Every online deal between two strangers has the same standoff at its heart: the buyer doesn't want to pay until they have the goods, and the seller doesn't want to hand over the goods until they've been paid. Somebody has to go first — and going first is where people get burned. Escrow is the elegant little trick that means nobody has to.
If you've never bought or sold a project before, escrow can sound like bureaucratic overhead. It's the opposite. It's the single feature that turns "wiring money to an internet stranger" from a leap of faith into a routine transaction. Once you understand it, you'll never do a deal without it — and you'll spot the sellers who want you to skip it a mile away.
The basicsWhat escrow actually is
Escrow is just a trusted middleman that holds the money. Instead of the buyer paying the seller directly, the buyer pays a neutral third party, who parks the cash in a holding account and doesn't release it to the seller until both sides have done what they promised. If the deal completes, the money flows to the seller. If it falls apart, the money goes back to the buyer. Neither side has to trust the other — they both just have to trust the box in the middle.
The flowHow a project sale actually moves
Buyer and seller settle the price and exactly what's included — code, domain, accounts, mailing list. No ambiguity to argue about later.
The money leaves the buyer's account, but it doesn't reach the seller. It sits, locked, with the neutral third party. The seller can now see the funds are real and committed.
With payment secured, the seller hands over the goods — the source code unlocks, and the transfer of domains and accounts begins. They're not risking anything: the money is already in the box.
The buyer checks that everything matches what was promised. This is the buyer's protection — the release doesn't happen until they say it's good.
On confirmation, the funds flow to the seller — often same or next business day. The deal is done. Nobody walked away with both the code and the cash.
Both sides winWhy it protects everyone
Your money doesn't reach the seller until you've confirmed you actually got what you paid for. No "the code's on its way," no half-transfers, no ghosting after payment. If it doesn't show up as promised, your money comes back.
The classic con runs the other way: a buyer pays, receives the code, then reverses the charge and keeps both. Through escrow, once funds release they're final — no chargebacks, ever. The seller hands over the code knowing the money is already secured and can't be clawed back.
Escrow doesn't ask you to trust the other person. It replaces trust with a structure — where the only way to get the money is to actually deliver, and the only way to get the code is to actually pay.
The one ruleNever send money directly
This is the whole point, so it gets its own section. The moment a seller suggests taking the deal off-platform — "just PayPal me and I'll send the files," "we'll save the escrow fee" — that is the moment to stop.
If you want the full field guide to spotting a bad deal, that's exactly what our buyer's due-diligence guide is for — refusing escrow is right at the top of the red-flag list.
The costWhat escrow runs — and how we do it
On a standalone service, escrow typically costs around 1% of the sale price, and buyer and seller negotiate who pays it (split, or one side covers it). It's cheap insurance for a five-figure deal — well worth it even as a line item.
Deal like a grown-up.
Escrow on every trade.
Buy and sell projects on Vertos with Stripe escrow built in — the code and the money release together, or not at all. Free to list, a flat 5% when it sells.
Browse projects →Trust the structure, not the stranger.
— The Vertos team