When dealing directly with another person for buying and selling, I recommend using Escrow.com for all transactions. Especially when the transaction is over $500. It’s not worth the risk. When you open escrow, make sure the domain’s administrative email is the same as the escrow seller email. This way you know you’re dealing with a real seller. Don’t do the final release of funds in escrow.com until the seller provides the name’s authcode, and you have used the authcode to successfully transfer the name to your registrar of choice.

When selling, I always ask the buyer to create an account at escrow.com and for them to open the escrow. Often scammers / timewasters won’t bother doing that. If you’re having the buyer open the escrow, it’s important to be specific as to what email address they should open the escrow to (it should be the same email you used to create your escrow.com account) and the fee arrangements. You should pre-arrange the fee split, i.e. 100% buyer, 100% seller, or 50/50 buyer/seller split.

PayPal is a dangerous way to sell because once you transfer a name to a buyer, the buyer can claim a fraudulent transaction with PayPal and have PayPal reverse the transaction and take the money back from you.

Always proceed with caution when dealing with buyers / sellers you don’t know.