What Are the Common Escrow Mistakes to Avoid?
Written by Christopher Krassnig - Founder - Kairos Exchange and ZenoX Media.
Published
- Checks in every memo8
- Automatic on day one3 of 8
- Read by handad spend and processor payouts
- Tracked ecom salesEUR 200M+ZenoX ad-management figures, not Kairos deal volume - Kairos hasn't closed a deal yet.
The common escrow mistakes are all versions of one mistake: letting something move before the money is committed. Handing over store admin early as a goodwill gesture, funding partially, agreeing a vague list of what counts as delivered, skipping the inspection window, and using an escrow service the other side found are the five that cost real money. Run those steps out of order and escrow protects nothing.
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The Favour That Costs the Store
Almost every horror story starts politely. A buyer asks for admin access early to check something small, or a seller ships the domain first to show good faith. The asset has now left and the money has not arrived. Nobody set out to defraud anyone, and it does not matter. Escrow only protects the steps you actually run through it.
Vague Delivery Terms
Escrow releases on conditions, so a condition nobody wrote down cannot be met or disputed. Name every asset: store account, domain, registrar, ad accounts and their pixel history, email platform and list, supplier logins, socials. If the agreement says the seller transfers the business, the escrow agent has no way to tell whether that happened, and you have replaced a contract with a conversation.
The Wrong Escrow Agent
A link to an escrow service sent by the counterparty is the oldest fake in this market: the site looks right, the funds go nowhere. Pick the provider yourself, reach it by typing the address rather than clicking the link, and confirm it is licensed where it operates. On Kairos this is not a decision either party makes under pressure, because the deal settles through the platform's provider.
Step by Step
Step 1 of 6: Agree the asset list in writing first
Every item that has to change hands, named. This is what the escrow agent will later check against, so vagueness here becomes a dispute later.
Step 2 of 6: Choose the escrow provider yourself
Type the address in, never follow a link the other side sent. Confirm the company is licensed where it operates before a cent moves.
Step 3 of 6: Fund the full amount before anything transfers
The whole purchase price sits with the provider first. No partial funding, and no assets moving early as a courtesy.
Step 4 of 6: Transfer assets against the list, ticking each off
Work the named list in order. An asset that is not on the list is not part of the deal, and now is when to say so.
Step 5 of 6: Use the inspection window properly
Log in, run a real order, check payouts land and the domain resolves. This window is the only cheap moment to raise a problem.
Step 6 of 6: Confirm, then let it release
Confirmation is the release trigger, so confirm only what you have actually checked. Any agreed holdback stays behind on its own schedule.
Related questions
Terms Used
Buying a Store Somewhere Else?
Kairos Due Diligence works on any deal - Flippa, a broker, a private sale. A person reads the store's raw numbers and writes you a report. If the deal is bad, the report says walk away. From EUR 1.5K, no account needed.
Answered. Now Get in Line for the First Store
When the doors open, verified stores go to the waitlist first. You have done the reading part. The list is the part with a queue.