Private Sales
Regardless of the items you are selling, classic cars, art, investment wine or even gold, the use of our escrow services can add a level of protection for both parties. The buyer has the knowledge that the funds are held in the escrow account, and will not be released to the seller without confirmation the item is shipped / received. The seller has the security of knowing that the funds are being held by us and that once the item has been delivered, they will receive payment.
Please note that our authorisation with the Financial Conduct Authority (“FCA”) applies only in relation to payment services transactions (principally transactions involving the holding and payment of funds), it does not relate to any other form of escrow service offered by us – for example where we hold real property.
This means that the Financial Conduct Authority does not regulate us in respect of any escrow transactions other than payment services transactions.
As a result:
The provision of escrow services can be a useful tool for companies that make regular, higher value sales, for example the sale of high quality wine, or technology goods. We are able to work on a retainer basis that allows the seller to utilise our escrow services.
This can be a comfort to their clients, allowing them the knowledge that their money will not be released to the company until the goods have been provided. It also allows the company the certainty of knowing that they have confirmation of the funds being received into the escrow account before shipping their goods.
Riverside Escrow was approached to work with an International Wine Merchant that deals with high value purchases of fine investment wines. In many cases the wines would be transferred to bonded warehouses, and as such our client was looking to offer reassurance for their buyers throughout the duration of their purchase transaction.
Riverside Escrow was able to offer a solution to the Wine Merchant that would provide certainty, not just for the Wine Merchants’ buyers, but also for the Wine Merchant themselves. Riverside Escrow offered the Wine Merchant the ability to use our services on a retainer style basis. As the buyers inbound funds would be frequent and of varying value, using the retainer based structure allowed the Wine Merchant to set up a consistent service for their buyers, whilst using a system that consolidated the funds in the escrow account, which would then be paid out in regular payments.
To begin the process, after completion of AML/KYC formalities we put in place an agreement between Riverside Escrow and The Wine Merchant that set out the services to be provided. This included the outline for the way the buyer’s information and payments would be processed, the information that would be provided to us by the Wine Merchant, as well as set out the way the retainer fees would be calculated and invoiced.
Included in this agreement was a separate contract that would be supplied to the Wine Merchants Buyer’s. This detailed the service to be provided to them by Riverside Escrow and would be signed by the clients upon the agreement of their purchase. Also included was the templates for the correspondence we would have with the Buyers and how this would relate to the processing of each transaction. In doing this we laid out the process that would be followed by both the Wine merchant and Riverside Escrow that ultimately met the Conditions set out in the Escrow Agreement.
Once this had been agreed by the Wine merchant and we had received the Signed Escrow Agreement from them, we could begin to receive money into the escrow account from The Wine Merchants Buyer’s. Following the terms set out in the Escrow Agreement, our client would supply us with the Buyers documents which would initiate the start of the Buyers Purchase. Riverside Escrow would then run the relevant Due Diligence checks and invoice the Buyer. Once the funds had been received into the Escrow Client Account, the Wine Merchant would be notified and asked to supply the agreed documents to evidence proof of goods held.
Riverside Escrow and the Wine merchant set up the supply of the Buyers documents to be completed and sent through using the DocuSign service. This allowed for a seamless integration of Riverside Escrows services into the Wine Merchants selling process, making the entire process fast and easy to manage.
As part of the Agreement held between riverside Escrow and the Wine Merchant it was agreed that the Wine merchant themselves would cover all costs relating to Riverside Escrows Fees. This allowed the Wine Merchant to create a unique selling point to put across to their Buyers, as they could provide reassurance to their buyer’s transactions without the buyer incurring extra cost.
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