People selling domains they don't own (1.Viewing)

I get a number of PM's from members asking me to purchase domains....

I bought a few and it's no secret that I am willing to pony up the dough if the domain appeals to me.

However, I am noticing a little trend here and it's the third time this has happened to me.

A member will send me a message asking me if I am interested in a half dozen or so domains. Of course I assume the member has ownership of these domains and I begin discussing the possibility of 1-2 acquisitions. The problem is on a couple of occasions the members I'm dealing with don't actually own the domains. I waste a lot of time and then find out there is a different owner. So if they negotiate 5k with me then they try to get it for 2.5k from the owner. I guess I am at fault because 5k is my magic bidding number and people know that.

So recently I get a PM from a member asking me to negotiate on a few domain names and coincidentally I was just conversing with the real owner on one of the three domains.

I asked the guy if he had ownership and of course I already knew he did not.

Turns out he had read one of my posts where I said I will pay 5k for one word .ca domains if they meet my criteria as a positive meaning, singular, dictionary term.


So the question is can you really broker a sale when neither the buyer or seller has any idea that someone is trying to broker the domain?

Just tell them if they’re going to try and broker domains that it needs to be disclosed up front, and they have to pick a side, are they working for the seller or the buyer?

I doubt that’s going to work out though since there is little money to be made on a small .ca sale as a broker. That’s probably why they’re trying to deal in multiple domains and not being up front, so they can skim more off the transaction. So it sounds like they’re not really brokering, they just see you as an arbitrage opportunity.

Ultimately it depends on whether you’re happy with the end result or not.

What did the guy say when you asked him if he had ownership of the domain? Did he tell the truth, or lie? I think that part is important, but either way, seems like a dishonest (perhaps greasy) strategy in my opinion (unless they explain the situation upfront, but they obviously won't because that defeats their strategy).

I've heard of this happening in the .COM space but never for .CAs. Maybe it's more common/normal than I'm aware of, and I understand how it could occasionally pan out, but I've never (ever) considered trying anything like that. If I think a domain has a value, I buy it first and then go from there. Plus, if you think you can double your money selling to another domain investor then that should also mean you could sell it for a lot more to an enduser. Why not just buy this domain you think you could quickly flip for twice as much, and worst case you try to sell it to an end user for even more.

And imagine if we all started doing that, not just to you, but where we all start outbounding domains we don't own to the public at large without permission from the owner? I can't see it helping the reputation of our industry, and it could in fact affect the real owners' chances of selling their domain (and price), and possibly even get them dragged into a CDRP by contacting the wrong people/companies.

And what happens when this person strikes a deal with you (or anyone), and then learns they can't buy the domain at the price they thought they could? How do they explain that, after a deal (ie contract) has already made? I imagine they would just completely ghost you, since they could be held liable for their actions if you wanted to pursue them.

Perhaps it's time you start verifying domain ownership using CIRA's whois contact form early in the process, as you could have them respond to your contact form message as proof they are indeed the owner.

All that said, how do you feel about this happening to you?

Esdiel said:

All that said, how do you feel about this happening to you?

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I can tell pretty well right away because there is usually a language barrier, like a non Canadian tying to sell the domain.

I find it amazing how many people from India own .ca domain names.
I bought two last week and mentioned to the seller they are lucky not to be reported.

I paid paypal (after due diligence, domain moved first) so I knew the funds were headed out of country.

Esdiel said:

And what happens when this person strikes a deal with you (or anyone), and then learns they can't buy the domain at the price they thought they could? How do they explain that, after a deal (ie contract) has already made? I imagine they would just completely ghost you, since they could be held liable for their actions if you wanted to pursue them.

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Even though this may be an honest person doing this I think it is a very poor way of doing business, fraught with many potential problems. I don’t mind saying I was quite surprised to hear about it.

What about this part?

Esdiel said:

What did the guy say when you asked him if he had ownership of the domain? Did he tell the truth, or lie?

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Purchased a dot ca this week....dude is in Australia! and charged USD

LOL

MapleDots said:

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LOL
YEP