've been approached to sell my site

Hi there everyone!

I’ve run an enthusiast site for about 15 years. Other than donations by the members, it’s not for profit. A couple of weeks ago, a gentleman wrote me asking if I’d be willing to sell it. We’ve talked back and forth for a couple of weeks and it seems legitimate. We’ve gotten to the point at which I need to either poop or get off the pot.

He has requested that I look into using Escrow.com for payment and he said he would send me an initial draft of a contract that we could use as a starting point.

Now, I’m not asking anyone to be my lawyer and I’m not going to hold anyone accountable for any help you provide but I am very ignorant when it comes to things of this nature and I wanted to ask if escrow.com was a good way to handle the transaction.

I appreciate any thoughts you might have in the matter.

using a search like sell website escrow.com pulls up lots of discussions on it. Here is one http://www.namepros.com/domain-newbies/783482-legit-safe-protected-way-transfer-after.html. From the sounds of it escrow.com is prob your best bet.

Or maybe you can create a sale on Flippa, based on the client’s offer. You will have to pay commission, but it might be safer for you both. I have sold 2 sites via Flippa and it was OK. Also sold one directly to a client, but he’s a long standing client for my web design services so it was clear none of us is trying to mess up anything. He paid for the site first and then I migrated it to his account/hosting.

I agree. Escrow is the safest solution availible.

Thank you both very much for your help. It looks like it will be handled through escrow.com.

Could I suggest that you are perhaps not looking at the wider issue. By all means use an escrow service; it would be poor advice to do otherwise. But that’s only a small part of the story. What really matters is how much you know about the buyer, and to what extent you trust him. Have you done any checks on his background or reputation? Have you asked him for a reference from other people he’s done business with? These are perfectly normal things to do, and if he’s legit, he won’t be offended. (And nor should you be offended when he asks for the same from you.)

This might all sound obvious, but you’d be surprised how many people don’t think of it. I recently had an unsolicited message from someone who wanted to buy one of my sites. He was open about how much he wanted to pay, and he made sensible suggestions for how we proceed with the deal. But he declined to tell me his real name, or even which country he was based in. I’m not for a moment saying he was a crook, but it’s just not sensible to do business on that basis.

Mike

An awful lot will come down to trust. There are some basic due diligence checks you can do. You can safeguard things more by selling through a marketplace and using escrow.

At the very least check them out. Find their name and Google it, find their websites and domains, see their history online as much as you can. Find some footprints and search for them.

Thanks a bunch for all the guidance and suggestions. The deal has been completed, Escrow dropped the dough and both parties seem pleased as punch.

Delighted to hear it all worked out, Schwim.

Mike