How to sell a domain from the UAE: escrow, fees, timing and transfer, step by step (2026)

At a glance

What it costs, with examples

Listing on Meor is free. Meor charges a success fee only when a sale closes, and the whole price is charged at the rate of its band: 15% up to $5,000, 10% up to $50,000, 8% up to $250,000, 6% up to $1,000,000, 4% above that. The fee is taken out of the escrow release, so there is no invoice. On a Meor deal the seller also pays Escrow.com's own fee, which Escrow.com sets and which is not included below.

Because the whole price takes one rate, a sale just above $5,000 pays a smaller fee than a sale at exactly $5,000. Worth knowing when you set a price near a band edge.

For comparison, MtajerHub publishes a 5% seller fee, so on a $10,000 sale Meor costs more. Flippa's self-serve fee is 10% plus a listing fee of $29 to $699, paid whether or not the domain sells. Sources and dates are on the About page.

1. Check that Escrow.com can pay your bank

Every Meor deal is paid through Escrow.com, in US dollars. Escrow.com supports no AED, SAR or EGP, so prices are quoted and paid in dollars and your bank receives dollars. As checked against Escrow.com's documentation on 27 August 2026, it pays banks in the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Morocco, Qatar, Kuwait, Bahrain, Oman and Tunisia.

It does not pay banks in Egypt, Lebanon, Iraq, Algeria or Libya, and it does not serve Iran or Syria at all. What counts is where your bank account is, not where you live: an Egyptian resident with a UAE bank account can be paid normally.

Meor asks for your bank country once, before money moves. If your bank is in a country Escrow.com cannot pay, the deal does not fail at the last step: it goes to a person at Meor, who tells you what can and cannot be done before anyone pays.

2. List the domain

Listing is free. You set the asking price, or leave it open to offers. Meor does not put a valuation on a domain: a domain has no revenue to work from, so the price shown is yours and is labelled as yours.

A listing can be public, or confidential so that only buyers you approve after they sign an NDA see the name.

3. Prove you own it

Meor gives you a TXT record to add to the domain's DNS, at your registrar or DNS host. Only someone who controls the domain can add it, which is why it counts as proof. Meor checks for it every 15 minutes, and the listing goes public only once the check passes. If the registry publishes the owner's email, email verification is a fallback.

The ownership badge on a live listing means exactly that check passed. It is not a statement about you or about what the domain is worth.

4. Agree a price and let the buyer pay into escrow

A buyer can buy at your asking price or make an offer, and either side can counter. Once you agree, Meor opens the transaction on Escrow.com and the buyer pays Escrow.com directly, on Escrow.com's own page. Meor never holds the money and never sees the buyer's card.

Do not start the transfer until Meor shows the funds as held in escrow. That is the whole point of escrow: the money is there before the domain moves.

5. Transfer the domain

How the domain moves depends on where it and the buyer are registered. Meor gives you a checklist for the route your deal actually takes, because the steps for one are wrong for the other.

• Same registrar (an account push): you push the domain to the buyer's account. It takes minutes, needs no authorisation code, and is not held up by the 60-day transfer lock.
• Different registrars (a standard ICANN transfer): you unlock the domain and give the buyer the authorisation code, the buyer starts the transfer at their registrar, and it usually completes in five to seven days.
• Country domains such as .ae, .sa and .qa: these do not move the ordinary way. Some registries require a trade licence or a local contact before a buyer can hold the name, so Meor hands these deals to a person rather than printing steps that would not work.

6. The buyer confirms and you are paid

Once you mark the transfer done, the buyer has an inspection window of 3 days for a domain. Confirming releases the money; if the buyer says nothing, it is released when the window closes. If the buyer disputes, the money stays in escrow until it is resolved.

On release, Escrow.com pays you the price less Meor's fee and Escrow.com's fee, in US dollars, to the bank account you gave Escrow.com.

Where these facts come from

• Escrow.com country and currency coverage: checked by Meor against Escrow.com's published documentation on 27 August 2026. Escrow.com can change this; its own site is the final word.
• Meor's fees, inspection windows and transfer routes: Meor's terms and FAQ, as they stand on the date this guide was updated.
• Competitor fees: the dated, sourced table on Meor's About page.