Escrow.com released some sales data from the first half of 2021, and it confirmed what many people have been saying. Domain name (and website) sales transacted via Escrow.com had a big first half of the year. Escrow.com reported that sales growth for “Online” sales, including domain names and websites, grew 77% compared to the first half of 2020.
This figure isn’t all that surprising given the fact that the world was mired in the growing Covid-19 pandemic during the first half of 2020. People are still dealing with challenges related to the pandemic, but online sales have been flourishing. I am actually bit surprised this figure wasn’t higher, but that may be influenced by my own buying and selling activity.
Escrow.com has grown other lines of business in the last year. In fact, motor vehicle sales sale growth of 210% for the first half of 2021 when compared to the same time period in 2020. Other areas of growth mentioned in the Escrow.com were General Merchandise (up 42%), Services (up 37%) and Luxury (up 18%).
In total, Escrow.com transacted $366.7 million in transactions during the first half of 2021. This marks an increase of 73% from the first half of 2020.
Here are the details that were shared with me today:
Escrow.com has just released its half-year results where GPV was an all-time record with $475.3m, up 48.0% on pcp or US$366.7m, up 73.3%.
The second quarter was particularly strong, with an all-time record GPV of $270.5 million (up 75.0% on pcp, unaudited) or US$208.5 million (up 105.5% on pcp, unaudited). Ex-China, GPV was also at an all-time record of US$199.6 million (up 113.1% on pcp). Revenue in the half year was also an all-time record revenue of $5.1 million (up 33.7% on pcp) or US$3.9 million (up 56.9% on pcp).
Escrow.com is an online provider of secure payments and transaction management for consumers and businesses on the Internet. It was the first company to create an online escrow over a decade ago and is leading the way in safe, reliable and trustworthy escrow services with over US$5 billion in transactions secured since 1999 from over 2 million customers. The company was purchased by Freelancer.com (ASX:FLN, OTCQX: FLNCF) in 2015.
Headquartered in the U.S. in San Francisco, California, Escrow.com reduces the risk of fraud by acting as a trusted third party that collects, holds and disburses funds according to buyer and seller instructions. Escrow.com is used to secure a wide range of valuable transactions online from $100 to $100,000,000 including cars, airplanes, domains, gemstones and jewelry, and many more. Using Escrow.com, people can inspect goods and services before releasing funds and without any chargebacks.
The Escrow.com’s growth in second half GMV (USD) was driven by:
Motor vehicles, up 210% on pcp.
Online (domains, websites), up 77% on pcp
General merchandise up 42% on pcp
Services up 37% on pcp
Luxury (watches), up 18% pcp
Overall up 73.3% on pcpIn 2Q21 GMV (USD) had notable performances from online (domains, websites) (up 154% on pcp), motor vehicles (up 151% on pcp) and services (up 40% on pcp), for a total increase in GMV of 105.5% on pcp. eBay Watches launched into production in April 2021; we expect further growth in the luxury category in 2H21.
