Bottom line as I see it, people will let their own ethics guide them on this issue.
You can banter back and forth all you want, legal or not, ethical or not, profitable or not... but having NamePros condoning this, allowing this, promoting this as the catalyst of what IMO is shill bidding, plain and simple, would be a black eye on our forum.
First paragraph...
Shills, or "potted plants", are sometimes employed in auctions. Driving prices up with phony bids, they seek to provoke a bidding war among other participants. Often they are told by the seller precisely how high to bid, as the seller actually pays the price (to himself, of course) if the item does not sell, losing only the auction fees.
THAT is auction schill bidding!
That is NOT what we have HERE.
We dont even have an ez way to get our auction started
without asking for the initial bid.
I don't know how this can be percieved as shill bidding?? There are millions of domains on Sedo, most of which never see the light of day! All this would do is bring forward some of those domains for members and guests to consider bidding on at a starting price of $60......which is infact the minimum required by sedo anyway! As previously stated only those who think the domain is worth at least $60 are going to bid...simple as that. You are not, imo, going to see sedo innundated with crap as it would get no bids and the member who initiated the auction would end up with it!
A section for this should not be seen as "begging" for bidders, it is simply putting forward domains for consideration that may never otherwise be seen. I see absolutely no harm whatsoever being done to the reputation of this forum and sedo themselves should consider this as being a win win situation for them as they are going to be skimming off their 10% no matter what the eventual selling price.
Here is an idea... why dont we ask member Sedo (Keith) what he (they) think about this?
The integrity of NamePros is my only concern here.
Now, this thread is starting to heat me up, and before I go off (Jeff, remember the GoDaddy Loophole thread a few years ago?) I think I'll bow out of this before I say some things people might regret.
Considering this idea as shill bidding is ludicrous, someone would be willing to take the risk to have their domain let go for a certain minimum amount that will be used to initiate having the domain on auction.
Or see a number of bids that will either match his expectations or even exceed.
Let's not try to make it more then it really is...
Stupid idea imo, its shill bidding, how is it fair on other people who wait months to get offers so they can finally send their domains to auction, yet people who get others to send their domains to auction by bidding are (putting it bluntly) being dishonest.
Infact i can't really beleive the thread starter suggested it, just post names you have listed for sale at sedo in the external auctions area, correct me if im wrong on this.
In that case people paying for a featured listing are then also unfair?
It's not shill bidding and it's not dishonest, people that will make the initial bid are interested to buy that domain at that minimum price, in fact a good chance they will bid more if they feel it would be worth more then the min bid.
I don't think you understand the concept of the OP's idea...
What you're suggesting is kind of pointless because your domain would first need to already be in auction to post in the external auctions section.
This idea is just another promotion tool, but with a potential risk to let go of the domain for a minimal price. Having your domain lined up in the auction line raises more awareness then paying for a featured listing.
It's just the domain owners choice to take the risk for letting the domain go at a minimal price.
I think in the case that reece posted about earlier, where somebody has put up say "cat.com" and posts it on namepros and people bid because they want the name - what's wrong with that?
What is wrong is people bidding JUST to get the Seller more money, that's down right selfish/stupid etc. But bidding because you like the domain, nothing wrong with that...
I read over the OP again incase i misread anything, but it still seems relatively pointless when there is allready an external auctions/sales section we dont need another one imo , most np staff i think would agree.
Saying this is dishonest, or shill bidding is just not correct. It's simply the domainer taking an initiative to put their domains out in front of other domainers, which is what Namepros is all about. All we need are some guidelines to make this work.
Geesh, how is this different from starting an auction here in the auction section and saying bidding starts at $50 or $100? I guess you consider that shilling also by the looks of your very broad, liberal definition of the term.
This is just saying, "If you want to get this domain possibly for $60 you can bid on it at Sedo and I'll send it to auction."
I didnt think so, either.
Apparantly, this simple request seems to have
everyone thinking way too negatively.
Everyone,
THIS IS NOT SCHILL BIDDING!
You Bid,
You Win,
You Buy!
Done!
But it has to start SOMEWHERE,
Why not here, in a nice, neat and orderly thread,
section, subsection, etc.?
It sure beats a bunch of individual threads getting lost after an hour.
No Bad can come out of this.
Only good for everybody!
Hey RJ!
Thx for leaving this discussion open!
And thank you for thinking about this as an added option
to our community!
I really don't see your point here? The external auctions thread is for auctions that are already running at Sedo, Ebay etc. This would not be the same thing! It would be a section where you could basically "showcase" your domain with the possibility that someone would think it was worth, at the very least, the $60 to send it to auction. If it's not worth that to anyone they won't bid! Simple as that. What is wrong with that?
Your argument implies that having a send to auction section and a external auction/sales section is the same?
But it's not.
When you have someone interested in a domain of yours, you receive a bid via PM - you counter offer if you feel it's too low, you may or may not received a increased offer back in return.
At some point the person doing the offering just don't want to bid any higher, you're in a impasse...
The person bidding on your domain does not want to bid any higher, and only want your domain for his/hers last offer.
You feel it has more market value.
A good alternative would be to send the domain to auction, this happens on Sedo's platform as well as on other forums, including NP.
If no more bids will be made, the initial bidder will obtain the domain at his/hers highest offer...and you got the chance to test the market to have the market determine its end value at that time.
You have to agree with me that's good and fair business right?
Now with a Send To Auction section the owner takes a larger risk, he/she leaves out the negotiation and accepts sending the domain at a minimal set bid and it's being done publicly...not through the private message system.
It's exactly the same legitimate scenario and its only difference is that the owner is willing to take a larger risk.
That's all there is to it.
It's not shill bidding.
It's not dishonest or unfair.
It's what is happening already on Sedo and Namepros and DNForum and other avenues.
People negotiate and then send a domain to auction, this is no different except for leaving the negotiation out of the picture.
I totally agree, especially with your last sentence.
If I was some kind of scamming, frauding, shill bidding fool (which I'm not) and I wanted one of my "buddies" to place a fake bid for me, I'd just call them up on the phone and tell them to do it. Why first post it on a forum and then contact them about it?? I don't quite understand.
All of my names listed at Sedo have the same description set up..."Other names for sale at Sedo...$60 sends them to auction" followed by a list of my names. (seen this same set up alot there). So are you saying that if some random person comes along, likes my name and puts a $60 bid in on it then THAT is shill bidding too?
I'm not looking to "lure" someone into buying my names dishonestly, I just want the chance to be able to throw them out there for more to see because over at Sedo it's really easy to feel lost in the crowd
