Also called payment plan · installment payments
Installment plan, explained
The usual structure is a down payment followed by fixed monthly payments, collected by a marketplace or an escrow service. With Escrow.com's Domain Name Holding Service, for example, the name stays with the escrow company during the term, and if the buyer stops paying and does not fix the default, the domain goes back to the seller and the transaction is canceled. What happens to payments already made depends on the terms agreed at the start.
Payment plans widen the buyer pool, because many small businesses cannot pay a four- or five-figure price at once. Sellers often charge more in total than the cash price to cover the wait and the risk. Settle in writing who holds the name, whether the buyer may use it during the term, who pays renewals and what happens after a missed payment. Lease-to-own is the close cousin in which the buyer can use the domain while paying.
Example. A small agency buys a two-word .com priced in the mid four figures with a down payment and twelve monthly payments, and the name stays with an escrow service until the last one clears.
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Education, not financial, legal or tax advice. Domain investing is speculative and most domain names never sell. Read the disclaimer.