GrailGuard Escrow Terms

Who the escrow company is

Every GrailGuard escrow service — the standalone escrow service and escrow protection on a GrailGuard delivery — uses Escrow.com, operated by Internet Escrow Services, Inc. ("Escrow.com"), a licensed, independent escrow company (California Department of Financial Protection and Innovation escrow license no. 963-1867; see escrow.com/escrow-licenses). Everywhere else on our site and in the agreement text you tick, it is called "the escrow company" or "a licensed third-party escrow company (see our Escrow Terms)" — that always means Escrow.com. Our emails about your deal or sale may also name Escrow.com directly, because you act on its own emails and its site.

When you continue to pay, verify your identity, accept, reject or review payout details, you leave grailguard.io and are taken to Escrow.com's own secure site (escrow.com), where you agree to Escrow.com's own terms, including its General Escrow Instructions. You will also receive emails from Escrow.com about your sale. GrailGuard never holds, receives or controls the item money.

How to stay safe. When you pay, verify your identity, accept or reject, our buttons and emails only ever send you to escrow.com. Neither GrailGuard nor Escrow.com will ever ask you to pay the item price by a different method, to a different account, or through a link you were not expecting. If a link that seems to come from GrailGuard sends you anywhere else to pay, do not pay — email support@grailguard.io first.

1. What this service is

GrailGuard LLC ("GrailGuard", "we") acts as the broker on an escrow transaction operated by Escrow.com (see "Who the escrow company is" above), a licensed, independent escrow company. We set the transaction up from the details the buyer and seller give us and we track its progress. We are not a party to the sale, we do not own the item, and we never hold, receive or control the purchase money.

2. Who holds the money

Escrow.com holds all funds in its own escrow accounts under its General Escrow Instructions and terms, which both parties accept on Escrow.com. Payment, identity verification, disbursement, refunds, returns and disputes are performed by and with Escrow.com, not GrailGuard.

3. Fees

Escrow.com fee — set by Escrow.com's published schedule and shown by Escrow.com before the buyer pays. Escrow.com's fee has a minimum, so on a small sale it can be larger than the item price. GrailGuard broker fee (called GrailGuard's service fee on our pages) — 0.5% of the agreed price.

The buyer pays both fees, on top of the price; there is no option to change who pays, and neither fee is taken out of the price. Escrow.com may deduct its own payout (disbursement) fee from the seller’s payment, depending on the payout method the seller chooses on Escrow.com (for example, a bank wire), and may add a payment processing fee if the buyer pays Escrow.com by card or PayPal; both are set by Escrow.com’s published schedule and shown on Escrow.com. Before anyone agrees, our pages show both fees together as one “Escrow & service fees” amount, and Escrow.com lists each fee separately before the buyer pays. Deals created before this version keep the fees, and who pays them, that were shown when they were created. Fees shown on our pages before the Escrow.com transaction exists are estimates; Escrow.com's figures govern. If a GrailGuard courier is booked, the courier fee is separate and is governed by our Terms of Service.

4. How a deal proceeds

1. The buyer starts the deal, signed in to their GrailGuard account (the seller's email, the item and the price), and agrees to these terms; the seller agrees on their own link. If the seller does not agree within 14 days, the deal expires and nothing is created.
2. Once both have agreed, GrailGuard asks Escrow.com to open an Escrow.com account for the buyer and for the seller at the email addresses on the deal (if an Escrow.com account already exists at that address, that account is used; GrailGuard does not change it), then creates the Escrow.com transaction. Each party then agrees to it on Escrow.com and verifies their identity with Escrow.com.
3. The buyer pays Escrow.com. Escrow.com confirms the funds are secured.
4. The seller ships with online tracking (a GrailGuard courier can be linked on request, as a separate booking).
5. The buyer inspects the item within Escrow.com's inspection period (3 days on a standalone deal unless the deal says otherwise) and accepts or rejects it on Escrow.com. With a GrailGuard courier, the buyer's "Intact" confirmation and signature at delivery is recorded and handled as described in section 12.
6. If accepted — or, if the buyer neither accepts nor rejects, once Escrow.com finalizes acceptance after the inspection period ends — Escrow.com pays the seller and GrailGuard's broker fee.

5. Rejections, returns, refunds and disputes

These run on Escrow.com under its rules. GrailGuard cannot refund, reverse or release escrow funds. If the buyer rejects the item in time, the item is returned and Escrow.com refunds the buyer under its escrow terms (Escrow.com decides whether its own fee is refunded). GrailGuard does not keep its broker fee on a rejected, returned or cancelled sale: if Escrow.com has already paid it to us, we refund it to the buyer. A deal cancelled before the buyer pays costs nothing.

6. What GrailGuard does and does not do

We do not authenticate, grade, value or inspect items (a courier's delivery photos and the buyer's own inspection are the record). We do not guarantee that either party will perform, that an item is genuine or as described, or that Escrow.com will approve any party or payment. Any courier delivery we provide is covered only as described in our Terms of Service and Coverage Policy.

7. Eligibility and conduct

You must be 18 or older and able to open and verify an Escrow.com account. Escrow.com accounts are opened at the email addresses on the deal or delivery booking. If you already have an Escrow.com account, make sure the deal or booking uses that same email address (it is used, not changed); otherwise a second account is opened and you will need to verify your identity again. Do not use this service for anything Escrow.com or the law prohibits. We may cancel a deal before funding, or decline to act as broker, at any time. To start a standalone deal you must also be signed in to a GrailGuard account whose verified email address is the buyer's email on the deal. While standalone escrow is an invite-only beta, the buyer and the seller each need an approved GrailGuard account under the email on the deal.

8. Your information

We keep the parties' names and emails, the item details, price, fee figures, the answer to whether the sale was made through a marketplace, and the status history of your deal, the agreement you ticked (with its version and fingerprint), and the purchase agreement we issue when the Escrow.com transaction is created. Escrow.com holds your identity documents, payment details and bank details — GrailGuard never receives them. We send Escrow.com the parties' emails, the item description, the price, the fees, the delivery's tracking number and delivery events (picked up, delivered, accepted, refused or returned), and, when Escrow.com asks for it (including for its compliance review), the purchase agreement, which shows both parties' full names and email addresses, the item, the price and fees, and the marketplace answer; we receive from it the transaction status and each party's identity-check status (not the documents). See our Privacy Policy.

9. Deal links

Each party receives a private link to their deal page. Keep it private; anyone with it can see the deal and act as you on this site (not on Escrow.com). Links expire 30 days after they are issued (120 days for escrow protection on a delivery, which can take longer). If a link is lost, forwarded or expired, email support@grailguard.io from the address on your deal and we will email a new one to that address; your older links then stop working.

10. Liability

To the fullest extent the law allows, GrailGuard's total liability for a brokered deal is limited to the GrailGuard broker fee paid on that deal. GrailGuard is not liable for Escrow.com's acts, delays or decisions, for the item, or for either party's conduct. Nothing here limits liability that cannot be limited by law.

11. Changes

We may update these terms. We keep a copy of every version; the version in effect when you agreed governs your deal or sale.

12. Escrow protection on a GrailGuard delivery

Escrow protection is an optional add-on for selling an item through a Person ↔ Person GrailGuard delivery, where offered at checkout. The escrow company is Escrow.com (see "Who the escrow company is" above). Sections 1, 2, 5 (except its last sentence), 6, 7, 8, 9 and 10 above apply to escrow protection too, reading "service fee" for "broker fee" and "sale" for "deal".

1. The seller adds escrow protection at checkout, enters the item price, sees the fee estimate and agrees to the escrow protection terms. The seller pays only GrailGuard's delivery fee, by card, bank wire or Zelle where offered at checkout (not by check or split payment); the delivery fee is governed by our Terms of Service. With a bank wire or Zelle, the escrow sale is set up only once we confirm that payment; if the delivery fee is never paid, the escrow sale is cancelled and nothing is created on Escrow.com.
2. The buyer receives a private link (on the tracking page and by email) to agree to Escrow.com's terms and pay the item price into escrow on Escrow.com's secure site. Escrow.com requires both parties to verify their identity before the payment can be held or paid out; those checks are done by Escrow.com and can take time. When the escrow sale is set up, GrailGuard asks Escrow.com to open an Escrow.com account for the seller and for the buyer at the emails on the booking (an existing Escrow.com account at that email is used), so the seller should enter the email the buyer uses, or will use, with Escrow.com.
3. Our courier is dispatched only after the buyer's payment is held in escrow. If the buyer never pays, no courier is sent.
4. At delivery the buyer inspects the item, chooses "Intact" and signs. Where the sale says so at the door, that signature is the buyer's acceptance and GrailGuard passes it to Escrow.com, which then pays the seller; this cannot be undone, and once payment is released at the door any later disagreement about the item is between buyer and seller and is not covered by escrow. Otherwise GrailGuard tells Escrow.com the item was delivered and records the buyer's Intact confirmation; the buyer may still confirm, or report a problem, on Escrow.com before its inspection window (1 day from delivery unless your sale page shows a different period) ends, after which Escrow.com's staff finalize acceptance under its escrow terms and Escrow.com pays the seller. GrailGuard cannot speed that up or set the date.
5. If the buyer signs with a documented exception (accepting the item while noting a problem), that signature is the buyer's acceptance exactly as if the buyer had chosen "Intact", and step 4 applies in the same way: where the sale says so at the door, Escrow.com is told to pay the seller and this cannot be undone; otherwise Escrow.com finalizes acceptance after its inspection window. GrailGuard keeps the buyer's note, and any photos taken at delivery, for its own records and for any coverage claim with GrailGuard under our Terms of Service and Coverage Policy. The note is not a dispute with Escrow.com and does not hold the payment. A buyer who does not want to accept the item must refuse it at the door (step 6). A buyer who signed with a documented exception before these terms took effect keeps the terms they agreed to: nothing was released at the door, and the buyer accepts or rejects on Escrow.com.
6. If the item is not as described, the buyer refuses it at the door: nothing is released to the seller, the courier returns the item to the seller (the return trip and any storage follow our Terms of Service), Escrow.com refunds the buyer under its escrow terms, and GrailGuard does not keep its service fee. No return delivery fee applies when the item is refused because it arrived visibly damaged, was not the item described, or failed verification; for any other refusal the return delivery fee in our Terms of Service applies. Storage, which the seller pays as the sender, may apply from day 14 after the refusal under our Terms of Service, whatever the reason for the refusal.
7. GrailGuard may cancel escrow protection before the buyer's payment is held; the Escrow.com transaction is then cancelled and no item money is taken. If the buyer never pays, no courier is sent. If the buyer has not paid into escrow within 7 days after the escrow transaction is created, GrailGuard may cancel the sale for that reason; when it does, it also cancels the delivery booking and refunds the GrailGuard delivery fee in full. If the seller asks us to cancel before the buyer has paid into escrow, we also refund the delivery fee in full. Otherwise, cancelling the delivery booking, and any refund of its fee, follow our Terms of Service. Once the buyer's payment is held or on its way, the delivery booking cannot be cancelled on our site; the sale is unwound on Escrow.com, which refunds the buyer under its escrow terms.
8. If a delivery cannot be completed (for example, the buyer is not available), the courier keeps the item and we arrange redelivery or its return under our Terms of Service. The buyer's payment stays held by Escrow.com until the item is delivered and accepted, or until buyer and seller cancel the sale on Escrow.com, which then refunds the buyer under its escrow terms.

Fees. Escrow.com's escrow fee (an estimate is shown at checkout; Escrow.com's figure governs) plus GrailGuard's service fee of 0.5% of the item price, shown together at checkout as one “Escrow & service fees” amount. The buyer pays both; there is no option to change who pays. Escrow.com may deduct its own payout (disbursement) fee from the seller’s payment, depending on the payout method the seller chooses on Escrow.com. Sales created before this version keep the fees, and who pays them, that were shown when they were created. The GrailGuard delivery fee is separate.

Questions: support@grailguard.io.