I have been following this thread for the past 3 days. I normally don't post comment on this site. I stay by the sideline and learn from experienced domainers. However, after reading
KRajmys' comments, I just cannot resist rebutting some of the false narratives and negative statements he made about Frank Shillings. I'm not here to defend Frank. His good track record in the domain industry over the past 20 years speaks volume.
A little about me. I retired from the corporate world about 2 years ago. Before that, I was an executive at an engineering firm here in Washington DC. I also taught computer science at a state college back in the early 90s. So, I do not have the level of experience most of you have. I learned from past sales experience and also follow multiple blog sites to learn about how domain investing works. I see myself as an accidental domainer. In any case, I've been buying and selling domains since 2005.
With that as a backdrop, I want to share my direct experience with Frank. I've not personally met him in person. However, based on my business experience with him, I would say that Frank is the most honest person I've ever done business with in my entire life. He is a person of integrity. Unlike some of the other wealthy people in the domain industry, Frank, in my opinion, is a humble and trustworthy person with integrity, as I will show you from my experience of doing business with him. Frank is also the opposite of some of the so-called "sherpas" who blow their trumpets and bloviate about their "success" and domain sales on social media.
Here is my story:
I sold my portfolio to Frank Shilling last year. Before that, I reached out to a couple of big names in the industry and I received multiple offers, varying from buyers offering me higher average price per domain for a portion of the portfolio to a payment plan and monthly payment until the portfolio sells. None of these offers met my need as I needed the lump sum to bootstrap a project.
Then one evening, I was talking to a broker friend of mine about the offers I received. He later offered to help and pitch the portfolio to Frank. I honestly wasn't expecting anything to come out of it as I later received another promising offer. At any rate, about 2 weeks later I heard back from my broker friend and told me Frank was interested in buying the portfolio. After a couple of back and forth negotiations, we agreed on a price that I was happy with. Even though the price was a bit lower than what I initially received from other buyers that wanted to cherry pick from my portfolio, I was very happy with the outcome of the sale. I was able to use the proceed to jump start my new project which I wouldn't have been able to do without selling the portfolio. I'm forever grateful to Frank.
Now, here is the most important thing about my portfolio sale. The payment for the portfolio sale was based on trust - the old fashion way. He gave me a choice to either wire the money directly to me or use escrow service. Again, based on his reputation I alluded to in my opening paragraph, I opted for wire transfer. Frank later wired the money to my bank account without any issue. Again, he kept his promise. Here is why this matters, you know a person by not just how they treat their own relatives but by how they treat other people they don't know. Frank has never met me in person. He treated me better than how an most people would have treated me.
Save the best for last.
Here is the best part of the story. After I sold the portfolio to Frank, remember what I said above about not really hoping for a sale? It turned out that I left 3 of the domains (.net. .org and .co) I needed as redirects in the portfolio I sold to Frank. So I went back to my broker friend and asked if Frank could sell those 3 domains back to me. I was surprised Frank said yes. He gave the 3 domains back to me not at an end user price but for less than $100.
Again, this is my first-hand experience with Frank. Others may say whatever they want. In my world, and in the world of other people he has touched, Frank is a great person with integrity and trust. Thank you all for your time.