RyeAdvisors

Handover

The part everyone worries about.

Buyers almost never hesitate over the price alone. They hesitate because moving a domain sounds like something that could go wrong, with money already sent. This page explains the mechanics so that nothing on the day is a surprise, including the rules that are not ours to bend.

The order of things

The name moves before the money.

  1. An escrow file is opened

    With a licensed escrow service, in both names, stating the domain, the amount, who pays the escrow fee and how many days you have to inspect the transfer once it lands.

  2. You fund it

    You send the money to the escrow agent, not to us. The agent confirms receipt to both sides and holds it. Until that confirmation exists, we do nothing with the domain.

  3. We release the name

    We unlock the domain and either push it to your account at the same registrar or hand over the authorisation code for a transfer to yours. You then hold it.

  4. You accept, and the funds release

    You check the domain is in your account under your details, then tell the escrow agent you accept. Only at that point does the money reach us. If the transfer never completes, the funds go back to you.

Two routes

A push and a transfer are not the same thing.

Account push, same registrar

If you are willing to open a free account at the registrar where the name already sits, the domain moves between accounts inside that registrar. It is usually done the same day, it costs nothing, and it does not touch the registry. You can move the name onward to your own registrar later, at your own pace.

Inter-registrar transfer

If you would rather the name land directly at your registrar, we unlock it and send you the authorisation code. Your registrar starts the transfer; ours has to issue that code within five calendar days and sends a confirmation notice within twenty-four hours. Five calendar days is the standard response window, and the registry completes within five calendar days of the command. Budget a week, plan for less.

The rules nobody controls

Three sixty-day locks exist, and they are not ours.

The transfer policy that every .com registrar operates under imposes a sixty-day lock in three situations: within sixty days of the domain first being registered, within sixty days of a previous transfer between registrars, and after a change of registrant unless the holder opted out of that lock beforehand.

None of these can be waived by us or by your registrar on request. They matter for one practical reason: a name you buy today generally cannot be moved to a third registrar for sixty days afterwards. If a domain we hold is inside one of these windows, we say so with the quote and use an account push instead, which the locks do not affect. The registration period also extends by a year when an inter-registrar transfer completes, so nothing lapses in the meantime.

Before you switch anything on

What to do with the name once it is yours.

Point it, do not move on it
The common first step is a permanent redirect from the new name to the site you already run, which costs nothing and breaks nothing. Rebuilding on the new domain, if you ever do, can wait until it suits you.
Email needs its own decision
Adding the domain to your mail provider as a second address, with the old one still receiving, means nothing is missed while cards and signatures catch up. Switching the sending address is a separate, later decision.
Renewals and contact details
Put the domain on auto-renew and on an address that outlives whoever set it up — a role account rather than a person's mailbox. Most domains that get lost are lost to an expired card and an unread reminder, not to anything dramatic.
Keep the record
The escrow file, the transfer confirmation and the registrar receipt are the documentary trail for the asset. We send our written confirmation of the change of registrant for the same reason.