information Breaking: Aron Meystedt Sells XF.com and OC.com

dordomai · Aug 13, 2017

hookbox said:
That is hilarious. We call ourselves brokers but we only contact our own clients that buy baseball cards. Seriously? That has got to be the worst excuse I have ever read.

Have you looked into HA and how they sell domains? It is not the same what domain brokers in our industry usually do.

Domainscoop.com · Aug 13, 2017

hookbox said:
That is hilarious. We call ourselves brokers but we only contact our own clients that buy baseball cards. Seriously? That has got to be the worst excuse I have ever read.

LMAO Hahaha -- made my day

Internet.Domains · Aug 13, 2017

dordomai said:
Have you looked into HA and how they sell domains? It is not the same what domain brokers in our industry usually do.

You keep alluding that HA does not broker in a "typical" sense and that is entirely untrue. Here is a paragraph on HA's domain page (at this time).

"Private Domain Brokerage
Heritage Auctions offers private brokerage services for owners of premium domain names. We are seeking top valued domain names only for our private brokerage service. Heritage Auctions will use our expertise to appropriately market your domain name(s). We use a combination of print marketing, online advertising, direct mailing, phone calls and emails to reach the right buyers for your assets.

Contat Us today if you have top quality domain names that you are looking to sell."

dordomai · Aug 13, 2017

Internet.Domains said:
You keep alluding that HA does not broker in a "typical" sense and that is entirely untrue. Here is a paragraph on HA's domain page (at this time).

"Private Domain Brokerage
Heritage Auctions offers private brokerage services for owners of premium domain names. We are seeking top valued domain names only for our private brokerage service. Heritage Auctions will use our expertise to appropriately market your domain name(s). We use a combination of print marketing, online advertising, direct mailing, phone calls and emails to reach the right buyers for your assets.

Contat Us today if you have top quality domain names that you are looking to sell."

they list them for sale in a public auction where veryone can bid. This is not what domain brokers do usually.

This would be like saying Sedo is broker because they do offer some brokerage services as well. In reality they are an auction house.

https://domains.ha.com/c/search-results.zx?No=0&N=3369+790+231

Internet.Domains · Aug 13, 2017

dordomai said:
they list them for sale in a public auction where veryone can bid. This is not what domain brokers do usually.

This would be like saying Sedo is broker because they do offer some brokerage services as well. In reality they are an auction house.

https://domains.ha.com/c/search-results.zx?No=0&N=3369+790+231

Your link went to the auctions page which is one of three services they offer in addition to PRIVATE brokering and stealth buy service....If the best defense to this issue is spinning definitions I am becoming more convinced there was a conflict of interest. It is surprising Heritage Auctions would put themselves in this situation when so much of their other departments (sports memorabilia etc.) rely on trust and avoid conflict of interests at all costs.

https://domains.ha.com/information/...ntellectual-property.s?ic=Task-domains-121913

dordomai · Aug 13, 2017

What are you talking about?! Is Sedo a broker or a marketplace?

1. HA is primary an auction house not a broker. It is even seen in their name. Heritage Auctions is the name not Heritage Brokers. No need to discuss this.

2. That is not even the main flaw in that issue. If you read the first posts you will see that Aron did not sell the name himself. He had to use a broker to do it for him, presumably he does not talk Chinese and is not experienced in the Chinese market. So obviously they weren't in the best position to get top dollar for a 2L with their audience. They marketed to the audience they could. The English speaking market is not doing too well these days.

The other 2L they attempted to sell didn't do any better as far as i remember. This is what you would expect.

As for a potential conflict of interest. Everything that was done was public knowledge and nothing unusual happened here. If it is their policy to allow buying of domains from their people, that is their decision as long as they disclose it which was done. If you don't like the rules then don't sell with them.

Basically it is simply conjecture to assume that a theoretical conflict of interest changed the outcome of the sale in some way. You don't even know any details about the sale. For example, the final sale price.

You have convinced yourself that something must have been done wrong simply because of a theoretical scenario you made up in your mind.

Internet.Domains · Aug 13, 2017

dordomai said:
What are you talking about?! Is Sedo a broker or a marketplace?

1. HA is primary an auction house not a broker. It is even seen in their name. Heritage Auctions is the name not Heritage Brokers. No need to discuss this.

2. That is not even the main flaw in that issue. If you read the first posts you will see that Aron did not sell the name himself. He had to use a broker to do it for him, presumably he does not talk Chinese and is not experienced in the Chinese market. So obviously they weren't in the best position to get top dollar for a 2L with their audience. They marketed to the audience they could. The English speaking market is not doing too well these days.

The other 2L they attempted to sell didn't do any better as far as i remember. This is what you would expect.

As for a potential conflict of interest. Everything that was done was public knowledge and nothing unusual happened here. If it is their policy to allow buying of domains from their people, that is their decision as long as they disclose it which was done. If you don't like the rules then don't sell with them.

Basically it is simply conjecture to assume that a theoretical conflict of interest changed the outcome of the sale in some way. You don't even know any details about the sale. For example, the final sale price.

You have convinced yourself that something must have been done wrong simply because of a theoretical scenario you made up in your mind.

No problem, we see it differently.....best to you.

Napkin.com · Aug 13, 2017

Arca said:
I'm surprised Heritage Auctions allow their brokers/employees to buy the items they are brokering. That seems to create a conflict of interest.

It's an awkward look for Heritage Auctions when the broker they have assigned to the name doesn't manage to sell it, then buys it "on the cheap" himself to help seller move the name quickly, then goes on to sell it, presumably for a lot more, just a few weeks later... I certainly would not be happy if I was the original owner of OC.com and saw this chain of events transpire, especially within such a short time frame.

As stated, Elliot covered the timetable accurately. And, for full disclosure, this was the first name we've brokered in which Heritage bought the name at the end of the brokerage term. We don't and haven't cherry picked names we want to buy. I've told my buyers on my mailing list that they'll never see names from me that "I passed on"... any names that come through Heritage for brokerage or auction are promoted. None are bought ahead of time.

OC.com was promoted to Chinese buyers, brokers, auction houses - and to major end user firms, to companies in Orange County, CA etc. In fact, one "last call for serious offers" was announced with no one making a significant offer - surprisingly.

Thanks. Last comment I'll make on the topic. I feel that everything has been addressed.

Aron
Contact me with questions: HA.com/IP

Arca · Aug 13, 2017

XF.com said:
As stated, Elliot covered the timetable accurately. And, for full disclosure, this was the first name we've brokered in which Heritage bought the name at the end of the brokerage term. We don't and haven't cherry picked names we want to buy. I've told my buyers on my mailing list that they'll never see names from me that "I passed on"... any names that come through Heritage for brokerage or auction are promoted. None are bought ahead of time.

OC.com was promoted to Chinese buyers, brokers, auction houses - and to major end user firms, to companies in Orange County, CA etc. In fact, one "last call for serious offers" was announced with no one making a significant offer - surprisingly.

Thanks. Last comment I'll make on the topic. I feel that everything has been addressed.

Aron
Contact me with questions: HA.com/IP

You or Jim Halperin might want to address these questions raised by someone at domainnamewire.com too.

tonecas · Aug 14, 2017

man, when you think you seen it all then it comes a new one. what a shady industry this is :

"I feel that everything has been addressed."

really???? are we all just living in an unscrupulous world, trying to swim in a muddy swamp?

i guess since the seller agreed with this all is fine isn't it?

we are all grown up, and we are responsible for our actions, including accepting to sell a name to the middleman that had just failed to sell it moments before.

the price the seller was looking for was too high, it seems from what they say. it's a tough market out there. they did all they could to sell it, but unfortunately they could not advise the owner to lower the price to a more "sellable" level. they probably forgot this or maybe that is not part of the job description of a broker.

anyway, the owner that was asking too much was happy to sell it to the middleman, certainly based on impartial and unbiased counseling. the middleman then took the risk, like it is supposed to be done by entrepreneurs under capitalism rules, and accepted the burden of buying the domain from the client. such a kind gesture almost makes me wanna cry.

and lo and behold, one month later the domain was sold! this is the american dream baby!! it's alive!

that this is what this is all about! moving inventory whatever it takes. everything is legal and ethical, we just need to push our limits and that's it. nothing to see here, move along.

tonecas · Aug 14, 2017

the reply from Jim Halperin is just brilliant!
no wonder the world is getting such a mess with people's head all screwed up that can't even distinguish right from wrong.

Keith · Aug 14, 2017

People are missing the big picture here. This isn't about ethics or the effort put forth to broker the domain. The seller is the ultimate authority and can choose to sell to whoever they choose and at whatever price they feel is fair. In this case Aron struck a deal to buy and that's that. The seller and buyer agreed to terms and that's that.

Congrats on the acquisition and quick sale!

dordomai · Aug 14, 2017

there is a pattern that I observed in this industry in the past months. It is almost pure comedy in a certain way.

Every time someone announces a high domain sale, some accusations start to resurface on blogs comments and forums, throwing mud at the seller.

One of the most hilarious examples was the sale of x.com to Elon Musk. You would have thought that was big news and everyone would be happy. Not so. Shortly after the announcement some comment trolls would suggest that the broker (Mediaoptions/Drew) simply made it up and they never brokered the name.

Later others suggested that Drew wasn't a real broker in that deal but a strawman used to sell x.com cheap to deceive shareholders. There were of course 0 facts to support it, it was simply made up. The commenter was the same person who started spreading the conflicts of interest story of the oc.com sale on blog comment sections calling it BS. Interesting, isn't it?

I almost had to laugh when someone called Drew a "scammer" a few days later. Some others felt that Drew must have done something wrong simply because he was "hiding" in Panama.

The strawman story did get old and boring soon so just a few weeks later Drew morphed from strawman for Elon Musk to a hill bidding mastermind. The only thing that he had done was that he had commented in a thread about shill bidding. Some days later he was already featured on a website and comments were already pretending that he "had been caught".

Anyone still remember the poor guy who bought hatred.com cheap and sold high and thought he could help other domainers by announcing the sale? He was thanked by some fellow domainers by calling him unethical for buying "too low" and selling "too high" and ultimately he ended up having his name indexed in Google along with some negative headlines and name calling.

I still remember an article about xf.com rejecting a 7 figure offer - at a time when 7 figure offers on Chinese premiums were common - and some of course comments suggesting he made it up.

Ironically now that the name was sold, predictably some are trying to invalidate the sale and a lot of negativity and hate coming out.

You see it does not matter what he does. If he does not sell the hate and accusations are coming out if he does sell the hate and the accusations are coming out.

All this happening under the pretense of caring about "ethics". I have seen ethically questionable stuff on this forum, for example TM registrations but the truth is that no one really cares about that if you are not successful and a well-known persona in the industry.

If you are successful in domaining beware! Soon someone will find a way to invalidate your successes and harm your reputation and business. Don't announce your sales. You will become a target and people will hate you for it. Hide your sales and pretend you are losing money and people will love you for that.

Josh R · Aug 14, 2017

dordomai said:
there is a pattern that I observed in this industry in the past months. It is almost pure comedy in a certain way.

Every time someone announces a high domain sale, some accusations start to resurface on blogs comments and forums, throwing mud at the seller.

One of the most hilarious examples was the sale of x.com to Elon Musk. You would have thought that was big news and everyone would be happy. Not so. Shortly after the announcement some comment trolls would suggest that the broker (Mediaoptions/Drew) simply made it up and they never brokered the name.

Later others suggested that Drew wasn't a real broker in that deal but a strawman used to sell x.com cheap to deceive shareholders. There were of course 0 facts to support it, it was simply made up. The commenter was the same person who started spreading the conflicts of interest story of the oc.com sale on blog comment sections calling it BS. Interesting, isn't it?

I almost had to laugh when someone called Drew a "scammer" a few days later. Some others felt that Drew must have done something wrong simply because he was "hiding" in Panama.

The strawman story did get old and boring soon so just a few weeks later Drew morphed from strawman for Elon Musk to a hill bidding mastermind. The only thing that he had done was that he had commented in a thread about shill bidding. Some days later he was already featured on a website and comments were already pretending that he "had been caught".

Anyone still remember the poor guy who bought hatred.com cheap and sold high and thought he could help other domainers by announcing the sale? He was thanked by some fellow domainers by calling him unethical for buying "too low" and selling "too high" and ultimately he ended up having his name indexed in Google along with some negative headlines and name calling.

I still remember an article about xf.com rejecting a 7 figure offer - at a time when 7 figure offers on Chinese premiums were common - and some of course comments suggesting he made it up.

Ironically now that the name was sold, predictably some are trying to invalidate the sale and a lot of negativity and hate coming out.

You see it does not matter what he does. If he does not sell the hate and accusations are coming out if he does sell the hate and the accusations are coming out.

All this happening under the pretense of caring about "ethics". I have seen ethically questionable stuff on this forum, for example TM registrations but the truth is that no one really cares about that if you are not successful and a well-known persona in the industry.

If you are successful in domaining beware! Soon someone will find a way to invalidate your successes and harm your reputation and business. Don't announce your sales. You will become a target and people will hate you for it. Hide your sales and pretend you are losing money and people will love you for that.

Fair points. I will say there was a lot more to the "hate" on hatred.com..Nobody was upset at him buying low and selling high to my knowledge.

cooljub · Aug 15, 2017

I always thought Jaguar might buy xf.com

Ollie3000 · Aug 15, 2017

Aron is a decent chap from my experience. So I expect he did right by the original seller before he flipped it. His way of selling domains through HA is refreshing and he regularly makes decent sales. Digital.com went for 373k not that long ago via Aron

Troels · Aug 18, 2017

I can't believe an auction house or broker would risk such a hit to their reputation.

It's very poor judgement in my book. Even if everything was done in good faith.

Perception is reality. And with a timeline like that eyebrowes are being raised = damage done.

tonecas · Aug 18, 2017

people tend do mix everything. friendship with business, trolls with people with contrary arguments, and the harsh environment that is implicit in every business with the lack of need for ethics.

offthehandle · Aug 19, 2017

The seller I suspect didn't do any research prior to listing and should have invested time into searching where best to sell the name, it makes no sense to list it with the above descibed situation and some baseball card collectibles auction house. The domain auction industry insider knowledge held by the Auction house of knowing a 2 letter would not easily sell in the states, should have been disclosed and expressed to the seller prior to listing it. The seller should have been advised to list it directly with a broker in China, where it could sell and the major market existed. However, as with most auction houses mixing themselves as buyers, brokers, consigners, resellers, auctioneers without licenses, etc. Well, all bets are off.

Furthermore, the buyer should have read the mixed reviews on Yelp.
https://www.yelp.com/biz/heritage-auctions-dallas

Ollie3000 · Aug 21, 2017

offthehandle said:
The seller I suspect didn't do any research prior to listing and should have invested time into searching where best to sell the name, it makes no sense to list it with the above descibed situation and some baseball card collectibles auction house. The domain auction industry insider knowledge held by the Auction house of knowing a 2 letter would not easily sell in the states, should have been disclosed and expressed to the seller prior to listing it. The seller should have been advised to list it directly with a broker in China, where it could sell and the major market existed. However, as with most auction houses mixing themselves as buyers, brokers, consigners, resellers, auctioneers without licenses, etc. Well, all bets are off.

Furthermore, the buyer should have read the mixed reviews on Yelp.
https://www.yelp.com/biz/heritage-auctions-dallas

Those reviews don't seem to be anything to do with the Domain auction side of things

ivywang · Aug 25, 2017

Congrats!!

information Breaking: Aron Meystedt Sells XF.com and OC.com

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